(By Tom Lohnes) – In the 90’s AM General was thriving. With their massive contract with the US army their H1 or HUMVEE, was flying off the production line. In 1992, they released a civilian model for normal people to buy. Powered by a 6.2-liter Naturally aspirated V8 diesel supplied by GM, the H1 was slow but bulletproof. Toyota, seeing that the H1 was doing so well, decided to hop on the trend. What they came out with was the Mega Cruiser, a slower and slightly less bulletproof H1, and it’s legal to bring into America next year.

Designed by Toyota for the Japanese Self-Defense Force, the Mega Cruiser was, a big, boxy, all-terrain SUV, just like the H1. It’s long, two-box style body was clearly influenced by the HUMVEE. It’s interior, also Hummer-like. What differentiates this from an H1 though, is the powertrain. The Mega Cruiser is powered by a chunks 4.1 Liter, turbodiesel inline-four banger. You might be thinking this engine produced enough power to actually move the Mega Cruiser to a reasonable speed at a reasonable pace? Well, no. The Mega Cruiser has 136 horsepower and 281 lb.-ft of torque. And you thought the H1 was slow. The Mega Cruiser is right hand drive and has a 4-speed automatic transmission, pushing power to all four wheels through a transfer case. As mentioned above because of importation laws, the big Toyota is still illegal to drive in America until next year.

So that means when next year rolls around, you can import a Japanese Hummer with no power into the United States for about $109,000. Why so expensive? Because only 151 Civilian Mega Cruisers were ever made, making them extremely rare and collectable. But, if you have the money, give it a shot.