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If you’re a Land Cruiser fan and haven’t heard of Flex, you need to check it out. The Japanese company face-swaps Toyota vehicles with retro bodywork, and also imports JDM Land Cruisers through its dealership in San Diego. And now Flex is inviting customers to take delivery of those Land Cruisers in Japan before shipping them to the United States.
Travelers will get to see quite a bit of Japan during the weeklong trip. After spending a night in Tokyo, customers get to meet their Land Cruiser in the more appropriately rural environment of Yamanashi, then drive to Nagoya for a visit to the Toyota Museum. It should make for a great first impression and a great story that will make owning one of these classics all the more meaningful. Customers also have full access to Flex’s Japanese specialists, who can show them the ins and outs of their vehicles.
A Flex Land Cruiser after a generation gap-bridging restomod Flex Ventures
From there, the itinerary calls for flying to Hokkaido, the northernmost of the four main islands of Japan, to visit Flex’s shop in Sapporo and spend a few days in a cabin in Tokachi before heading back to Tokyo. For the Hokkaido portion of the trip, guests are provided with a Toyota Hiace camper van from local tour company Moving Inn.
Flex emphasizes that this is only a recommended route and that the exact itinerary can be modified to accommodate different driving environments, experiences, and schedules. It’s not a group tour, either, so customers have plenty of leeway to do their own thing.
Flex Toyota
The cost is 2.7 million Japanese yen for two people, or just over $17,000 at current exchange rates. That includes lodging, meals, planned activities, and transportation within Japan, but doesn’t cover flights to and from the U.S. and Tokyo. These trips are currently open for U.S. customers who have bought one of Flex’s JDM vehicles.
A trip like this might be a budget-stretcher, especially if you’ve just purchased an older vehicle that might need extra cash set aside for maintenance. But it’s hard to argue with the romance of planning an actual adventure around your adventure-ready SUV.
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Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
AloJapan.com