The Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series has been in continuous production since 1984, with updates that have kept it relevant across decades. The latest facelift brought back the iconic round headlights, a nostalgic touch that enthusiasts appreciate. However, it also introduced a peculiar design choice: body-colored covers where the taillights should be. This modification has sparked curiosity and led to a growing trend among owners.
In Japan and certain other markets, the Land Cruiser 70 Series features body-colored taillight covers, with the functional lights mounted on the rear bumper. This setup complies with local safety and homologation rules, which require that the rear combination lamps are unobstructed when viewed from specific angles and when the rear door hatch is open. The full-sized spare tire mounted on the rear swing door blocks the high-mounted pillar lights from certain angles, necessitating this design workaround.
The reason behind the design choice
The spare tire’s position is the root cause of this design decision. Because the tire blocks the high-mounted pillar lights, Toyota opted to relocate the primary lighting to the rear bumper. In markets like Australia, the lower units run alongside functional upper taillights. However, in Japan and other Asian markets, buyers receive body-colored louvered dummy panels instead.
This design workaround is not new to the Land Cruiser family. Select export variants, such as the European-spec LJ70s from the late 1980s, featured bumper-mounted primary lighting. The brake lights and indicators were housed in the bumper, while body cutouts handled secondary duties. This approach has been a recurring theme in the Land Cruiser’s design history.
The aftermarket solution
Since Toyota uses the same body pressings across its global production lines, undoing the dummy setup has become a popular aftermarket job. Recent demonstrations from a custom shop in Thailand called Toms Gear show that JDM-spec Land Cruiser 70s retain the factory mounting points hidden behind the blanking covers. The challenge lies in the wiring, as the factory leaves no active light circuit behind the dummy plates.
Installers must run jumper wires from the lower bumper up into the quarter panels. Once the wiring reaches up, the process becomes straightforward. Technicians unscrew the factory dummy plates, connect the leads to genuine taillight assemblies pulled from global-spec models, and bolt the housings into place. This modification restores full illumination to the upper pillars and gives the truck the rear-lighting look it was originally designed with.
Other vehicles with similar design workarounds
The Land Cruiser 70 is not the only model to feature this design workaround. Suzuki has adopted bumper-mounted primary lighting on multiple generations of the Jimny, Vitara, and Grand Vitara. Similarly, the Mitsubishi Pajero, Nissan Patrol, and Isuzu Trooper/Rodeo off-roaders have employed similar tricks. Even European models, like the original Land Rover Freelander, have parked their primary rear lights in the bumper to keep the tailgate spare from blocking visibility.
This trend highlights the challenges automakers face in balancing design aesthetics with safety regulations. The aftermarket solutions demonstrate the enthusiasm and creativity of owners who seek to restore the original vision of these iconic vehicles.
