While overlanding had already grown increasingly popular over the last decade, the onset of last year’s global pandemic saw the segment experience an even more massive influx of interest that’s continued through today. Taking advantage of the hype surrounding the space, Toyota has built out their own interpretation of the ultimate overlander, bestowing a new Tacoma with a one-off camper shell.
Known as the “Tacozilla,” the project started life as a Tacoma TRD Sport, before Marty Schwerter and the rest of his team over at the Toyota Motorsports Garage proceeded to heavily modify the mid-sized pickup. The team started by removing the Tacoma’s bed and then filling the space with a completely bespoke aluminum-framed camper shell with a pop-up Lexan skylight. Making the project more off-road-capable is a TRD skid-plate, snorkel, and suspension package, custom bronze TRD wheels wrapped in General Tire Grabber X3 all-terrain tires, a full-length LED light-bar, and a custom front bumper with integrated RIDID LED lights and a WARN winch. Adorned in a vintage-inspired livery modeled after the designs seen on the brand’s campers of the 1970s and ’80s, the Tacozilla contains a flatscreen TV, a rear door and ladder, teak sauna-style flooring, a full galley-style kitchen with stove and sink, a 3D-printed dining table, and a full bathroom with a hot-water shower. The cabin of the Tacoma has also received bespoke diamond-quilted seats and a refrigerator has been worked into the exterior of the camper’s shell, along with an exhaust that exits through the right side of the camper, just ahead of the rear right wheel.
Officially unveiled at the 2021 SEMA Show, the Tacoma Tacozilla is currently on display in the central hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center at Toyota’s booth (no. 24800) where it will remain until the auto show’s conclusion on November 5th.
