If you like being out in your 4×4 off-road or on a trip, you often meet like-minded people. That leads to great chats around the campfire and often to new friendships too. In the off-road and travel scene, many communities, clubs and associations, small and large, have formed and they are very active. We think that is brilliant, and so in the Scene & Clubs series we keep introducing interesting clubs and communities from the off-road and travel scene. Today it is about the Buschtaxi.
The Buschtaxi? Yes, the Buschtaxi, not the vehicle itself, but the big community around the Buschtaxi, or simply buschtaxi.net. Many of you will know the Buschtaxi forum. But this is far from being just an internet forum.
“Addicted to Toyota’s Offroad Icons” …
… that is what it says on buschtaxi.net. Because here everything revolves around the off-road vehicles from Toyota. The lion’s share being the legendary Land Cruiser, of course. And that one alone is already very many-sided and was developed and changed throughout its many years of production. If you are interested in the history of this off-road veteran, the big Land Cruiser overview that Alexander Wohlfarth put together is well worth a look.
Alexander is the man behind buschtaxi.net, also known as the Netzmeister, or “Netzi” for short. The idea of creating an information and communication platform around Toyota off-road vehicles came to him back in the mid-1990s. Back then Alexander had got into the Land Cruiser and searched the internet, more or less in vain, for useful information. So in 1999, along with his first Land Cruiser, came the domain buschtaxi.net.
You can read more about Alexander Wohlfarth and his activities around the Land Cruiser and other Toyota off-roaders in our interview 15 Years of buschtaxi.net.
The whole story quickly picked up real speed
The website started with a simple page and a list where Land Cruiser fans and drivers could sign up. So the site became a place for like-minded people to exchange ideas very early on. Today it is no different. Alexander has created a huge platform for the friends, lovers and the simply curious of Toyota off-roaders. By now there is a large editorial section with many topics around the vehicles, a forum and, of course, the well-known social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are catered for too. Today buschtaxi.net has around a million visitors a month across all channels. The forum alone holds almost a million posts from around 18,000 members.
But that is not all
Some of you will know the book “Legende Land Cruiser”. This too is a project of Alexander Wohlfarth’s. In the book Alexander wrote down everything about Toyota’s iconic 4×4, from the 1950s to today. It has appeared in four languages (German, Polish, English and Japanese). We presented the book here on Matsch&Piste.
A new book project is currently in the works. It will be about the faces of the Buschtaxi family, as the fan community is also fondly called. An incredible variety awaits us there. Because in the buschtaxi.net community it makes no difference at all whether you use your Toyota off-roader for digging about in the sandpit, on far-off trips or in everyday life. No one is excluded here!
The Buschtaxi meeting
Of course, the Toyota fans do not only meet virtually. As well as plenty of smaller and larger events and regular get-togethers, the big Buschtaxi meeting takes place once a year. It is known internationally. At the last meeting in 2019, participants came from eighteen nations in all! The Buschtaxi really does cross borders and bring people together!
Drivers of other makes are of course welcome at this great meeting too.
buschtaxi.net at Abenteuer Allrad
If you have ever visited Abenteuer Allrad in Bad Kissingen, you will have noticed the buschtaxi.net stand. That is something very special, a community from the off-road and travel scene that has its own stand. With the stand, buschtaxi.net gives the community a meeting point at one of the most important 4×4 shows in the world. A great thing!
By the way, there are even more Toyota 4x4s at the Toyota museum in Cologne. Alexander runs guided tours there for anyone interested. These tours take place regularly, at every public opening.
A great community like this thrives on taking part, of course
If you are curious now, do have a look around the buschtaxi.net pages. In the Buschtaxi forum you will find many like-minded people and a wealth of information around Toyota’s offroad icons.
If you prefer it in person, you can also visit one of the many Buschtaxi get-togethers. New faces are always warmly welcome here.
© Photos: Doreen Kühr, Alexander Wohlfarth