Toyota's retro-futuristic FJ Cruiser

Retro-futurism may be an inherent contradiction, but that doesn't make it a fatally flawed concept, as Toyota has proven with its new, radical FJ Cruiser off-roader.

At once a throwback to its ground-breaking FJ 40 cruiser of the Sixties and a nod to the future of 4x4s,  Toyota has succeeded in bring a winning, old-school design  to a brand-new, mass audience.

As the Japanese carmaker these days tends to keep its more radical, niche products away from its reliable Camry/Corolla-infused line-up,  keeping the FJ under its main badge signals it has the popular market in mind.

But the difference here is that Toyota futurists seem to have gone through hoops maybe even wormholes to ensure that this particular off-roader will not be hijacked by school-run moms or those who prefer the straight and narrow.

Pictured in LA Harbor

For a start the FJ is pretty-near impractical for picking up those little angels, as it is basically a two-door, with tiny clamshell doors as entry points for the back seat. It's also a bit of a dog on the highway, or zipping in and out of traffic.  Or parking, for that matter.

But do we care? Resolutely not.  Because as soon as you set eyes on its radical lines, and step into its incredibly well-designed cabin, you could well be smitten, especially if you remember the golden days of off-roaders before such things as heated seats were deemed necessary. The old Land Cruisers, no-frills British-made Land Rovers, and so on.

The interior is sparse, with acres of bare plastic along the length of its five-person cabin.  There is no DVD player in the back, or funky rear-view mirror electronics, or sat-nav, or more than one-way powered seats.

But what there is inside is incredibly well designed for the environments in which these vehicles will be driven.  The stereo and heating dials are big and chunky, handy if you have to wear gloves on a chilly morning. Deep snow on the windshield?  Just snap on those three yes, three - power windscreen wipers and away you go.

Functional yet futuristic interior

The driver's console relays information about battery power among others,   handy for, say, thrashing about away from civilization in the Australian outback, or around Big Bear, I guess. All the navigation instruments are neatly packaged and visible to the driver's right. The seats are supportive and grooved to hold you in place when the going gets suitably rough,  and there are also handy stability handles to grip above the steering wheel and passenger seat.

Everything is retro-futuristic, and putting all the piecemeal improvements into a package that blends and fits and still stands out is, on the face of it, an incredible achievement. Again, I don't believe that school-run moms will like it off-roaders, meanwhile,  will love it.

They'll also love all of Toyota's technical accomplishments, its impressive stability and low-down power, its A-TRAC traction system, four-link suspension with coil springs and all the other dibbings.   It's surprisingly stiff, its 17-inch wheels just keep gripping courtesy of a limited rear-slip differential and a responsive steering input.

Engine size is 4-liter, 24-valve with Variable Valve Timing for sharper performance giving a rather lightweight 239 horsepower but a good bit more torque at 278lb low-down, or enough to pull a 5,000lb tow-weight.  Foot down on the highway is nothing really to write home about, and nor is the gas consumption of up to 22 mpg highway.  It also drives much more smoothly  using premium gas.

Can we climb it? Not this one ...

Put to the test on uneven ground

The mid-$20,000 on-the-road price tag, however, more than makes up for it. As do its looks, which, with its white roof and front lights/grill lifted off the FJ 40, are unlike any other vehicle, and sit alongside Scion's xB and the Pontiac Solstice as the most radical cars on the market today, while its relatively small side windows and back glass resemble those of the ubiquitous Hummer.

So it's my thinking that many, if not most,  hard-core off-roaders will put up with everything mentioned above,  as they know that once they get to conditions necessitating a vehicle of this sort, it'll all be worth it.

And once rugged-vehicle buyers start talking among themselves -  at hunting gatherings, archery ranges, perhaps West Hollywood you can bet a fair few will have their eyes on their buddy's prize. Toyota has the highest brand loyalty, and number of repeat buyers,  of any car manufacturer.

And you can bet also that those futuristic-retro looks will, by definition, remain timeless.

In front of some serious heavyweight machinery

Detail of back cover