A NASCAR V8-powered Toyota LandCruiser! Highlights of the 19 Toyotas at the 2023 SEMA show

Toyota has built a new V8-powered LandCruiser, but you can’t buy it, and we’re not sure how most people would even handle driving it. But that’s 541kW for you.

The ‘FJ Bruiser’, as it's being called, is arguably the headliner of a 19-car strong showing by Toyota at the 2023 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show. It’s a 1966 Toyota FJ45, but it’s also a 5.9-litre NASCAR V8-powered “rock crawler”. 

Marty Schwerter, North American Toyota Motorsports Garage Team Manager said, “At first it was referred to loosely as ‘The Unstoppable FJ,’ but by the time it was done, it was a beastly vehicle, and so the team started referring to it as the ‘FJ Bruiser’”.

It’s a rock-crawler in that it can be as slow as 19km/h in first gear at 7000rpm, but as fast as 265km/h in its top gear.

At SEMA 2023, it’s joined by plenty of other Toyota metal, including a similar vintage FJ LandCruiser, this one a Rod Millen-built ‘Retro Cruiser’ powered by a 4.7-litre V8, and built originally back in 1999 by the New Zealander.

The bronze-coloured FJ looks rugged outside, but features a relatively modern 100 Series LandCruiser interior, with power accessories, leather trim, and even onboard water storage.

A ‘sports truck’ Toyota Tacoma ute joins the pair of LandCruisers, a modified version of what is essentially the North American equivalent of our HiLux.

A 314kW twin-turbocharged 3.4-litre V6 lives under the bonnet, while the chassis is lowered and the track width increased. It’s also been given a fairly lairy body kit with integrated lights and a set of black and red 21-inch wheels.

As well as the modified cars on display, Toyota brought along some North American special edition models and some new variants, including three GR models being added to the brand’s line-up there.

A Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition and GR Supra 45th Anniversary Edition celebrate their nameplates’ heritage, while the GR Corolla Circuit Edition features ‘Blue Flame’ paint and weight-saving elements like 18-inch forged aluminium wheels.

Toyota North America’s Marketing Vice President, Mike Tripp, said the goal of the massive fleet of display cars was to make Toyota “the first company customers think about when seeking on-track performance or off-road adventure”.

“We want to demonstrate that Toyota is an exciting, innovative company capable of taking our stock vehicles and building them out to do incredible things.”