The Toyota FJ Cruiser Was Designed by a 24-Year-Old Fresh Graduate

The FJ Cruiser: 20 in 2026

Wasn’t 2006 just a few years ago? Well, apparently not, and for those born in the early-’90s, brace yourselves. It’s been 20 years since Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet, the Nintendo Wii made its way into living rooms, Italy won its last World Cup title, and the production rollout of the Toyota FJ Cruiser.

Have your knees recovered yet? Good, because it’s a good time to celebrate this SUV. While it didn’t exactly have a hugely successful run in America, sales were strong enough for it to merit a production run that lasted 16 years. Its retro look was backed up by actual off-road capability, and it helped that it had the same underpinnings as the Toyota 4Runner of its time. Of course, its main attraction was its styling, and we all must thank Jin Won Kim for its exterior.

A Fresh Grad Penned It

Kim was a fresh graduate of the ArtCenter College of Design when he walked through the doors of Toyota’s Calty Design Research studios in 2001. But not long after he started work there, his design for a modernized FJ40 would be chosen for the FJ Cruiser concept, and eventually, the production model. By the way, he was just 24 years old when he did that.

The concept model was presented during the 2003 Detroit Auto Show and received a hugely positive response. It’s just what Toyota needed, as the whole FJ40 revival started off as a bit of a secret project that needed a bit of a nudge before it got green-lit.

Let’s Not Forget Automotive Interior Designers

Let’s be honest, automotive interior designers do not get enough credit. The thing is, it also makes or breaks the car, probably even more than the exterior. After all, you interact with the interior more than the exterior.

William Chergosky had been around the design circles for longer than Kim. If there’s something you should know about the FJ Cruiser’s interior designer, it’s that he’s credited for the exterior design of the 1996 Dodge Copperhead Concept. Safe to say that Chergosky complemented Kim’s funky exterior when he did the interior of the FJ Cruiser. It’s retro minimalism done right, without being kitsch, as it still has logical, sensible ergonomics.

Chergosky and Kim Today

To say the FJ Cruiser made an impact on the careers of the two designers is putting it lightly. The concept model was the pair’s first big project for Toyota, and what a way it was to start things off with the brand.

The duo still works at Calty today, although Kim had a brief stint at Faraday Future before returning to Toyota. Since the FJ Cruiser, their portfolios have grown a lot, designing and contributing to some of the most important and impactful cars the brand has made. Kim is currently one of the chief designers over at Calty, while Chergosky is one of the company’s chief interior designers.

Some of the significant cars Kim has penned include the eleventh-generation Corolla, the seventh-generation Lexus ES, the current-gen Sienna, and perhaps, as a hat-tip to his first car, the Land Cruiser 250. As for Chergosky, you can thank him for the interiors of the third-generation Lexus GS, the LC grand tourer, the eighth-generation Toyota Camry, and the current Highlander. He also made significant contributions to the GR Supra and the current GR 86. Quite the CV for both, we say.

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