Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser Has A NASCAR Engine

When we first saw the Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser modified seven ways to Sunday, including sporting a modern NASCAR engine, we were blown away. It debuted at the SEMA Show in 2023 and turned a lot of heads. But even more amazing is the revelation it was Toyota’s TRD division that built it.

Watch a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado push through deep waters with ease.

We’ve seen a lot of crazy builds in our day, but most are from private individuals or small shops, not major automakers. It’s always great to see a big corporation cut loose some, using their massive resources to create some one-off that is completely impractical and yet a whole lot of fun.

Of course, TRD stands for Toyota Racing Development, so the people who worked on this project have access to some pretty cool stuff. That’s how the FJ45 ended up with a TRD NASCAR Cup Series engine.

What that means is a peak output of somewhere around 750-horsepower. But the engine is detuned with a lower rev limit, so it’s putting out about 550-hp. In a light classic off-roader like this, that’s insane. Plus, this rig is rolling on massive 42-inch Nitto tires. There’s a reason this is called the FJ Bruiser.

There’s also a TH400 transmission and Currie Enterprises Rock Jock D70 axles. To add to the over-the-top setup, this rig has Fox Factory Race Series triple bypass shocks, Fox Factory Race Series coilovers with DSCs, and Fox Factory Race Series bump stops.

You’ll note this build is somewhat setup like a trophy truck and for good reason. A few of the people on the project have experience building Toyota trophy trucks, so going in that direction was just natural for them. We don’t know if we’ve ever seen a classic Land Cruiser taken in that direction, but it works surprisingly well.

But perhaps the coolest part of this build is a roller system and snowmobile tracks located on the belly of the beast. Because the FJ45 doesn’t have as good a breakover point as the FJ40, the team devised this invention to help get the thing moving if it were to become hung up on an obstacle. We can’t believe we haven’t see something like that before – it’s genius!

Check out the video to see and listen to this restomod Toyota off-roader in action.

Images via Mister Zachary/YouTube