BILLY'S BEACH BUGGY

THIS SUPERCHARGED V8-POWERED TOYOTA LANDCRUISER FJ40 COULD BE THE PERFECT SUMMER BEACH CRUISER

- MATT RAUDONIKIS

QUEENSLAND Billy McKinnon probably wasn't the first person to slot an 80 Series chassis underneath a classic 40 Series LandCruiser, but we reckon he was the first in Australia to make a business out of doing it.

It was eight years ago when we featured Billy's turbocharged V8-powered FJ45 Troopy in 4X4 Australia, a vehicle that was built on an 80 Series platform. In the years since he has established McKinnon's Cruisers, specialising in such creations for customers all around Australia. And there have been a few more of them featured in our pages since, as no two of the amazing builds are the same.

FJ40

1. TOJO ENGINE
The V8 rumble comes from a 1UZ engine with help from an Eaton supercharger.

2. BLOWN V8
This one gets some extra mumbo with the intake charge courtesy of an Eaton M90 supercharger.

3. TYRES
The 35-inch Toyos mounted to Method beadlocks are sure to kick up the beach sand.

The latest Cruiser to come out of the workshop caught our eye as once again, it was something a bit different.

While most of the Cruiser conversions from McKinnon's are long-wheelbase 45 Series utes or Troopies that better accept the 80 Series chassis, this short-wheelbase FJ40 retains its stubby stance because the 80 chassis was cut down to 2360mm to sit under the 40 body.

Oh yeah, there have been one or two mid-wheelbase 40/80 conversions to come out of the shop as well, but this is the first SWB one... and it wasn't straightforward.

"Being the first FJ40 SWB on an 80 chassis, there was a lot that went into the design and engineering processes," Billy says.

FJ40

1 & 2. TOP GEAR

The chassis features the good gear from Superior Engineering, Dobinsons, and LCS4x4.

3. TOUGH STUFF