√One of the rarest Toyota models ever made surfaces at Australian auction house
No, this isn’t a Humvee – it’s a Toyota Mega Cruiser, and it’s got some serious off-road capability.
A 2000 Toyota Mega Cruiser is heading to auction after being used on a Hollywood film shoot in Australia.
Taking its design influence from the Humvee, the Mega Cruiser was initially created as a military vehicle, with a small number of civilian production cars made by Toyota for the retail market – around 133, as outlined in Drive’s profile on the vehicle from March 2021.
This particular Mega Cruiser is the military version, as outlined on the Lloyds auction advertisement – with fewer than 2500 being manufactured – though it’s thought only 900 or so remain in the world.
It was imported to Australia for the filming of the 2021 film Godzilla vs Kong, before ending up at the now closed Tank Ride in Queensland, and shows 76,686km on the odometer.
While Lloyds claims the vehicle cannot be registered, it may be possible to engineer the Mega Cruiser to comply with Australian state laws, as with a number of military Humvees that have been imported into the country – though at potentially great expense.
The Mega Cruiser is powered by a 4.1-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine, sending 114kW and 382Nm to its portal axles through a Japanese-built Aisin four-speed automatic transmission and a two-speed centre differential lock.
Despite being more than five metres long, four-wheel steering helps the vehicle get around tight corners, while front and rear differential locks aid traction off-road, with a Torsen limited-slip differential helping the rest of the time.
MORE: Cars you didn’t know you want: Toyota Mega Cruiser
Ground clearance is 420mm, with the 37-inch tyres able to be re-inflated thanks to an on-board air compressor.
Drive understands this vehicle has been available for sale in the past, with an asking price of $100,000.
Lloyds Auctioneers is currently offering the 2000 Toyota Mega Cruiser, which you can find by clicking here.
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