Who is Toyota USA kidding with this? This is a cynical marketing grab, because they cannot stop frothing at the mouth, at the ridiculous PROFIT they are getting out of this vehicle! Last year was a landmark record for the nameplate, in the middle of a damn pandemic!
People accuse Ford of doing things, both wrong in many cases and right in some cases, yet this borrows from a past playbook I greatly disliked.
I remember when such BS came out, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a nameplate, launched April 17, 1964 as a 1965 model.
Yet, this was unveiled in April 2003 for 2004 model year.
All despite a good thing already going with this new teaser, from Detroit '03.
Why did they do this? To get easy BS sales, by using the outgoing model 1 year too early, for an anniversary edition and not roping it all into the new model, which would be in limited supply.
The real 40th anniversary car, appeared right here on January 5, 2004 and went on sale in October 2004.
They fixed it thankfully in 2014, by NOT cheating like Toyota has here:
Toyota knows for a fact, that the 1984 1/2 4Runner was launched in May 1984, to indirectly replace the FJ40 below the flagship 60, since the J70 was in limbo for North America and Toyota Motor Sales USA wasn't serious.
How stupid do they think their buyers are? The 2023 4Runner goes on sale in October
2022, unlike the redesigned 2024 model which hits dealers in spring 2024. Ironic you say? Spring 2024, against Spring
1984... They should saved this
40th Anniversary edition for the 2024 model year, but of course not. Cheat and grab some easy sales instead, with fake 40th anniversary premature edition. I should start celebrating my birthday 1.5 years earlier, by that logic of theirs.