Young women are driving a boom in old diesel 4WDs – and Australia has caught the same wave
The Age reports a surge of young Australian women buying decades-old manual four-wheel drives, echoing a Wall Street Journal-documented US trend built on vintage Broncos and Land Rovers, with restoration firms and used-value data pointing to a genuine shift.
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From a Mazda 3 to a 1992 Pajero: the Australian trend
The trend carmakers did not see coming in 2026, according to The Age, is a surge in young women buying decades-old, diesel-powered 4WDs with manual transmissions in preference to modern SUVs, hatchbacks and electric vehicles. The publication's feature by Susannah Guthrie opens with Bonnie, a 27-year-old Pilates instructor who traded a string of forgettable small hatchbacks for a bright red, short-wheelbase two-door Mitsubishi Pajero from 1992 that is older than she is. 12
Bonnie told The Age the car was rough when she bought it three years ago – no seats, no carpet, a dead speedometer and tachometer, and no airbags to this day – but she would not trade it for modern conveniences like cruise control or blind-spot monitoring. She says the connection to the car has made her a better driver, and her partner has taught her how to service it herself. 12
The Age frames the Australian phenomenon as a local version of a trend The Wall Street Journal identified in June under the headline "The Expensive Accessory Every 'Hot Girl' Wants: An Old, Loud SUV", in which journalist Chavie Lieber documented booming demand for secondhand Ford Broncos and Land Rovers among affluent young women. In Australia, The Age notes, the equivalents are Toyota LandCruisers and Defenders, and the buyers are often described as savvy creatives with a thirst for adventure. 1234
Restorers report a changing customer base
Stuart Amm, owner of Sydney-based restoration company Aussie Motor Group, told The Age he has witnessed the trend in real time over the last two years, with young female owners now accounting for roughly 25 per cent of his company's work. He attributes their arrival to social media exposure to the car scene, and says his female customers tend to be successful business owners with creative backgrounds who are heavily involved in design and customisation. 12
Amm's most recent project, as reported by The Age, was customising a 2015 Land Rover Defender for Ngoc Dang, owner of Melbourne-based events company Ed&Ed Studio. Dang said the manual gearbox was a big part of the appeal because "it's really difficult to buy a manual car new", even though the heavy clutch and clunky driving character took getting used to. She has kept the manual while adding Apple CarPlay and sound dampening, and fitting caramel-coloured leather. 12
Amm described these vehicles to The Age as "the antidote to disposable culture", arguing that a restored classic makes a bigger statement than a brand-new SUV anyone can buy. He noted their dual appeal: capable enough for the beach or a highlands farm, yet smart enough to look at home parked beside a modern Range Rover. 12
The US template: six-figure Broncos and restomods
The Wall Street Journal's June 2026 report, carried by Hindustan Times, found young women in wealthy zip codes and beach towns pining for throwback off-road SUVs as flaunted status symbols, with buyers spending north of $100,000 on vintage Broncos and Land Rovers. Examples ranged from a 1994 Jeep Wrangler YJ bought for about $16,500 by a 28-year-old in Manchester, England, to a custom 1976 Bronco purchased for about $125,000 by Daily Drills co-founder MaryRalph Bradley. 34
The same WSJ reporting cited market indicators for the shift: Houston restorer Banyan Motors said its roster of female clients rose 60 per cent in two years; classic-car insurer Hagerty recorded an 82 per cent jump over three years in women under 50 buying 1960s and 1970s Broncos; and Velocity Restorations in Florida, which sells restomods priced as high as about $460,000, reported female buyers up 13 per cent since 2024. Celebrity ownership – Kendall Jenner's 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser and Sydney Sweeney's self-restored 1969 Bronco – has amplified visibility. 3
The WSJ reporting also documented the costs of ownership. Becca Elliott, a 29-year-old web designer who paid $76,000 for a restored 1987 Defender, told the paper she had spent an additional $31,000 since buying it, saying "the costs are no joke". Rental businesses have emerged around the trend too, with East End Reserve on Nantucket hiring out vintage Defenders for about $500 a day, and its co-owner Anabelle Yi saying 80 per cent of clients are women aged 20 to 40. 3
Used values: Defenders above original price, LandCruisers near new
Beyond the lifestyle appeal, The Age cites data from automotive intelligence firm AutoGrab showing that a 2012 Land Rover Defender on average retains more than 100 per cent of its original value when sold on today's used market. Toyota LandCruisers are described as a similarly solid buy, with data showing two-to-four-year-old models regularly selling for the same amount as they cost new. 12
That value retention sits alongside the customisation culture The Age documents. Queensland photographer Madelyn Holmes, 31, owns three Land Rovers – currently a 2015 Defender 110 and a 1973 Series III – and told the publication she was drawn to 4WDs as a way to access remote locations for her photography, valuing the stripped-back, screen-free character of the vehicles. 12
Holmes also described to The Age the resistance some women face in the classic 4WD community, recalling comments like "I really like your boyfriend's car" and a buyer refusing to sell her a Series III based on her profile picture and name. She responded by starting the Instagram account @ladyinalandy. 12
Troopies, tiny cabin comforts and community
The Age's third case study is Jaycee Wilson of the Sunshine Coast, who bought her 2006 LandCruiser Troop Carrier from a French tourist at 17 on P-plates. Working with her father, a cabinet maker, she converted it into a rolling camper with a fridge, oven, pop-up tables, a pantry and an outdoor shower, and has driven it – nicknamed "Saltee the Troopy" – almost 400,000km in four years. 12
Wilson acknowledged to The Age that the Troopy was not the most sensible first car: parking is difficult, underground car parks are off limits and running costs are high. But she has learned to service it herself, copes with roll-down windows that occasionally need WD-40 and an air-conditioning system that sporadically breaks down, and says she would not change a thing given the experiences it has enabled. 12
The community dimension is central to the story The Age tells. Wilson, whose Instagram handle is on the back of the car, says passing cars full of young women wave and hold up phone messages reading "WE LOVE YOUR CAR!". For a publication documenting a buyer shift carmakers did not anticipate, the enthusiasm of young women broadcasting their love of old 4WDs is itself part of the evidence. 12
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