The idea of a new FJ with rugged capabilities of the FJ40 originated in the mid-1990s with Toyota's product planner Dave Danzer and vice-president of sales and operations Yoshi Inaba.

[6]: 36 Offroad vehicle was known internally as Rugged Youth Utility (RYU) aimed at attracting young male buyers, a segment Toyota felt they were losing touch with at the time.

[6]: 77  The bold styling was an immediate hit with the automotive press and general public despite competing with more exotic concepts like the Cadillac Sixteen and Dodge Tomahawk.

[6]: 56  By resurrecting design traits from the iconic FJ40, the FJ Cruiser was viewed as a new halo car for Toyota, much like the similarly retro-styled 2005 Mustang had been for Ford.

Despite each one-off mule costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, the development team was determined to push the capabilities of the prototypes in order to deliver reliable offroad performance in the production model.

[6]: 107 The exterior of the FJ concept remained largely unchanged when the final production model debuted at the 2005 Chicago Auto Show.

The three-gauge cluster (with compass, temperature, and inclinometer) as well as the 120 V rear outlet were carried over from the FJ Cruiser concept vehicle as options on the final production model.

[6]: 78 At 183.9 inches (4.67 m) in length, the FJ Cruiser is a mid-size SUV offered by Toyota in North America, slotting between the smaller RAV4 and larger Highlander.

[4] Structurally, the FJ Cruiser incorporates a body on frame truck style design similar, but not identical to that of the two-door Prado platform.

[6]: 103 Toyota made revisions to the engine bay's inner fender aprons due to some bulging and cracking issues with the 2007 and some early 2008 models.

Early production 2006 FJ Cruisers had an issue that caused the rear differential to override the active traction control, except in the TRD Special Editions.

However, by November 2006, Toyota had changed production to incorporate synchronization of the locking differential with active traction control on all FJ Cruisers.

This package was available on FJ Cruisers with the iceberg white monotone exterior color scheme, similar to the 2008 Trail Teams Special Editions, except without the addition of blacked-out trim pieces.

Over the years, small incremental changes have been made to the Trail Teams Special Edition FJ Cruisers, such as changing the TRD alloy wheels to beadlock style TRD wheels on later years, and the availability of Toyota's CRAWL control feature as part of the Trail Teams package (2013 and 2014 automatic transmission only).

The Trail Teams variants are also the only FJ models to have body trim pieces blacked out from the factory including the mirrors, door handles, bumper caps, etc.

The Ultimate Edition is also equipped with a special 1/4-inch thick aluminum TRD skid plate, designed to help with the approach angle for the front of the vehicle and provide better protection while off-roading.

The Trail Teams Special Edition color schemes that have been released each year are as follows: Iceberg[31] The FJ Crawler was first offered in 2007 (for the 2008 model year) and is the result of a collaboration between Dealer Services International (DSI), known for building high quality custom packages for new vehicle dealers, and ARB Corporation who have a long history building rugged off-road products for the Australian market.

Also, because of variances in aftermarket tire sizes, speedometer calibration was provided to ensure correct vehicle speed and mileage are recorded.

The FJ-S Cruiser Concept actually incorporates suspension components from the Baja Series Tacoma and has an upgraded chassis and body structure with the addition of an underbody "exoskeleton" to improve its off-road prowess.

According to Toyota, the extra stiffness and strength provided by the exoskeleton creates a more suitable platform for the suspension modifications and wheel upgrades added, which include 60 mm Bilstein racing shocks up front and 50 mm Bilstein racing shocks with remote reservoirs in the rear which produce around 1.3 inches of lift over stock.

TRD also added their new supercharger with a Twin Vortex System and a large air-to-water intercooler, which brings the engine output to 345 horsepower and 345 lb⋅ft of torque, which is 30% and 25% of increase over the standard FJ Cruiser model.

Not much information has been released as far as the chassis and body structure changes go, and Toyota hasn't announced what they plan on doing with the FJ-S Cruiser Concept in the future.

Critics appreciated Toyota's drive to bring such an aggressively styled and purpose driven vehicle to market at a time when the company was focused on more conservative designs.

The FJ was universally praised for its off-road performance with many reviewers also appreciating its on road manners, functional interior, and styling that paid homage to the original FJ40.

Some reviewers took issue with the amount of body roll and low lateral grip performance though noting the suspension was designed to be soft with a long travel for off-road use.

[40] The FJ Cruiser was also criticized for its styling which created large blindspots, smaller than average cargo capacity, and cramped rear seating that was difficult to access.

Toyota hoped to rectify these concerns with an updated engine optimized to run on regular unleaded instead of premium with a slight boost in fuel economy for the 2010 model year.