Removable Tops...
Several of you have said "they should have made the FJC with a removable top" or "Jeep makes a vehicle with a removable top, why doesn't anyone else?"
There's no better example of the phenomenon of "cognitive dissonance" with regard to vehicle design than removable tops. Removable tops are one of those things that people say they like, but that in reality, they don't.
The original military jeeps and trucks had removable or collapsible tops for very practical reasons: It allowed them to acheive a lower silhouette which made them easier to conceal in battle. It also took up less room when transporting them by ship. That's one of the reasons, in fact, that the hard-top Carryall was discontinued in 1944 in favor of the soft-top Weapons Carrier - because the weapons carrier could do everything the Carryall could do, but it was smaller, lighter, easier to ship and had a lower silhouette.
Post-WWII, almost all of the early SUVs had removable tops: Not just Jeeps, but also Land Rovers, Land Cruisers, Scouts, Broncos, Jeep Commandos, the original Chevy Blazer, the Dodge Ramcharger and its badge-engineered stable mate the Plymouth Trail Duster, and so on. Yes, there were a few hard-tops, the Suburban, the Dodge Town Wagon, the Jeep Utility Wagon, and some others, but most of the early SUVs took their design cues from the Jeep: 2 doors, soft top, and often a fold down windshield.
The problem with this is that from a manufacturers standpoint, engineering a removable top means you have to design two completely independent parts: The body tub itself and a separate top, each of which has to be structurally sound. You also have to design the mechanism to mate the two together and since most of these removable top vehicles also had an optional soft top, you had to design that as well. You have to consider things like how much wind noise will be generated from the junction between the removable top and the body, and other factors like flexing between the body and the top and what that will do to each part.
Furthermore, by the 1970's, there were new laws requiring vehicles to meet certain crash standards, which also had to be incorporated into the removable top.
My point here is that designing these vehicles to have removable tops added a measurable amount to the cost of designing and making the vehicle.
And here's the thing: Back then, it was actually very rare that anybody removed their removable tops! I remember this from my own childhood - I can probably count on one hand the number of Broncos, Blazers, Scouts or Commandos I saw where the owners actually took the time to unbolt the heavy metal or fiberglass top, lift it off, and then find someplace to store it. Most of them simply left the hard top on.
In fact, from 1983 to 1985, I owned a 1971 Blazer with a removable fiberglass top. Never took the top off because (a) it was heavy, (b) then I would have to find someplace to store it and (c) then I would have to find some way to keep from getting wet in the rain (and it's not like I had extra $$ to spare on a soft top.)
I even know people today with hard top YJ or TJ jeeps who have never taken their tops off because it's too much of a PITA (IMO one of the genius ideas on the JK was that they made a modular top that can be taken off in pieces, making it much easier to do.)
It's actually kind of funny to me that back in the days when almost every 2 door SUV had a removable top, people almost never took them off, whereas nowadays, you see lots of Broncos, Blazers, etc, with the tops off. But I attribute that to the fact that these vehicles have moved from the "mainstream" into the "collector" or "enthusiast" market where there's much more interest in having something unique or special. Back when the Blazer was just the truck that Dad drove to work, he wouldn't want to take the top off - someone might steal his briefcase or a thunderstorm might soak his freshly pressed suit!
I know I've said it before, but those of us who like these rugged, simple, spartan vehicles are a tiny, tiny fraction of the buying public.
And in my case in particular, since I only buy used, a manufacturer would have to be pretty stupid to cater to my tastes (even though I'm on Toyota no. 4, the Toyota Motor Company hasn't seen a dime of my money since 1985.)
I think the Icon trucks are cool, too. Not that I could ever afford one, but an interesting design.
As for the FJC, there is a niche market there - Nissan appeals to it as well with the Xterra - but Toyota has obviously figured out that they can appeal to that market with other vehicles - probably the DC Tacoma and the Trail Edition 4runner. Having fewer platforms to service makes economic sense to me.
