Three-Seat Toyota Land Cruiser SEMA Concept Is A Baja-Ready Brawler
Toyota may have dropped the coolest concepts at this year’s SEMA Show, but Westcott Designs has something feistier up its sleeve. Based on the new Toyota Land Cruiser, the Arizona-based truck and SUV outfitter has introduced the Baja Cruiser – a desert racer with the Baja 500 in mind but with conveniences of the newest version of the iconic nameplate.
SEMA Show
The SEMA Show is an annual trade show hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), first held in January 1967 as the High Performance and Custom Trade Show. It is widely considered to be the world’s largest tuner and aftermarket-specific motor show in the world. The show has traditionally been hosted in the Las Vegas Convention Center, attracting over 140,000 visitors annually, with over 2,400 exhibitors present in its current incarnation. Despite its focus on the aftermarket, the show attracts a large number of automakers annually, showcasing everything from concept builds to accessories.
- Location
- Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Dates
- 5-8 November 2024
- First Held
- 1967
- Event Frequency
- Annual
Unlike Toyota Motor North America’s own Land Cruiser build that will hit your nostalgic bones, Jeff Westcott went for a hardcore off-roader that’s capable of running at speeds on dirt. “The idea was to take a factory production vehicle and turn it into a capable racing machine,” said Westcott, owner and builder at Westcott Designs.
What A Badass Baja Racer Concept
Dressed with a satin black wrap and gold exterior theme, Westcott’s Toyota Baja Cruiser comes with a long-travel suspension employed and cross members integrated with a custom multi-link suspension with Fox shocks. The front has a staggering 22 inches of travel, while the shock towers at the rear provide an impressive 18 inches of travel. Angled skid plates serve as armor up front, shielding the chassis from rugged trail conditions and debris, while the body has been widened by six inches for a more aggressive stance.
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To support its off-grid adventures, Westcott equipped the desert runner 17-inch Innovate Racing G700 billet gold aluminum wheels wrapped in 37-inch Toyo Open Country NTR Desert Race tires. An additional fuel cell is added for extended range, while two sets of 360 Series 6-inch laser off-road lights from Rigid Industries are present for maximum illumination. The one mounted on top can be adjusted from inside the cabin, while the one at the bottom is mounted on a custom, pre-runner style front bumper. There’s also an LED light bar at the back for added illumination of the beaten path.
Adventure For Three
The gold accents continue inside the modified roll cage, with stitchwork blending with factory upholstery and aluminum trimmings. Westcott modified the Baja Cruiser’s seating with three Sparco EVO S QRT racing seats with five-point harnesses, with the third one in the middle of the back row for an elevated “stadium-style” position. The Land Cruiser First Edition’s ventilated seating feature is retained, as is its 2.4-liter, turbocharged i-Force Max hybrid engine amplified through a custom 2.5-inch stainless steel, cat-back side-exit exhaust finished in billet aluminum.
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Westcott Designs didn’t mention the expenses incurred for the Baja Cruiser (we don’t expect it to be cheap), though the company said it worked closely with Toyota for this race concept. In fact, this hardcore off-roader is on display in the Toyota booth (Central Hall, Booth 22200) at the Las Vegas Convention Center until tomorrow, November 8, 2024.
