The Toyota FJ Cruiser Has Been Discontinued Again, This Time in the Middle East

Chances are the Middle East’s Final Edition FJ Cruiser will look a lot like this one, sold in Japan.

Chances are the Middle East’s Final Edition FJ Cruiser will look a lot like this one, sold in Japan.Image: Toyota

No — you did not wake up in 2014, I’m sorry to say. The affable Toyota FJ Cruiser has actually been on sale this entire time, just not where you could buy one. That’ll end very soon, though. Toyota, which has been selling FJ Cruisers in the Middle East for this entire time, is sending the quirky SUV out with a Final Edition for buyers in that region next year.

All told, the FJ Cruiser lasted 16 years in the Middle East. That’s very impressive, and we’re very jealous. Every example of the FJ Final Edition will be finished in beige, according to Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, an authorized Toyota distributor in Saudi Arabia.

Image for article titled The Toyota FJ Cruiser Has Been Discontinued Again, This Time in the Middle East

Image: Toyota

That color will extend to everything — the body, pillars and roof, as well the upholstery and center stack trim in the interior, to provide a “distinctive sense of modernity.” I don’t know if I’d call beige the most modern color, but to each their own. For me, and I’d wager for a great many of you, the quintessential FJ color scheme will always be yellow or blue with a white roof, end of discussion.

This is how I’ll choose to remember the FJ Cruiser.

This is how I’ll choose to remember the FJ Cruiser.Image: Toyota

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Toyota hasn’t published images of this special-edition FJ, but as Motor1 points out, the description of the Middle East special edition sounds very similar to the Final Edition model sold in Japan five years ago. In addition to all the beige, Japan’s special edition also had black trim on the grille, bumpers and step rails.

Again, this is the Japanese-market model, though the interior color scheme exactly matches the description of the Middle East final edition.

Again, this is the Japanese-market model, though the interior color scheme exactly matches the description of the Middle East final edition.Image: Toyota

Only 1,000 of these last-call trucks will be sold in the Middle East, and the changes are purely cosmetic. The powertrain — the 270-hp, 4.0-liter V6 — is unchanged. That’s alright; it doesn’t have to change. The FJ was a tragic SUV, derided during its existence for being too weird and cutesy for an American public still swilling Monster Energy and 3 Doors Down. Toyota ended production mere seconds before Americans decided they only cared about overlanding. Had the FJ remained on sale in the States, it would undoubtedly be a hit now. If Toyota’s smart, it’ll get its concept Compact Cruiser EV into showrooms as fast as it can.