ShifteratiThe story
History: facts, each with its source
In 1979 Toyota said it would stop bringing the Land Cruiser FJ40 to the US. By Toyota's account, families in Brookfield, Wisconsin, still needed something for off-road camping and hunting trips, so it set out to design a new vehicle. In 1981 Winnebago Industries and Toyota built the Trekker, a camper shell on a Hilux pickup. The 4Runner followed in 1984, building on the Land Cruiser and the Trekker.1,2
Toyota says the name marked it as an early example of a new kind of vehicle, and that it echoes the "pre-runner" trucks that desert racers use to scout the Baja 500 and Baja 1000.1
The first 4Runner had two seats and no rear seat, a steel roll bar, a rear window that rolled down and a fiberglass top over the cargo area that came off. Toyota says that because it was so plain, it was first seen as little more than a pickup with its bed boxed in.2,1
The second generation, for 1990, gave it rear doors and a one-piece body in place of the removable top, as SUVs caught on with everyday drivers in the 1990s.2,1
The third generation, for 1996, brought new engines, a new chassis and new safety features, with stability control added in 2001. The fourth, from 2003, kept the 4Runner's truck roots and added a V8.3
The sixth generation, from 2025, moved to Toyota's TNGA-F platform, shared with the Tacoma, Tundra, Land Cruiser and Sequoia. By Toyota's count in 2022, the 4Runner had passed four million sales around the world.4,1