Portuguese built color codes

[Sensh]

Hi all! I'm a newbie here, and started by searching, but can't find any thread that helps answer my first question:

I live in Spain, and have a 1991 BJ73, built in Portugal by Salvador Caetano. The vehicle is silver (or something very close to silver) with a white roof, and the factory paint code stamped on the VIN plate is "401." But I don't see any listing for 401 in any of the 70-series paint code lists, and if I google "Toyota color 401" or something, the only thing that keeps coming up is "Pluto Beige Metallic," which I really don't think is my color.

Does anyone know what Toyota called this color? Anyone know where there might be resources for Portuguese Toyota VIN decoding, etc? The pickings seem rather thin...

I have attached photos of the VIN plate and the vehicle, so you can see the codes and what the color looks like.

Thanks in advance!
- Paul

 

[Mblinko]

Can't help with the paint codes but that's a nice looking truck. Got any more pics/info?

welcome BTW.

 

[yorkie7771]

I will check the paint computer in the morning which every colour across the globe .... Well almost


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[Sensh]

I will check the paint computer in the morning which every colour across the globe .... Well almost

Oh, that would be huge, thank you!!

Mblinko, thank you for the kind words! It's a 1991 model BJ73, made in Portugal. It has the 2.5L Italian-made "VM" turbo diesel engine (the same engine as found in the Range Rover "Turbo D" models of the same era. It is not a well loved engine, because of a tendency to leak from the head gaskets if overheated, but I have owned a few of them now over the years, and I have found them to be woefully underrated engines. In the Land Cruiser the VM feels punchy and torquey, and the smoothness and refinement is much, much better than most turbo diesels of the time. I may be alone, but I am a big VM fan.

It's fairly low mileage (188k kilometers, or about 116k miles) and it's all original and very, very clean. In typical Toyota fashion everything works exactly as it should. I drive a lot of Land Rovers - Series III's and Defenders - and this Land Cruiser is my first. It's SO MUCH much more modern, and so much more useable than the Land Rovers, but I think it's every bit as tough and capable in the rough stuff. I'm a convert.

Here are some more pics.

 

[Sensh]

This is the first time I have looked at those engine compartment photos. Maybe it IS "Pluto Beige Metallic?" I don't know, man. The paint sure does look beige in those photos. But if you saw the truck parked on the street and someone asked what color it was, you'd answer "silver" in a heartbeat. The color sometimes looks like it has a little beige in it, and sometimes even looks like it has a little green in it, depending on the light, but day in and day out, it looks silver. I'm dying to know what Toyota (or Salvador Caetano?) called the color.

With my luck, it will probably turn out to be called "silver." lol

 

[Mblinko]

That's a very good looking truck. I like that, a lot. Miles of smile for you sir. Well done.

 

[Ben]

Thats a beautiful 70 you've got there!!

It definitely does look more beige in the engine bay. Could it have been re-sprayed silver?

Watch out for rust below the windscreen, thats where these models with the folding screens always go!

Have you taken the top off at all yet?

I'm pretty sure that as the top of all your doors are black, they are the ones that can be easily removed. With the FRP top removed and the tops off the 4 doors also removed it would look seriously cool!

Maybe not very practical day to day though.

What is the bracket for in the engine bay?

It looks like some one has mounted a second battery at some point.

 

[StarCruiser]

Great looking truck Sensh, welcome to the forum with a nice intro. [emoji4]

 

[Sensh]

Thats a beautiful 70 you've got there!! It definitely does look more beige in the engine bay. Could it have been re-sprayed silver?

Thank you very much, and I appreciate the welcome. It looks like a great forum...

The truck has been resprayed, but the exterior color and the engine bay are the same. It LOOKS more beige in the engine bay shots, but when you're looking with your eye, it looks the same everywhere. Sometimes silver, sometimes silver with a little greenish tint (like almost a magnesium color) and sometimes silver with a little beige tint. And if I could find a listing for the color code 401, that would put it all to rest, but I can't. The "Pluto Beige Metallic" seems like a very different color, and also from a different era altogether. I don't think they used it circa 1990/1991.

I don't think I have ever owned a vehicle where I couldn't determine what the factory original color was, particularly when I am looking at the color code on the VIN plate. Hahahaha!

Oh, BTW, it never occurred to me I could remove the tops to the doors. Ooooohhh. That is a very appealing thought.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Have you taken the top off at all yet?

I'm pretty sure that as the top of all your doors are black, they are the ones that can be easily removed. With the FRP top removed and the tops off the 4 doors also removed it would look seriously cool!

That was my first thought on seeing it as well; I had an FJ73 that didn't have black top doors, so I was never game to remove the roof...

 

[clivehorridge]

Welcome to the forum Sench, great looking truck you have there and good luck with the color code search.

Treat us to some photos when she goes topless, and some shots of the truck would be good too...