Joustra 1:10 - Modell autó - R/C Land Cruiser Paris-Dakar ref. 5054 - FY40

Original Joustra Land Cruiser Dakar 1981 in good condition.

At 1/10 scale, this is a large toy-grade R/C model which for it’s time was really very sophisticated. Needless to say it was expensive, and the example you see on this page is brand-new and still has the original purchase receipt in the box. The original price was apparently “131.75” (Dutch Guilder currency),

Joustra is a French company that was founded in 1934 and went on to become the number 1 toy brand in Europe, thanks to it’s range of electric and mechanical toys such as cars and (oddly) toy cranes. Today, the brand lives on as part of the Heller group (a French model manufacturer), and specializes in plaster, drawing and other basic creative toys.

However in the 1980s, just about every major toy manufacturer in the world decided to cash-in on the R/C car craze, and this Paris-Dakar Toyota Land Cruiser is noteworthy as a pretty impressive (and probably first) effort from a company with little previous R/C experience.

Not only was it an early R/C toy, but it was released when the Paris-Dakar rally itself was only 3 years old, and still a few years away from the peak of it’s popularity.

Obviously one of this vehicle’s best features is it’s large scale and realistic hard plastic body, which is a pretty well-proportioned rendition of the classic Land Cruiser. There’s plenty of detail – dashboard, roof rack, headlights, winch etc.

Obviously one of this vehicle’s best features is it’s large scale and realistic hard plastic body, which is a pretty well-proportioned rendition of the classic Land Cruiser. There’s plenty of detail – dashboard, roof rack, headlights, winch etc.