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New lunar rover whets our appetite for upcoming baby LandCruiser and draws inspiration from original FJ40
Toyota has celebrated 50 years of its Californian-based design studio by rolling out the all-new Toyota Baby Lunar Cruiser concept that imagines an otherworldly SUV to explore the moon – and keeps the flame burning for its upcoming ‘baby LandCruiser’.
Said to be one of several concepts that will also be rolled out to mark half a century of the Calty Design Research sudio, the Toyota Baby Lunar Cruiser (BLC) was designed to “conquer rugged terrain on Earth and beyond”.
Borrowing from the original 40-series Toyota Land Cruiser, which was sold from 1960 right up until 2001, the BLC gets a front facia that mimics the original FJ40 and even sports similar ‘TOYOTA’ heritage lettering.
Inside, instead of a steering wheel there are dual joysticks and a full-width digital dashboard that incorporates augmented reality tech.
Riding on airless tyres and packing a huge array of cameras and sensors, the BLC is built for exploring.
Korean rival, Hyundai, has also entered the space race with the announcement that it too was developing its own space exploration vehicle that would be launch-ready by 2027.
General Motors is working with Lockheed Martin to replace the skeletal lightweight vehicle for Project Artemis, the US mission to return to the moon.
The GM vehicle will be used for shorter distances and is being designed to carry just two astronauts and their luggage, riding on airless tyres supplied by Goodyear.
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