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Tacozilla Is Toyota’s Off-Road-Ready Version of a Micro-House, a Real Build

Downsize all you want, but you’ll never be able to take your tiny home off-road. On the same note, an overlanding rig might bring you complete freedom in terms of where you could travel, but it would not deliver the same kind of comfort creatures as a tiny home. Tacozilla does both.
Toyota brings the complete Tacozilla to 2021 SEMA: an overlanding micro-house 32 photos
Photo: Toyota
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Tacozilla is a concept overlanding rig from Toyota, now an actual build on display at the 2021 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show underway in Las Vegas. Announced in mid-October as a mere concept, Tacozilla is a Tacoma TRD modified to be just the right combination of overlanding rig and comfortable tiny home. A micro-home with serious off-road credentials, as Toyota describes it.

The idea for Tacozilla came from the incredibly popular and now iconic Toyota Chinook camper introduced in the ‘70s or, as the company describes it, the coolest camper ever produced. It’s only natural for a company to praise its own products, but with the Chinook camper, Toyota isn’t exaggerating: it was an affordable and capable camper, as its popularity would soon show.

What would the Chinook look like today, Toyota asked last month? The answer is Tacozilla, the Tacoma camper that could conquer the trails and go where no other camper could. Further elaborating on the study, Toyota had the build ready in time for SEMA.

Toyota brings the complete Tacozilla to 2021 SEMA\: an overlanding micro\-house
Photo: Toyota
Built by Toyota Motorsports Garage on a design by the same team, in partnership with Complete Customs in McKinney, Texas, Tacozilla was a challenge, because the goal was to make it look cool but without sacrifice to functionality and performance. It had to replicate the styling of the ‘70s Chinook and, at the same time, integrate with the existing features and design of the Tacoma on which it’s based. As Marty Schwerter, team leader on the project says, it also had to “not look like a fridge” plopped in the bed of the Tacoma.

Once the Tacoma TRD (powered by a 3.5-liter V6 with 278 hp at 6,000 rm and 265 lb-ft (359 Nm) of torque, paired with a 6-speed manual transmission) was chosen as base, the bed was cut off. The team chose not to place the camper in the bed but to go under frame height instead, so as to allow standing height inside. They also put in a pop-up skylight in the roof for the same reason, as well as to allow in plenty of natural light and better ventilation.

The Tacoma got two more inches of clearance and all-terrain General Tire Grabber X3 tires, as well as a custom fuel tank filler and a second battery in the engine bay. The camper is made of aluminum and welded onto the truck, and fully insulated, with a generously-sized pass-through to the cab area. The interior is small but incredibly well stocked and accommodating. Schwerter says it could sleep up to four people in comfort: you get a double bed over the cab, a lounge and living room with two couches (which can also be used for sleeping), a 3D-printed table that converts into a backlit piece of art, and a proper kitchen and wet bathroom.

Toyota brings the complete Tacozilla to 2021 SEMA\: an overlanding micro\-house
Photo: Toyota
The kitchen has a sink and cooking area, two-burner stove, and refrigerator. The bathroom only holds a toilet and a hot-water shower, but it’s spacious enough not to get you feeling claustrophobic. In a build this size, that last part can’t be emphasized enough. You also get more storage throughout, including under the two sofas.

Tacozilla is small, something Toyota knows and acknowledges throughout the official presentation. At the same time, though, it’s comfy and airy, thanks to a combination of sparse furnishes, naked aluminum walls, and teak wood flooring – and especially thanks to the hundreds of hours of careful planning and working on it. The back door alone, Toyota says, is the result of 100 work hours.

Because of the unique styling and the custom, retro-inspired paintjob, Tacozilla is a sight that can’t pass by unnoticed, and that was the goal from the start. Whether you’re out in the backwoods or on the street, Tacozilla is bound to make an impression. For the more practical adventurer (after all, not everyone is looking for extra attention from strangers), the tapered shape of the camper means it handles well off-road despite the size.

Toyota brings the complete Tacozilla to 2021 SEMA\: an overlanding micro\-house
Photo: Toyota
Tacozilla is now on display at the Toyota exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center until November 5, 2021. If you can’t make it by, you can see it in detail in the videos below and the photos in the gallery. Toyota has no plans to bring Tacozilla into production or, if it does, it hasn’t said anything yet. But it should, because that’s an incredibly cool build, overlanding enthusiasts are already saying online.



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 Download: Tacozilla spec sheet (PDF)

About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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