So the 2025 SEMA show is officially underway in Las Vegas, and once again I’m glad I get to experience it from the comfort of my chair at home. As much as I like the actual practice of photography, I also like looking at high-res photos that didn’t require me to take them by sitting around and waiting 30 minutes for the split-second moment said eye-catching car wasn’t surrounded by local tire dealers clad in button-up shirts with a “generous cut.”
Ahem… sorry. Apparently I still have lingering PTSD from years of covering the show in person. Where was I? Oh, yes… 2025 SEMA. We recently got a preview of Nissan’s booth and checked out Honda’s new line of motor oil. Now we get to check on the biggest of Japan’s Big 3, Toyota, and the toys they brought to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
BZ Time Attack Concept
I do miss the old days when people called Toyota’s Beyond Zero 4WD the Busy Forks, but I’m hoping that this EV’s new, shortened name encourages someone out there to create new meme-able puns related to Japanese rock band, B’z. Now this BZ Time Attack Concept won’t be able to girigiri chop Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s 1400-horsepower Mustang Mach-E off its throne of EV badassery—this Toyota showcases a more Japanese take on performance, focusing (in theory) more on balance than outright power.
The first thing you’ll notice is the stance, which sits six inches lower than stock. Apparently that ride height was squeezed through the track width, which just so happens to be six inches wider than stock. That full aero package was 3D printed and hand finished for strength. Speaking of strength, the inside of this thing gets a full FIA-spec 4130 chromoly cage. Putting some go into this BZ’s show is a dual-motor electric powertrain tuned to output more than 400 net combined horsepower. And the turning and stopping duties are handled by TEIN coilovers, an Alcon braking system with Hawk pads and 19×11-inch BBS Unlimited wheels wrapped in 305/30ZR19 XL Continental Extreme Contact Sport 02 tires.
Camry GT-S Concept
Challenging the Time Attack BZ concept for “SEMA 2025’s Most Grounded to the Ground Toyota” is this Camry GT-S concept. Toyota freely admits that this is basically a warmed-over Camry XSE, with the big story being the revised front and rear fascias and custom Inferno Flare paint. It’s also packing a cat-back exhaust, adjustable coilovers that help bring this sedan 1.5 inches closer to the ground, 20-inch wheels and 8-piston front brake calipers. Not the most exciting build, so why bring this to SEMA? My guess (and given my day job I must stress this is only a guess), what Toyota is actually showing here is a preview of the next Camry TRD.
Corolla Cross Nasu Edition
With the TE27, AE86 and E80 FX16 having established Corolla’s performance cred across decades, and with Toyota’s global push to elevate its Gazoo Racing brand, it only makes sense for Toyota to hit the 2025 SEMA show with an army of built GR Corollas. Right? Right? Well, I’m neither a product planner nor marketing lead for Toyota, so instead of filling its floor space with a ton of cool rally-bred hatchbacks, the brand decided to represent Corolla via a small crossover on big tires.
Toyota says that its Corolla Cross Nasu Edition is named after Mt. Nasu, a popular spot for outdoor lovers in Japan. I, on the other hand, think that someone just really wanted to make a rolling love letter to eggplants. Nasu is also the Japanese word for aubergine, and I dare you to take one look at the color of this thing and tell me there’s no relation. As for parts, Toyota is vague with details, simply stating that this Corolla Cross gets some custom exterior parts (the Subaru-inspired cladding), a custom suspension lift and Toyota truck tires wrapped in Toyo Open Country A/T III all-terrain tires.
Tacoma H2 Overlander Concept
Just like Gretchen and fetch, Toyota keeps trying to make hydrogen happen. Case in point: this Tacoma H2 Overlander concept powered by a hydrogen fuel cell system. This thing’s got 6 kg of hydrogen “fueling” a 24.9 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which in turn powers front and rear electric motors which, combined, output 547 horsepower. But this isn’t just another EV truck with all-wheel drive—this hydrogen-powered, uh, power is sent through a front limited-slip differential and an electronic rear locking diff for legitimate four-wheel drive capabilities.
Sure, there are suspension and braking components sourced from a Tundra, and a bunch of parts seen on the pages of OVR Mag, but what may give this truck some extra overlanding cred is its water recovery system. The “waste” product of hydrogen fuel is distilled water, and while Toyota isn’t saying that what comes out of this truck is suitable for drinking, it is safe enough for other uses, like showering or washing.
Turbo Trail Cruiser Concept
Back when I was swimming in freelance gigs, I connected with a company called Vigilante to check out their insane Jeep Cherokee restomod. Their concept: take an old Jeep, restore it to better-than-new condition, and then drop in a modern-day powertrain that can easily be serviced at any Dodge/Jeep/RAM dealer. The most crucial bit of this formula, though, is that nothing is modified—so no new cuts, welds or whatever else might be needed for “clearance.” Everything about these builds is designed to be returned to 100% stock if the owner so desires, without the need to re-custom-fab any parts. These custom-built rigs run multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the company has no shortage of customers.
It’s a shame that Toyota is legally forbidden from offering something similar, as this Turbo Trail Cruiser would otherwise be guaranteed to print money for the company. It’s a Toyota twist on the Vigilante concept I just described—a perfectly restored FJ60 Land Cruiser (with its original firewall and hard points still intact) powered by a modern-day i-FORCE twin-turbo V6. This rig retains its original 5-speed transmission but gets a modern suspension with a 1.5-inch lift, 35-inch tires and a fancy JBL stereo to help make it feel more contemporary. I expect more than a few people to study the hell out of this one on the show floor, spin up a business, and then see a whole bunch of clones flooding the streets of Malibu sometime next year.
Scion 01 Concept
This one hurts my heart. Scion was my introduction to working in the car space as a professional, both having served as a host/”car expert” for a bunch of dealer videos introducing the concept of the Scion brand and its tuner market, and with a pre-launch Scion xB being my first-ever press vehicle. The marketing itself, while its efficacy could be debated, came from a place of love and reverence for counterculture. And it was thanks to Scion that I finally got to see De La Soul live, and in a small, intimate venue, no less.
This? This is just a custom-built side-by-side with a hybrid “truck” engine, likely the 2.4-liter from the Tacoma. This feels like something built for the (does it still exist?) Bass Pro Shops partnership. Give me back my small, rolling toaster.
Do you still wish you could be getting the authentic in-person SEMA experience? Try this out: Start by going out and walking 10 miles to tire out your legs. When you’re back home, clip out some photos of old dudes in awkward-fitting shirts, put said dudes on their own Photoshop layer, and then paste that layer over one of these Toyota-supplied images. The bigger, the better. For a more realistic experience, move this “old-dude” layer back and forth in a wondering fashion over the car for about 20 minutes until you begin to question your choices in life. Repeat with each car as necessary.
Or, simply check out Toyota’s own pressroom site to get a deeper dive (and more photos) of all the above.
All photos courtesy of Toyota USA
