Toyota combines downsizing and outdoor adventure with its Tacozilla Tacoma Camper

Downsizing’s popularity created the tiny house craze, and Toyota combines downsizing and outdoor adventure with its Tacozilla Tacoma Camper¹, a backwoods overlanding-ready “micro-house” rig that pays tribute to Toyota campers from the ’70s and ’80s.

Based on a Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport pickup, Tacozilla debuts at Specialty Equipment Market Association (#SEMA) Show, Las Vegas Convention Center. It is the ultimate expression of overlanding, as it joins other adventure-ready concepts in the Toyota booth. 

“Tacozilla is an outstanding symbol of Toyota’s go-anywhere brand promise to our many owners who love overlanding and outdoor fun. It’s going to be hard to miss Tacozilla, whether walking the SEMA show or at that campsite or off-road trail!”  

_{said Lisa Materazzo, group vice president – Toyota Division Marketing}

Designed and built by Marty Schwerter and his team at the Toyota Motorsports Garage, Tacozilla is 100% custom.

“We really didn’t want it to look like a refrigerator on the back of a truck, so you’ll see it’s all rounded edges,”_{said Schwerter}

While the easiest solution was to have sharp edges everywhere, Schwerter believed rounded edges and smooth aluminum surfaces would better complement the Tacoma’s body lines and look more integrated and finished.

“Our goal was to build a vehicle that is engineered correctly but also made to look really cool. Being around race cars my whole life, race cars are cool looking. I want campers to be cool looking, too.”_{said Schwerter}

 

The team started by removing the Tacoma’s bed to determine what needed to be removed and relocated to create space.

“The team needed to go below frame height in order for a person to be able to stand up inside,” _{Schwerter said.}

Next was shrinking and repackaging everything, so someone over 6 feet tall can walk the length of the interior with enough room for the camper’s amenities and occupants.

The Toyota Motorsports Garage team then built a basic camper frame to test the initial fitment and dimensions. From there, it was time to fine tune and reinforce the frame. This visually tied in with the Tacoma’s body lines while maximizing interior space. And the narrower top and bottom makes it easier to navigate trails and avoid trees and obstacles.

This tapered shape also made it challenging to fabricate the camper’s rear door. The team could have fitted a flat door but decided the result would not look as integrated. All in all, the team spent well over 100 hours designing the rear door alone.

The team contended with another vital structural challenge, creating the pass-through opening between the Tacoma’s cabin and the camper structure. The solution required enough support and bracing for off-road driving, enabling the cabin and camper structures to work together and twist on uneven surfaces without compromising the vehicle or creating unsafe driving situations.

In order to make good use of the Tacoma’s existing features, the team was able to fit the Tacoma’s original rear fender flares onto the camper’s wheel well openings and added two inches of clearance to the standard Tacoma TRD Sport suspension. To ensure traction, the team fitted a set of 285/70/17 General Tire Grabber X3 all-terrain tires.

Like most custom builds, the process is fluid and improvements can happen midstream. For example, the team was well into skinning the camper structure in aluminum when they decided to add a large pop-up Lexan skylight to provide ambient light, natural air circulation and additional headroom. Other custom work included a fuel tank filler that is completely separated from the camper to ensure fuel fumes remain isolated and a second battery in the Tacoma’s engine bay to help supply additional power without taking up space in the already space-limited camper.

Complete Customs in McKinney, Texas, a long-time and trusted Toyota partner, provided customization support and handled the paint work. The finished camper features a white base coat with accents reminiscent of the vintage yellow, orange and bronze scheme. And the fully insulated interior indeed looks like the micro-house the team envisioned, with teak sauna-style flooring, a full bathroom with hot-water shower, a fully operational kitchen with a stove and sink, a 3D-printed dining table that converts to a backlit piece of wall art and ample sleeping space.

¹Vehicle is a special protype project vehicle modified with non-genuine parts and accessories that may make the vehicle illegal to operate, void the warranty, and impact the safety and performance of the vehicle.

FACT SHEET

LEAD BUILDER: Marty Schwerter, Motorsports Technical Center (MTC), with engineering support from Cripwerks

MECHANIC/FABRICATORS: Brad Vetter, Rich Garver

BODYWORK: Complete Customs, McKinney, Texas. Beree Cox Design provided concept design support

PAINTER: Complete Customs, McKinney, Texas. Paint color consultation and paint provided by PPG

ENGINE: 3.5-liter V6 HORSEPOWER: 278 hp @ 6,000 rpm TORQUE: 265 lb.-ft. @ 4,600 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

EXHAUST: Custom Motorsports Technical Center (MTC)

AIR INTAKE: TRD

BATTERY: Custom dual-battery (12 volt) configuration

FRONT BRAKES: 10.75-inch ventilated disc REAR BRAKES: 10.0-inch drum

WHEELS: TRD Pro TIRES: General Tire Grabber X3 285/70/17

SUSPENSION: TRD with two-inch lift and TRD billet upper control arms

INTERIOR: Complete Customs, McKinney, Texas. Columbia Sportswear Co. conceptualized interior design elements such as wall and floor treatments. And it has a 4-ft. x 4-ft. skylight above the living room.

AMENITIES: Fully insulated interior with teak saunastyle flooring: a full bathroom with hot-water shower; a fully operation kitchen with a refrigerator, stove and sink: a 3D-printed dining table that converts to a backlit piece of wall art; and sleeping space above the cab. Integrated winch in the front bumper.

LIGHTING: Rigid light bar, Rigid fog lights

 

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.

Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 36,000 in the U.S. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 30 million cars and trucks at our 9 manufacturing plants, 10 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.

To help inspire the next generation for a career in STEM-based fields, including mobility, Toyota launched its virtual education hub at www.TourToyota.com with an immersive experience and chance to visit many of our U.S. manufacturing facilities. The hub also includes a series of free STEM-based lessons and curriculum through Toyota USA Foundation partners, virtual field trips and more. For more information about Toyota,