If you’ve never heard of Veilside, they’re basically a tuning shop based in Japan near the Tsukuba Circuit race course, first established in 1990. After taking home the Grand Prize in the Tuned Car category at the 1991 Tokyo Auto Salon, the rest is history. They are set to debut a crazy body kit for the Toyota GR Supra at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon, and a few pictures were leaked ahead of the event. Read more for an up-close look.
Toyota-backed SkyDrive Inc., a startup that specializes in advanced air mobility solutions employing flying cars and cargo drones, has just received approval for its Type Certificate (*correction – SD-05 flying car) application by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT). The company plans on commercializing the flying car within the next 3-years, possibly for an air taxi service. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Making its debut today at Toyota’s 2021 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show display at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the TacoZilla, based on the Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport pickup, could be the ultimate overlanding rig. To make the camper fit, Marty Schwerter and his team at the Toyota Motorsports Garage had to fit the Tacoma’s original rear fender flares onto the camper’s wheel well openings, while also adding two inches of clearance to the standard Tacoma TRD Sport suspension. For extra traction, it’s been equipped with 285/70/17 General Tire Grabber X3 all-terrain tires. Read more for two videos, additional pictures and information.
Toyota’s bZ4X all-electric BEV production model has officially been unveiled, and it’s the company’s first EV. Power comes from a temperature-controlled, 71.4 kWh capacity 355-Volt lithium-ion battery that is located beneath the floor with a 311 mile range for the 201hp FWD (150 kW motor) variant and 286 miles for the 215hp AWD (80 kW motor on each axle) model. When using a 150 kW DC charger, the battery charges to 80% in just 30 minutes. Read more for two videos, additional pictures and information.
Toyota’s CUE 4 is essentially an AI-powered robot that stands nearly 7-feet-tall, and it made an appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics during Team USA’s basketball match against France. Unlike its predecessors, CUE 4 is now capable of running from one position to the next, while its power cables were replaced with a small powerful motor, and given human-like gripping hands so it could grasp a ball securely. Read more for two videos and additional information.
For those who don’t know, the Toyota Venza is basically a five-passenger crossover SUV for the North American market or a rebadged XU80 series Harrier for the Japanese market. Albermo’s XH42 body kit transforms this basic SUV into a knockoff Lamborghini Urus, complete with a new front bumper, hood, large inlets with horizontal strakes, and a crosspiece for all of the large openings. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
SVI’s MAX 3 Troopy looks like a vehicle straight from a heist movie, but in reality, it’s just a heavily modified Toyota Land Cruiser 79. It’s designed to be an armored personnel carrier (APC) and also offered in a civilian specification for use in security, riot control, anti-poaching, convoy protection, or just for personal safety. There’s room up for up to eight people inside, while the conversion includes removing the soft-skin body of the Toyota Land Cruiser 79 and replacing it with an ultra rugged steel body manufactured from armor plate. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
Photo credit: Barrett-Jackson
Forget the replicas, you could own an actual Toyota Supra driven by Paul Walker in the first entry in the “Fast Saga”. More specifically, this was the vehicle was used for multiple interior and exterior shots during the filming of 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious” and 2003’s “2 Fast 2 Furious,” built by Eddie Paul at The Shark Shop in El Segundo. Everything has been restored to showroom condition, including the interior. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
H/t: Jalopnik
Toyota’s experimental Corolla race car is powered by a hydrogen combustion-engine and its sound may surprise you. In a recent video by Toyota Times, you can hear it drive off and onto a track, with no signs of it being a zero-emissions car. Those who have driven it claim that the Corolla drives just like a gasoline-powered model. What sets this apart from the Mirai as well as other hydrogen vehicles? It’s not powered by a fuel cell, but rather a turbocharged three-cylinder engine that uses hydrogen instead of gasoline. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Some Toyota GR Supra owners may still prefer how its predecessor, the fourth-generation (A80) models looked, and Avante Design could have just the body kit for that group. Up front, you’ll find a completely revamped bumper, along with a large intake scoop, while the splitter comes equipped with aero flicks and sit right below the headlights vents. Side skirt extensions give it a more aggressive look that makes the vehicle look lower to the ground. Read more for additional pictures.