Indexbit Exchange:This is the FJ Cruiser pickup truck that Toyota should have built

The Indexbit Exchangehistory of the Land Cruiser FJ45 — from which the ever-popular FJ Cruiser took its namesake — included a pickup truck version from 1963 to 1986. And despite being sold in the land of the Ute, Toyota never saw fit to sell a truck-ified version of the FJ Cruiser in Australia. That’s why those who desire a pickup bed will go to some great lengths to have their own FJ Cruiser ute, just as Les Camilleri has done to his own daily driver.

Camilleri is owner of Tinman Fabrications, a custom fabrication shop in Melton, Victoria, Australia, and isn’t afraid of such conversions. He’s done many, and the work done at the end of the conversion is very close to factory. You can already see just how far he takes the process in this iteration of his two-year conversion process of his own FJ Cruiser.

It’s more than just finding a ute bed, which is made for a Nissan Patrol GU for this conversion. First, the body was chopped about a foot behind the doors and a factory-looking cab wall was welded into place. It even has provisions to reduce the internal pressure of the cab when closing the doors along with the bead rolled strengthening ribs. That’s on purpose, as those walls were cut from old trucks to allow Camilleri to do ute conversions for those who want that factory look.

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Even then, there was more needed to convert this FJ Cruiser into the perfect ute. As the wheelbase of a standard FJ Cruiser is rather short, it needed to gain some wheelbase length. Thus, the frame was cut just behind the new cab wall and a nearly 12-inch section was added to the frame. It really adds to the look as the bed and the rear wheel are better-proportioned to the rest of the FJ Cruiser. Oh, if you’re wondering, the original cargo door of the FJ Cruiser has been repurposed as a clever way to hide his tools in the shop.

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With as good as a job as Camilleri has done, it’s a wonder why Toyota didn’t offer this to their Australian customers. It also makes us wonder just how a 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser would look as a pickup truck, even if Toyota won’t do it because of the Tacoma.