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Toyota Land Cruiser Takes On Australia’s Swan River

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Here in the US, the Toyota Land Cruiser is a high-end luxury model that sports a hefty price tag of $83,825. Drivers in other countries, however, get to enjoy slightly different iterations designed more for off-roading in the Australian Outback rather than hauling the kids to ballet and soccer practice in the suburbs. In Australia, some young gentlemen recently demonstrated the toughness of their Land Cruiser Troop Carrier (also known as a “Troopy” in Oz) by taking it out into Swan River in Perth and casting some crab nets before heading back to dry land.

Crabbing in the swan

Posted by Jamie Koric on Friday, March 4, 2016

The video, which was posted to Facebook by Jamie Koric late last week, shows two young men sitting atop a white Troopy, which proceeds to drive directly into the river. The SUV travels a fair way into the water before the two men cast their crab nets and turn the vehicle back towards land. Unfortunately for Koric and his friends, the fishing trip was unsuccessful. “I think we ran over more than we caught,” he told The West Australian.

While the video makes it seem like the trip was spur-of-the-moment, it was actually carefully planned. “I waded into to check the depth, and it was pretty shallow,” explained Koric. “We had another ute on standby in case we got stuck. It was pretty dodgy for a second – the wheels were spinning fast, but it ended up okay.”

Since posting it on March 4th, Koric’s video has garnered more than 227,000 views (as of 3/9) and been picked up by media across the world.

This isn’t the first time a Toyota vehicle has dabbled with life as an aquatic creature. Jeremy Clarkson attempted to transform a Toyota Hilux pickup into a boat for a Top Gear challenge a few years back, dubbing it “Toybota” and fitting it with a hefty Honda engine. The Toybota went up against James May’s Triumph Herald fitted with sails and Richard Hammond’s camper van/houseboat mashup in a hilarious segment that’s as funny today as it was when it first came out:

News Source: The West Australian via Jalopnik