WHAT LURKS BENEATH

IT MAY LOOK LIKE A FAIRLY STANDARD (IF CLEAN) 80 SERIES, BUT DIVE A LITTLE DEEPER AND YOU'LL FIND A MONSTER BELOW THE SURFACE

- DEX FULTON

JASON Robson is what psychiatrists like to call a nut. A Toyota nut that is. To label him a fan of the brand would be underselling his passion for these vehicles. In fact, at the time of writing, this tidy HDJ80 is his 16th Cruiser. He's owned them all too, from an old V8-converted HJ47 to utes to Troopies to several 80s to no fewer than six (!) 200s to the 300 Sahara... get the picture?

Right around when COVID was locking us all up and the Great Toilet Paper Wars of the early 2020s were being waged, Jason decided he wanted a project to distract him from the Spicy Cough, so he went hunting for a factory turbo-diesel 80 (which for nonCruiserheads is the pick of the model run). He found this beaut example with 350K on the clock and an upgraded Sahara-spec interior. The ideal blank canvas.

Looking to build a tourer and a bit of a fun toy for quick missions into the High Country and longer trips up to Queensland, Jason set about turning this wagon into the 80 Toyota really should have built from the get-go. The result? Pretty damn hard to fault, really. Heaps of power, plenty of comfort and the timeless sex appeal of 1990s body panels. Perfection.

Here's how he turned an old favourite into an unassuming monster...

THAT ENGINE

THE first stop was made at Off Track Concepts in Cobram, where the 1HD-FT was surgically removed from the engine bay and the frame rails were prepped for its replacement. Now, you could be wondering why you'd rip out a perfectly good 1HD, and what you'd even replace it with, but after having owned half a dozen 200 Series Cruisers Jason knew just how good the 1VD-FTV 4.5L quad-cam twinturbo V8 diesel could be.