SHORT AND SWEET

MINIMALIST OUTBACK TOURING IN THE SWB FJ40

- MATT WOOD

4X4 SHED

0100759 KM

1976 TOYOTA LANDCRUISER FJ40

DATE ACQUIRED: JULY 2020

PRICE (AS TESTED): $18,500

KM SINCE LAST UPDATE: 3851

AV FUEL: 27L/100KM

IN A TWIST

Some have custom canopies and slideout drawers, Matt has an old Twisties box (right).

HAVING nice things and being allowed out to use them isn’t something any of us can really take for granted at the moment.

Thankfully a window of opportunity presented itself recently, and both myself and my saintly wife threw some gear in to the shorty and bolted west for an outback adventure. Why saintly, you may ask? She not only tolerated nearly 4000km of outback travel in a short wheelbase, leaf-sprung tin can, she reckons she actually had fun.

You may point out that surely my diesel Perentie was the smarter option for eating outback miles, but until I tackle the high-range issues in the LT95, the little ’Yota is our only bush driving option.

Anyone who owns a classic car will be familiar with the conversations they generate when you’re out and about. So, you can imagine the amount of old Toyota anecdotes I was assailed with in Western Queensland, from old ringers to former railways workers to other travellers lamenting that they’d sold theirs years ago.