There's lots of life left in the 39 year-old Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series

The Toyota LandCruiser 70 is approaching its 40th birthday, but it’s not slowing down.

Senior manager for vehicle evaluation and regulation in product planning and development at Toyota Australia, Ray Munday, told CarExpert there’s no way Toyota would’ve invested in a new engine for the LC70 if it wasn’t planning to keep the model alive.

“In any commercial vehicle there’s a lot of investment required, because to guarantee the kind of performance capability, quality, durability … requires a lot of work. A lot of design work, a lot of manufacturing work, a lot of evaluation work,” he said.

“Commercial vehicles have a longer life cycle. That means if you make an ill-considered change, you pay for that for a long time. That’s why any change to a commercial vehicle is really deeply considered.”

“Commercial vehicle projects are not for short-term gain. They are investments, they’re long term. I think the fact that we’re here with such a significant technical upgrade shows the seriousness of the longevity of this product,” he said.

A spokesperson for Toyota opened the LandCruiser 70 launch by talking about the six-year development program that will “guarantee the future” of the model, reinforcing the notion that Toyota’s elder statesman won’t be wheeled off into the sunset just yet.

The LandCruiser 70 Series debuted in November 1984, and has been treated to numerous updates since, but never a complete overhaul.

The introduction of the 2.8-litre four-cylinder engine represents the first new engine for the LC70 since the 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8 was introduced in 2007; it replaced an inline-six at the time.

MORE: Everything Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series