Paying Homage; Toyota updates a classic ute for a new audience.(News)

Byline: NATALIE NEFF

In this age of retro everything automotive, would you believe it if someone told you stodgy ol' Toyota had the creative wherewithal to come up with the coolest throwback yet? Not Dodge Challenger cool, perhaps, or even Ford GT cool, but funky, young and quirky cool?

Darn it if the world's almost-biggest automaker didn't do just that, rolling out a production version of the FJ Cruiser concept shown at Detroit just three short years ago.

Toyota says the retro part of the FJ's design hails back 50 years, but points most directly at the 1967 FJ40 Land Cruiser. That vehicle managed to earn quite a few devotees in its day-and not only for its aptitude off-road, for which it had plenty. Its white roof, wraparound windows and rawboned styling helped to endear the FJ to buyers the world over.

The 2007 FJ Cruiser draws heavily on those familiar cues, lifting its oval grille housing almost wholesale from its ancestor. Within its metallic housing the headlamps straddle a honeycomb grille, with the whole unit flanked by a pair of amber turn signals that curve around the corners.

From either side, it's hard to miss the FJ's suicide-style back doors, extra-wide C-pillars and blacked-out rear windows. And from behind, those rear windows effect the look of a wraparound backlight by blending into the rear glass, only the frame for the hatch door disrupting the flow.

If all that is not funky enough for you, Toyota also threw in three front windshield wipers, square wheel openings, a selection of paint colors that would make Ms. Crayola proud and, of course, a white roof-whatever the body color. Combined, these design elements ensure the FJ stands out among the wash of SUVs found on today's roads.