Off-Road

Toyota’s FJ Bruiser: The NASCAR-Powered Land Cruiser That Stole SEMA

Toyota’s FJ Bruiser Concept fuses a 725-HP NASCAR V8 with a 1966 Land Cruiser pickup — and adds hidden tank tracks to steal the 2023 SEMA Show.

Zoey

08 Oct 2025 — 2 min read

The Toyota FJ Bruiser Concept merges a 1966 Land Cruiser pickup with a 725-hp NASCAR V8 and hidden tank tracks — because Toyota still builds madness.

Featuring hidden tank-like tracks and 725 horsepower of pure insanity
(2023 Archive)

Toyota absolutely dominated the 2023 SEMA Show with a build that perfectly blends heritage and chaos — the FJ Bruiser Concept. It’s a tribute to the legendary FJ45 Land Cruiser pickup, a vehicle that helped build Toyota’s off-road reputation, now reborn as a purpose-built monster channeling Ultra4-style performance. Think of it as equal parts nostalgia and nuclear power.

At its core lies a modified NASCAR Cup Car TRD 358-cubic-inch V8, delivering an absurd 725 horsepower. That engine’s paired with a race-built 3-speed automatic from Rancho Drivetrain, and the exhaust — courtesy of MagnaFlow — ensures it sounds as wild as it looks.

Even more impressive, Toyota decided to keep the original solid axle setup, reinforcing it with Currie differentials and an Advanced Adapters Atlas transfer case. This gives the Bruiser eight total gearing options — four for 2WD and four for 4WD — letting it crawl at 12 mph at 7,000 rpm in low gear or rip to 165 mph in high gear.

Then there’s the part that truly stole the show: instead of a standard skid plate, Toyota installed a tank-like track system under the center of the vehicle. Controlled from inside the cockpit, it’s designed to help the FJ power itself free from high-centered terrain. Add a tube chassis, full roll cage, trailing-arm suspension, Fox shocks, and 42-inch BF Goodrich Krawler T/A KX tires, and you’ve got a Frankenstein build that could climb a mountain or conquer a racetrack.

Toyota’s FJ Bruiser isn’t just a one-off concept — it’s a bold statement. It reminds everyone that the brand famous for bulletproof off-roaders still knows how to have fun — and how to steal an entire auto show while doing it.

AutoZealot Take: The FJ Bruiser is everything SEMA should be — unhinged, unapologetic, and deeply engineered. It’s Toyota flexing what happens when heritage and horsepower go completely off the rails.