Japanese firms Tonox and Flex gave new life to an outdated Land Cruiser from the ’80s, restoring the bodywork and buying and selling the combustion engine for an electrical motor
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Toyota has but to current a zero-emission model of the Land Cruiser, however impartial firms have already performed EV conversions primarily based on older generations of the favored SUV. An ideal instance is the pictured Land Cruiser 60 Sequence from the ’80s which was meticulously restored and transformed to electrical energy by two Japanese firms.
Hiratsuka-based Tonox makes a speciality of bodywork, whereas Flex – identified for its Renoca collection of reverse restomod bodykits – has loads of expertise on the subject of Land Cruiser gross sales. Their first joint electromod mission will probably be introduced on the Japan Mobility Present in Tokyo subsequent week. Nonetheless, the businesses have already printed quite a lot of photographs highlighting each step of the restoration course of.
Extra: Renoca’s Retro-Flavored Toyota Land Cruisers Look Superior
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Pictures: Tonox, Renoca
The donor automobile was in a fairly dangerous form, with rust consuming away its bodywork and chassis. Expert technicians stripped away each single element, fixing all of the dangerous spots and changing what was past saving. The ladder body chassis and leaf spring suspension had been re-painted, as with the bodywork. The tip outcome stays true to the traditional seems to be of the J60, as the outside modifications had been restricted to a brand new pair of LED headlights, shiny chrome bits on the grille and bumpers, plus a set of Renoca’s retro-flavored alloy wheels shod in contemporary all-terrain tires.
What’s much more essential than the spectacular restoration work is the truth that the outdated combustion engine was faraway from the automobile, with a brand new electrical motor taking its place underneath the bonnet, along with the automobile management unit. The battery pack was mounted in a particular casing underneath the cargo space, whereas extra batteries may very well be mounted elsewhere contained in the automobile, additional increasing the driving vary potential of the EV.
As exhibited in one of many official movies, the EV retains the selectable 4WD system, with the electrical motor sending energy to both the rear or to all 4 wheels. Tonox and Flex didn’t announce the technical specs of the zero-emisson Toyota Land Cruiser 60 Sequence, however we hope we are going to be taught extra about it on the Japan Mobility Present, together with the ability output, vary, and efficiency figures.
The aim of the mission was to indicate that the lifetime of an older automobile might be considerably expanded by restoring it and including a quiet, zero-emission powertrain. On this method, it may be handed on to the subsequent generations, whereas retaining the traditional seems to be of the unique. It’s secure to imagine that Tonox and Flex will proceed the partnership, enterprise comparable electromod initiatives sooner or later.