This Toyota FJ Bruiser looks like the 1966 FJ45 truck and will be shown at the SEMA show in Las Vegas in 2023. But this time, there is a lot more power: Toyota got a 725-hp V-8 engine from a NASCAR Cup car to replace the six-cylinder engine in the 1966 car. Toyo 42-inch Krawler T/A KX tires and Method Double Standard beadlock wheels make up the truck. Going the extra mile is what SEMA is all about, and Toyota’s design captures that spirit. The FJ Bruiser is a high-riding, V-8-powered model FJ45 that the company just showed off. As the name says, the idea is a tribute to the 1966 FJ45 pickup truck. There have been a lot of significant changes this time. The Toyota team must have decided that the FJ45 from the 1960s wasn’t challenging enough, so they connected the Vintage FJ body to a full tube frame and roll cage made at Toyota’s Motorsports Garage. A complete trailing-arm suspension system with Fox shocks and Eibach springs held up the frame. For the best off-road grip, the whole thing is placed on Method Double Standard 20-by-10-inch beadlock wheels and 42-by-14.5 R-20 BFGoodrich Krawler T/A KX tires. A 358-cubic-inch NASCAR Cup Car V-8 engine that has been changed makes 725 horsepower. The gearbox from Rancho Drivetrain Engineering has three speeds and sends power to the wheels. A MagnaFlow exhaust system is used to control the pollution. It has the same solid axle as the FJ45, but it has new front and back differentials and a transfer case with four two-wheel-drive and four four-wheel-drive speeds. Toyota says that with this speed, the Bruiser can go from 0 to 165 mph at 7000 rpm in the highest gear and from 0 to 12 mph in the lowest gear. Toyota put a treaded conveyor belt under the car to ensure the horsepower couldn’t move around the big tires. You can switch to Tank mode, which works like a Mad Max treadmill, from the car. This will help you get through those annoying situations where your tires aren’t supporting you, but the gas tank is.
