The 1966 Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser Pickup is a legend in the off-road vehicle market. However, it is quite rare to see one of them in public these days. Maybe that’s the reason why Toyota Racing Development decided to come up with a unique concept for the truck at the 2023 SEMA Show.
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Concept vehicles do not always succeed in impressing enthusiasts but the one that Toyota brought to Las Vegas was a smash hit because it had a NASCAR race engine under its hood. An off-roading vehicle with a stock car racing engine would excite anyone. Fortunately, the look of the “FJ Bruiser” did not disappoint either.
It was fitted with a NASCAR V8 engine that delivers up to 715 horsepower. The body was transplanted onto a custom-built tubular frame chassis to handle the power. Just like the cars on a race track, the Bruiser was a loud machine. It could rev up to 7000 RPM, regardless of whether it ran at 12 mph or a whopping 165 mph.
“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’,” Toyota spokesperson Marty Schwerter said. Sure enough, the off-roader held a mammoth appearance. The sound it made thanks to the V8 makes the ‘Bruiser’ moniker quite appropriate as well.
It boasted 20-inch beadlock wheels and massive 42-inch BF Goodrich off-road tires, but this doesn’t mean it can’t get stuck in a muddy ditch. If that happens, Toyota has ensured that the driver doesn’t even need to get out of the car to get it free. The floor is fitted with tank tracks that replace a central skid plate. These can be deployed at the press of a button and the car will get loose in no time.
It may be an off-road vehicle but the Bruiser is as classy as it gets on the inside. Momo bucket seats and a vintage 1968 Jackie Stewart championship steering wheel make the vehicle all the more attractive to car enthusiasts. It truly is a work of art and it’s incredible to think how they got all of this inside the original FJ45 without altering its design by much.
