From a company that normally plays it very safe, Toyota Motorsports Garage, showed a modern twin-turbo engined Land Cruiser 60-Series at the recent Specialty Equipment Market Association or SEMA show in Las Vegas.
Called the Turbo Trail Cruiser, the concept combines the exterior and exterior for the 60-Series, with the modern 3.4-litre i-Force V6 engine from the Tacoma and Tundra.
Billed as a “unique project in seamlessly retrofitting contemporary Toyota engineering into a heritage platform”, the setup produces 290kW/650Nm, almost double the power of the original 4.2-litre straight-six.
Said to be quieter and more refined than the original, the Turbo Trail Cruiser also keeps the manual gearbox, but in this case, a five-speed instead of the Tacoma’s six.
“The Turbo Trail Cruiser is about showing what happens when Toyota’s modern performance technology is integrated into one of our most iconic classics,” said Marty Schwerter, Director of Operations at Toyota’s Motorsports Garage and lead builder of the project.
“It’s a hot-rod approach with Toyota DNA – power, drivability, and reliability in a package that still feels true to the original Land Cruiser.”
Unlike other so-called restomods, the Turbo Trail Cruiser was built to appear factory-original. Every component was developed to fit without cutting into the firewall, relocating mount points or altering its structural integrity.
Besides the engine, the Turbo Trail Cruiser boasts new engine mounts, a bespoke exhaust system and a new oil pan designed to fit the chassis.
A new heat exchanger was fitted to original mounting points to provide added cooling capacity for the engine, with the final change being a custom wiring harness.
Sitting 38 mm higher than the original, the concept also gets 35-inch all-terrain tyres and period-correct colours and graphics.
Inside, a modern JBL sound system completes the change.
“For Toyota fans, the Turbo Trail Cruiser is about more than just horsepower,” said Mike Tripp, Group Vice-President for Marketing in North America.
“It’s about preserving the character of a vehicle enthusiasts love while showing how seamlessly Toyota technology can elevate the driving experience. It’s a concept build, but it demonstrates the passion we share with our customers for keeping these classics alive in new and exciting ways.”
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