Call me a cynic. Call me jaded. Call me Martha if you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that it takes a lot to surprise us industry types. We drive a lot of cars—often before anyone except the engineers have had the chance—we research them to the nth degree and so we kind of know what to expect.

But this FJ Cruiser took me completely by surprise, in just how much and how quickly it endeared itself to me.

While I don’t want this piece to read like a eulogy, I can’t help but get just a little melancholic.

Thanks to steadily decreasing sales and the market’s love for fuel economy above all else, 2014 is the last year in the Canadian market for this loveable man-sized Tonka truck. It’s fitting, then, that our tester was the Trail Teams edition, with special (and very “classic FJ40 Land Cruiser”) Heritage Blue paint, knobbly BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A tires with fantastic looking 16-inch beadlock wheels and some nifty badging. It's the quintessential FJ and deserves its spot in automotive lore.

What’s so great about the FJ is that as soon as the driver takes their seat, the intentions of the truck come into focus. The terrain gauges that look like altimeters sprout from atop the dash. The washable plastic and microfiber seats. The massive shift lever and stubby 4 x 4 controller. The way the plastic on the outside of the dash has been given a pressed-steel look; this is a car that you feel confident with through Death Valley and back. It's so nostalgic, so different, so…un-Toyota.

Then you step in a set off while staring through the machine gun bunker-sized windshield (it requires three miniature windshield wipers to clean) and wonder why everybody complains about the view out when the current Chevrolet Camaro has the same problem?

So it’s tough to see out of. And yes, the five-speed slushbox is ancient and the 260 hp V6 is definitely, ahem, “tested” by the FJ’s 5,566 lb. curb weight but there’s so much character and flare here. It’s the intangibles that do it, and there’s no way to research those which is why I was caught by such surprise. We often don’t realize how important said intangibles are and it’s a real and true shame to know that there is less and less room on the automotive landscape for uniqueness like this.

So do yourself a favour. If you’re considering a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited or Nissan Xterra, be sure to at least give the FJ a shot. It will be your last chance because when MY 2014 is up, you’re stuck with the used market and you can be sure that these are going to be a tough and expensive grab there.

Best part is, you might have a future classic on your hands.