Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser pickup fitted with NASCAR engine to give it a real American edge

American YouTuber MISTER ZACHARY, aka Zac Mertens, formerly of Hoonigan fame, recently got to check out a Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser with a special secret.

This particular FJ45 was built by Toyota’s TRD division for SEMA 2023.

But under the hood, this FJ45 has a mighty NASCAR engine, giving the SUV some real American muscle.

Mertens, on his YouTube channel, threw the Toyota around on an off-road trail, showing its impressive capabilities.

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Toyota’s TRD division had access to its racing technology

The TRD division of Toyota is the side of the company that runs its NASCAR operations.

Therefore, they had access to the current-spec of engines used in the NASCAR Cup Series cars.

This enabled them to put one of them into the Land Cruiser.

At its peak in a NASCAR race, the 5.8-liter V8 engine produced 750HP.

But Toyota detuned it, including a lower rev limit, for this exceptional Land Cruiser.

As a result, the car now makes a reduced but still impressive 550HP.

Remember, however, that the Land Cruiser is incredibly light, so 550HP feels more like 1,000HP would in a supercar.

Little wonder Toyota called this vehicle the FJ Bruiser.

At the time of its launch in 2023, TRD team manager Marty Schwerter said: “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.”

The Land Cruiser is more than capable of handling off-road trails

Mertens, along with TRD themselves, put the FJ Bruiser through its paces on an off-road trail.

As the video shows, the SUV has no trouble taking on dirt and sand, handling it like any other Land Cruiser would.

The difference here is that this Land Cruiser is doing so while making a lot more noise and looking a lot more dramatic.

One of the coolest features of the FJ Bruiser lies underneath.

The off-roader has a roller system and snowmobile tracks custom-made for the vehicle.

This is because the FJ45 doesn’t have as good a breakover point as the FJ40 Land Cruiser.

So, the TRD team came up with this solution to help get the Land Cruiser moving again if it got stuck.

That shows the effort and dedication that TRD put into this very, very special trophy car.