Betty & Lauren: #longtermrelationshipgoals

This is the kind of blog post that needs an intro. I'm loving life in the Dallas Forth Worth area. The weather is great and the cars are abundant. Most of all, there is no shortage of car enthusiasts to chat with and get to know. This is why I've decided to start this fun interview series. It's an excuse to hang out with cool people and their cool cars, take photos and write. All the stuff I love to do. The truck in this article needs no introduction because let's face it. The Series 60 Toyota Land Cruiser isn't just fairly well known, it's an automotive icon all by itself. This lovingly maintained, lady driven 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser's name is Betty White, and let me tell you. Betty is a beast in all of the very best ways. Lauren W has owned Betty for the last 13 years and this vintage Land Cruiser, is not just Lauren's dream car but also her daily driver. Lauren knows the mechanical stats, facelift facts and features like the back of her hand and obviously, she drives this rig everywhere. Before we get into Lauren's interview, let’s talk about the drive.

There is a reason why classic cars go up in value. Just like fine wines or paintings, cars from a previous era represent a certain set of values that both manufacturers and consumers held at a certain point in time. They represent what technology was available, what fashion was in vogue and most of all, these cars enable us to feel exactly what it was like to interact with a piece of machinery from a time gone by. You like the mechanical feel, smells and noises of a gritty Toyota straight 6 ushering you down the road? Tap into something from 1984, like this incredibly well cared for Land Cruiser.

Test driving a vintage car is much like sitting down to an expensive meal. You eat with your eyes first. And the first thing I noticed as I approached the Land Cruiser is just how functional it is. You don’t see aesthetic bits of molded plastic added to random corners to make it look low slung and aggressive. It's an overlander. The point is to drive over things (probably slowly), not eek out fast lap times. The headlight screws are visible to the naked eye because, if you crack a headlight open against a tree branch out in the woods, you just wanna be able to fix it without wondering if you have the right soft plastic interior tools to gently pry your useless cover out of the way. It’s just a phillip’s head, son!

In 1984, it seemed nobody cared about thiccc sausage-like steering wheels. This wheel was about as thick as a few pencils epoxied together and it had those sweet 70’s and 80’s finger grooves on the back for grip vs alcentara or leather. I’m a fan of both solutions, but I must say, feeling the different design was absolutely refreshing. I humbly request that this steering wheel never ever be changed or upgraded.

The gauge cluster was small and functional and only really told you the essentials. How fast is the car vehicle going? How fast is the engine going? Has anything overheated yet? It didn’t bother you with the outside temp because Toyota knew back then that you could just roll down the windows and find out using your… skin… the ultimate in human interface design technology. Mmmmm... manual windows (Homer Simpson voice). And my personal favorite…. a pull out choke nob. I haven’t seen a choke knob in a very long time and let me tell you. It was more impressive than Apple Car Play.

The cloth used on the seats matched the Land Cruiser’s personality like a finely tailored tweed suit (these seats were well loved and I wouldn’t change a thing) and the outward visibility was unhampered by thick A-Pillars. But that’s ok, because back then, everyone knew you weren’t supposed to drive a truck quickly around corners. These days, companies brag about their SUV's race track lap times.

I digress. The steering was heavy but not annoying and the clutch pedal was so stiff that when I got back into my 2000 Audi S4 after the shoot, the clutch was so light compared to the Land Cruiser that my gut thought "My clutch must be broken" broken. I know it wasn’t though because it had just been replaced a few weeks prior.

The chassis vibrated and shook in all the right places (insert innuendo here) and every 50 feet driven felt like a big adventure. I can easily say, I’d love one of these trucks in my stable because I simply adore variety and driving vehicles that feel different from one another. And this feels different to anything I’ve driven in a long ,long time. Ok. Enough about me and my feels. Let’s talk to the owner, Lauren. Since this is a new format, I’ll let you know. The questions CAFFEINE GT MAGAZINE asks during the interview series are locked down. Meaning I ask the same questions of each gear head and just hope they each have different and interesting answers. Let’s see how it goes.

1. What’s the year make and model of your car?

1984 Toyota Landcruiser FJ60 and her name is Betty White. Betty has an original rebuilt 2F 6 cylinder engine.

The third iteration of cruisers available in the USA and my favorite.

2. What made you chose to buy this one? Where did you buy it (if you’d like to share that)?

I’ll never forget the first time I saw an FJ60 it changed my life (that ass tho ;)). Cruisers are more common in Oregon where I’m from. I purchased it off Craigslist in Portland 13 years ago.

3. What’s your end goal with the car (shows, track days etc)?

My “end goal” is to never sell. I can’t tell you how many people say “I wish I had never sold mine.” or “My dad used to have one.”

That’s my wifey, her value will continue to go up but she’s priceless to me.

I will be attending Rad Wood in Austin this May as well as the Toyota jamboree in March. It's an off-road event a few hours from Dallas and Betty will get to stretch her legs a bit. We don’t go off-roading as much as we did in Oregon.

4. Do you have any current mods or future mods planned?

I would love to continue to fix up the interior, I like it a little rugged and the interior is original. I’ve owned it long enough to have replaced almost everything under the hood and I’ve done a lot to the truck to keep it as my daily driver and only car. Who knows maybe she will get a snorkel some day.

5. What’s your favorite thing about driving this car?

Being on top of the world! We don’t go anywhere fast but we can go anywhere.

It makes my day when people smile when they see my truck, I love it when people get excited to see it on the road.

I also love to use my truck for educating myself and others. It’s carbureted, it's a simple set up under the hood and it's a great space to begin wrenching.

6. What’s a random fact about this car that you don’t think many people would know?

Betty’s been stolen twice!!!

Head over to our albums for more photos

from the Betty and Lauren shoot.

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Keep scrolling to watch the photo shoot behind the scenes video!