- This Toyota FJ Bruiser, which honors the 1966 FJ45 pickup’s styling, is appearing at the 2023 SEMA show in Las Vegas.
- There’s quite a bit more power this time around, though: in place of the six-cylinder engine from the 1966 vehicle, Toyota sourced a 725-hp V-8 from a NASCAR Cup car.
- The truck rides on a set of Method Double Standard beadlock wheels and 42-inch BFGoodrich Krawler T/A KX tires.
SEMA is about going above and beyond, and Toyota nailed that idea with this concept. The manufacturer just revealed a high-riding, V-8 snarling FJ45 concept called the FJ Bruiser. As can be intuited from the name, the concept pays homage to the 1966 FJ45 pickup truck. This time around, there are quite a few serious modifications.
The team at Toyota must have concluded that the FJ45 from the Sixties wasn’t nearly tough enough, because Toyota’s Motorsports Garage fabricated a full tube frame and roll cage, which they then mated to the vintage FJ body. A full trailing-arm suspension, with Fox shocks and Eibach springs, was added to suspend the chassis. The whole contraption rides on a set of Method Double Standard 20-by-10-inch beadlock wheels and 42-by-14.5 R-20 BFGoodrich Krawler T/A KX tires to provide gobs of traction off-road.
A modified 358-cubic-inch NASCAR Cup Car V-8 produces 725 horsepower. Power is transferred to the wheels by way of a three-speed automatic transmission built by Rancho Drivetrain Engineering. Exhaust is managed through a custom MagnaFlow exhaust system.
The FJ Bruiser retains the FJ45’s solid axle but adds new front and rear differentials along with a new transfer case that provides four two-wheel-drive speeds and four four-wheel-drive speeds. According to Toyota, the gearing setup allows the Bruiser to crawl at 12 mph while revving to 7000 rpm in the lowest gear and up to 165 mph at 7000 rpm in the highest gear.
In the event that the horsepower outmaneuvers the huge tires, Toyota fitted a conveyer belt complete with treading underneath the truck. Like some sort of Mad Max–devised treadmill, the Tank mode can be activated from the cabin for those pesky instances where you find yourself supported by the gas tank rather than your tires.
Associate News Editor
Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.
