Toyota UUV is mad

Toyota is known for its robust and reliable off-road vehicles, but none of them have been as brash or as bold as this animal, christened the Toyota Ultimate Utility Vehicle – or UUV for short.

Based on the HiLux-size Toyota Tacoma pick-up, the American ute has been transformed by a custom Sienna body shell with more angles than an erstwhile journalist.

Although details on the powertrain and chassis are not clear at this stage — they are likely to be revealed during the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas over November 3-6 — the Tacoma is powered by either a 4.0-litre petrol V6 or a 2.7-litre diesel four.

That said, this beast is likely to be packing some serious heat, as most SEMA show cars are want to do.

Some of the other features of the desert-dueller include a massive LED spotlight strip on the roof, a front-mounted winch, heavy-duty tyres, heavily flared wheel-arches, high-ride suspension and a sinister matte-black paint job.

The vehicle was originally conceived by Toyota's US arm to tackle the Ever-Better Expedition, which itself is part of a larger 'Five Continents Driving Project' enacted by Toyota president Akio Toyoda – the man who put sexy back into the brand with vehicles like the 86 and upcoming sports car (Supra) co-developed with BMW.

The first leg of the global vehicle tour was arranged by Toyota Australia in this country, where no such UUVs were deployed – likely because the one million vehicles sold per year in Australia is dwarfed by the 15 million or so purchased in the US annually.

According to the company, the Toyota kingpin's "passion for cars and the driving experience is revolutionising the way that Toyota approaches product development and customer engagement".

The mad UUV will be joined on the US leg of the tour by a 200 Series LandCruiser, which is the only vehicle to traverse all continents on the global expedition.