We tested the new Toyota Land Cruiser against its legendary predecessor. It lives up to the hype, even without a third row.

Julie stands beside the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser (left) and beside her old Land Cruiser (right)Alistair Barr/Business Insider

• Toyota launched new Land Cruiser in the US, reviving the iconic SUV .
• The original Land Cruiser, known for its durability, debuted in the 1950s.

The original Land Cruiser launched in the 1950s and rightly earned a reputation as an unbreakable beast of a car. It was everything an SUV was supposed to be.

It was so hardy that the United Nations relied on it in war-torn and famine-ravaged parts of the world. Those white UN Land Cruisers are an image burned into my teenage mind as the ultimate, go-anywhere reliability.

After a few decades, these rugged benefits got expensive. Land Cruisers started costing almost $100,000. And they began to get a little old compared to the competition.

Then, they disappeared in the US and fans freaked out.

But in 2023, Toyota announced a new Land Cruiser, which went on sale in the US earlier this year.

I recently test-drove the Land Cruiser 1958 for a week in Silicon Valley, through a loaner from Toyota.

I also zipped around in it with my neighbor Julie, who owned a Land Cruiser for about 20 years and adored it.