MAY/JUNE 2009

Sight-Unseeing

by Gehn Fujii

The photo in the Craigslist ad was small and poor in quality. It portrayed a near-stock FJ60 that looked somber and gray, like it had nothing to prove. The description was brief and no more inspiring than the photo. It read, “1986 Land Cruiser, 258k miles, runs good, leaks oil. $1,800.” I called the number.

The seller provided more details about the Land Cruiser, telling me it was rust free and that it ran well. “Well enough to drive across the country?” I asked. There was a pause. “Sure,” he said finally, which sounded to me more like, “Why not?” It seemed he was as compelled by the idea as I. And so I agreed to buy it sight-unseen, a decision my father would consider an act of naïve recklessness but that I will call a leap of good Cruiser-faith.

I am no different from many of those who stake a claim to the group of fanatics politely referred to as Land Cruiser “enthusiasts.” Inherent to this title is the obsession of acquiring more Cruisers and spare parts, which is precisely why I bought this FJ60. Almost 20 years of Toronto winters had taken its toll on my 1986 HJ60, perforating the floors, dissolving the rockers panels and swelling the frame. I needed a donor for a new body and none are as clean or as solid as those found in the dry West.

An engineer named Ken Kellogg of Mount Shasta, California, owned this Land Cruiser. I spoke with Ken several times confirming its condition and arranging the logistics of the transaction. He explained that the Cruiser had been abandoned somewhere outside of town and a local mechanic was called to tow it in. When the owner was finally tracked down, he didn’t have the means to pay for the tow or storage so the shop took the vehicle as collateral and offered it to Ken, who owns a 1972 FJ40. Ken had originally planned to fix it up but soon decided it was too much of a project. Fortunately for me, a project was exactly what I was looking for.

I’ll admit that, in time, I probably could have found a comparable Cruiser that wasn’t 3,000 miles away from Greenville, South Carolina, but the fact of the matter was that this one was a bargain and the perfect excuse for a road trip. I had been working full-time for quite a while and hadn’t yet taken a day off. I needed a vacation and with the July 4 holiday right around the corner, the timing was perfect. I decided to celebrate my independence by driving the Cruiser across the country.

As is often the case, planning the trip on a college budget was a fairly involved process. Travel arrangements to Mount Shasta included a plane, a metro, a train and a bus. I spent several weeks making these arrangements and plotting the route back to South Carolina. Packing on the other hand, was the easy part. My luggage consisted of a duffle bag with about 30 pounds of tools and underwear—mostly tools—and I took my camera and iPod as carry-on. I would be living in a truck for four days, so there was little else I needed.

I left on Monday, July 2nd, and arrived in Mount Shasta 24 hours later. It was late afternoon when I finally stepped off the bus atop a hill at the base of the impressive, snow-capped peak for which the town is named. It wasn’t long before Ken arrived and we drove up to his house nestled on an opposing slope with a spectacular view of the mountain...

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by Gehn Fujii