THE 'CRUISER TOYOTA SHOULD HAVE BUILT

THIS TOUGH-AS-NAILS 105 SERIES LANDCRUISER NOW HAS A HEART OF GOLD AND IS BUILT TO GO ANYWHERE.

- EVAN SPENCE

SOMETIMES, it takes a setback to take a step forward in life. And unfortunately for the owner of this 105 Series LandCruiser, Callum Mackellar, it took a serious accident for him to arrive at this dream setup. Callum cut his teeth in the 4WDing world in a 2003 Holden Jackaroo, and a slow, yet trusty 105 Series LandCruiser with the naturally aspirated 1HZ diesel motor which he loved to pieces. Sadly, that vehicle is no longer with us.

“My first 105 was written off,” says Callum. “But that presented me with the opportunity to buy the holy grail, a stock-as-a-rock 2003 Kakadu Grey 105 LandCruiser. Well, stock apart from having a Saharaspec interior trim conversion, and (let’s be honest – the main attraction) a highly sought-after factory turbo-diesel 1HD-FTE motor swapped in.”

The 4.2-litre 1HD-FTE factory turbodiesel motor needs no introduction, as it’s proven to be an absolute workhorse; yet it was only available in the 100 Series LandCruiser which features a torsion bar IFS setup that isn’t favoured by hardcore 4WDers. When Callum saw this beast up for sale, with the factory turbo motor swapped into a 105 Series Cruiser with solid axles front-and-rear, he knew it was too special to pass up on.

While the bones of this vehicle were solid, it was a bit sad in the accessory and modification department, and we all know that’s not going to cut the mustard off-road.