December 16, 2005

Toyota FJ Cruiser: I Drone on Again About a Convertible SUV

Wouldnt it be the Bee's Knees to tow your wake boat with a drop-top SUV? Scooped yesterday over at Autoblog is the news that there will likely be a convertible version of the concept-turned-reality FJ Cruiser, debuting in 2006 as a 2007 model. While most of the pictures show the FJ in a nice, clean, smurfy blue, there are many other colors slated. I want the olive green one.

I trolled some of the FJ message boards and the consensus is that the convertible version is extremely likely. Their exact words: "I'm pretty sure the convertible version will be a sure thing." I just hope they do it Jeep Wrangler/Defender 90 style and rig it up with roll bars, not metal B and C pillars as part of a unibody construction.

I want to see a full convertible, half-doored version for that FJ. Adding to that is the fact that it uses a 4-Runner platform, and is supposed to be a lower-end vehicle. So it will be reliable and cheap. I would have preferred that Toyota base the FJ on the Tundra/Sequoia platform, but they would sell far fewer vehicles that way.

I've also seen some rumors of a Jeep Liberty drop top with more of a fast-back style slide-off roof, which leaves the doors and sides intact. Not that it applies to this site anyway; nobody is going to be towing their Wakesetter with a Jeep Liberty anytime soon, but the effort Jeep is making with the Liberty is noble. Plus it comes in diesel now.

I've had a major gripe with car manufacturers worldwide for a few years now concerning their lack of motivation and effort in making SUVs more fun. And when I think of fun I think of outdoors - and open-air motoring & towing is certainly a part of my line of thinking here.

True SUV enthusiasts have been requesting open & removable tops, locking differentials, steeper approach and departure angles and low-maintenance interior for years and the only company that has answered properly is Jeep, with the Jeep Rubicon/Wrangler/XJ/YJ models. And the unaffordable Mercedes G-Wagon Cabrio. Good luck towing 4000lb boats with them.

Every moment spent in an open-top vehicle seems to stand still and makes any trip seem like a little adventure. And yet the Jeep Wrangler is really still such a piece of junk after all is said and done. I've been burned by three Jeep Wranglers (twice, literally) and every time I see one I feel nostalgic and wish for one again. But Jeep has a death-grip on the drop-top SUV market, and for some odd reason, nobody is challenging them!

What I am hoping for specifically, is the use of a seasoned full-size SUV or pickup platform in a vehicle that shares all of the same characteristics of the parent vehicle (towing capacity, wheelbase length, torque). I'd like to see a Toyota Tundra modified to this end. Or perhaps a Nissan Titan crew cab with a drop top and roll cage. How hard could it be for them to do this? Almost every major vehicle manufacturer makes a full size pickup, and several pickup-based iterations always come out that use the platform in far less useful ways, like the Chevrolet Avalanche.

After my bitter-sweet ownership of a 1995 Defender 90 Station Wagon ended, I decided that I wanted a simple, spartan, cheap sport utility vehicle or pickup. What I did not realize was that finding one with a removable full top is nearly impossible. Not anymore it would seem.

Posted by erik