• Copywork365
  • Posts
  • 3-OCT-2025 | Excerpt from Toyota’s “This is not a car” Land Cruiser Ad — 1971

3-OCT-2025 | Excerpt from Toyota’s “This is not a car” Land Cruiser Ad — 1971

Author

Dan Bogachek
October 03, 2025

Toolbox by Copywork365

Liking the daily exercise?
Wait till you see this.

Toolbox is your swipe file on roids.

It’s a database of world-class excerpts just like the ones we cover right here on the daily.

Browse through hundreds of pieces (and growing!) spanning ad copy, webpage copy, and literature.

Each and every one comes with granular analysis on what makes everything tick and why it works.

All the tools, techniques, and psychology we touch on here, but in their full depth. Making it even easier to master these “devices” and apply them to your persuasive writing. And filtering by author or brand means you can steal the secret sauce from your very favorite writers, copywriters, and brands.

So if you’re looking to level up with a forever resource, I’ve got a forever deal for you.

Join the waitlist to get lifetime access for a single flat fee — when Toolbox launches.

Oh and I really do mean lifetime.

Even if the internet ceases to exist. I’ll work day and night to ensure you receive a physical book copy. Hell, clay tablets, if it gets that bad 😅.

Even when it’s 100’s of thousands of excerpts. Pinky promise.

Excerpt from Toyota’s “This is not a car” Land Cruiser Ad — 1971

This is not a car.

It’s a 4-wheel drive Toyota Land Cruiser.

Sure you can drive it at top speeds on the highway. Sure your wife can take it to the grocery store. But those are the fringe benefits. They’re not what it was built for.

The Land Cruiser has a straight six, 155 hp engine. Because it serves the purpose. All the torque you need for climbing. Plenty of power for pulling. The Land Cruiser doesn’t overpower you. Or the land you want to preserve.

It’s made of steel, heavily reinforced. Held together by nuts and bolts, rivets and welds. Not by sheet metal screws. There are no large vulnerable panels. All vital parts underneath are protected by skid plates. 🏁

  1. Reframing for identity and novelty. “You don’t want this because it’s a car — no, this is something else entirely.” It’s no longer a contest with other cars. They’ve made it a comparison between what it can do, and how much it costs.
    Play the game by your own rules, and you’re guaranteed to win.

  2. Textbook crispy copy. Grade 2 on the Hemingway App. The average sentence is EIGHT words long.