Toyota's Sleeper Camry has attracted huge crowds at the 2014 SEMA show opening in Las Vegas overnight. The car within a car, perhaps more than any other at the show, has elicited from onlookers the exclamation "God Dayam!"
The unbelievable V8-powered flip-top Camry made its debut at the world's biggest aftermarket and tuner show, SEMA – Speciality Equipment Market Association. And the reason for the Camry's appeal? It's a full-on drag car masquerading as a meek and mild family hack.
SEMA always delivers a number of striking and often extreme customisations, but this one is like nothing we've seen before, essentially the shell of a 2015 Toyota Camry mated to a custom-made dragster.
At the core of the Jekyll and Hyde machine is a purpose-built dragster buggy based around a tubular chassis fitted with production-look alloy wheels. Once the Camry body shell is lowered onto the dragster the effect is surreal, that of a standard family sedan – and hence the sleeper label.
Built in-house by Toyota at its Motorsports Technical Center in Los Angeles, the complicated Camry is powered by a 5.7-litre V8 engine lifted out of the Toyota Tundra pick-up truck. It was also heavily modified, thanks to the addition of a TRD supercharger and nitrous injection.
Peak power is claimed to be 630kW or about 850hp, which is enough pepper to see the car smash out a sub 10-second quarter mile; 9.8 seconds is Toyota's estimation.
Perhaps most impressive is the Camry's fully functioning doors and custom interior, which combine to create an illusion so real, you'll do a double take when the driver's wearing a race helmet instead of a cardigan.
"This is the most extreme build we've ever unveiled at SEMA," said Steve Appelbaum, Toyota Engagement Marketing and Motorsports National Manager.
"The transformation from seemingly stock Camry to full-blown race car just shocks the senses. Chuck Wade and the team at Motorsports Technical Center did a truly spectacular job executing the vision of this project," he added.
The build took 11 weeks and the Camry body shell rises by way of hydraulics, revealing the dragster within that rides on ultra-chunky 18-inch tyres, measuring 335/30 – and perhaps the main clue as to the Camry's potential when in sleeper mode.
"This Camry is the ultimate sleeper," said Chuck Wade, Toyota's Motorsports Technical Center director. "It definitely has the element of surprise on its side and more than enough muscle to drop the hammer on any unsuspecting car that pulls up."
Once the 2014 SEMA show has wrapped up, the miscreant Camry will tour the USA appearing at select NHRA drag race meets.