The Toyo Tires Treadpass is a covered walkway between the Central and South Halls.
Toyo Tires use the space to exhibit some absolutely wild builds.
They always have a good variety in there. This year there was a mix of American, German and Japanese cars.
We’ll start with the cars of the host country, the United States.
The International Scout was produced by the International Harvester Company from 1960 to 1980 as a competitor to the Jeep CJ (the post-war Willys Jeep).
As their name suggests International Harvesters mostly made agricultural vehicles, but also have a history of making road vehicles that dates back to 1907. Today, trading as International Motors, they make commercial trucks.
My knowledge of desert racing isn’t that great but I believe this type of build is called a prerunner .
A prerunner is a production truck that has been modified for drivers and navigators to scout a course before running a race. Note the extended ride height and the shield on the front to stop rocks from hitting the oil sump.
Despite the modern looking front end this is actually a 1988 Ford Bronco. The front end is based on a Gen 2 Raptor and was created by a company called Fiberwerx.
The truck was built by Bisimoto, who’s name will appear again later in this article. Bisi is an absolute gentleman and has built some fantastic cars over the years.
Here’s a very subtly modified Ford. It’s a really nice, practical build.
The third generation Chevrolet Nova. I was surprised to learn that these were considered compact cars back in the day
They actually share a lot of components with the first generation Camaro but despite its compact designation, the Nova has a longer wheel base.
Speaking of first gen Camaros, this is a stunning build! It’s clearly been built for track and fast road use, but its a show stopper too and that interior even looks like a nice place to be!
Now we cross over the Atlantic to the German cars.
The ‘stacked headlight’ style Mercedes are some of my favourite cars aesthetically. Whilst they can look good modified, I really think a ‘less is more’ approach to them is key. Both of these cars are obviously very heavily modified – so whilst not my thing per se, they were very impressively done!
The execution of the white car was fantastic.
The green car above is a short wheel base 600 body on a new S63 AMG chassis. You can see some of the modern Mercedes styling in it.
As, it’s not for me. I love the 600 as it came from factory. The car was in poor condition and had been sitting under the Texas sun for over a decade, but apparently was complete. I’d have rather seen it restored to factory condition than modified – especially considering the S63 donor car was worth over $200,000.
Its an S-Klub LA buildwho are known for building some pretty wild Mercedes, and you’re not going to get wilder than a 600 on a modern chassis!
Probably the best car that AMG ever built – the W204 C63. The body kit is very much DTM inspired. It’s been a month since the show at the time of writing, and I’m not too sure about that rear arch.
The BMWs were all very tasteful, as perfectly displayed by this beautiful S52 swapped E28 5-Series built by Igor Polishchuk from CAtuned.
V8 swapped E36. I really like the half cutaway hood/bonnet. That’s a cool idea!
Finally we have this incredible E21 Group 5 inspired race car.
Bisimoto’s Porsche 935s have featured in several of my SEMA articles over the years. This year his car was displayed in a giant toy car box brought to you in conjunction with Time Capsule.
I really liked this little 1:64 scale display of the Toyo Tires Treadpass. If I didn’t already have 828 other hobbies I could happily collect 1:64 diecast cars like Hotwheels. I think they’re really cool!
A 991 gen Porsche 911 with an Indecent 005 bodykit.
This beautiful Mk2 Golf GTI has been all wheel drive converted and now houses the 3.2ltr VR6 engine from a Mk4 R32. An incredible build by Patience Metal Fabrication.
The final European car I want to cover in the Treadpass is actually Italian.
This is a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 built by LA based coachbuilder S-Klub, who have been prominent in the Toyo Treadpass in years gone past and built the green 600/S63 hybrid feature above.
Finally we move onto the Japanese cars.
Sadly we never got the 400Z in the U.K. A few have been imported. One would make a nice replacement for my GT86 when the time comes.
The A90/Mk5 Supra is another contender for the GT86’s replacement. I like the body kit on this one.
Both the Mk5 and the 400Z are out of my realistic price range at the moment though.
Bulletproof Automotive’s BP25 is a Honda S2000 built to celebrate Bulletproof Automotive’s 25th anniversary.
the bodykit is the first Varis Dark Panther widebody in the U.S and the wheels are Bulletproof’s own design – the BP-RW Evolution. I love them! I think they look really futuristic!
The Nissan S-Chassis will always be a staple of Japanese car culture. The lime green bars you see ahead of the radiator culminate in a central jacking point. There will be another one on the back. It makes changing tyres that little bit quicker.
Honda NSX with the Super GT race car’s body kit.
Very clean four door C10 generation Skyline on period correct wheels.
This 240Z was built by Japanese tuning company Star Road. The body is entirely built out of AI 5000 grade aluminum (or aluminium if you’re on my side of the pond). The rebody saves 70KG over the standard panels.
A Toyota Land Cruiser with a Liberty Walk bodykit from Aimgain Japan.
This R32 Skyline also boasted a Liberty Walk kit – this one inspired by the Kaido street racers.
This body kit was actually built in collaboration with F1 driver Lando Norris’ lifestyle brand Quadrant. He debuted it on a different R32 at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Finally we have this mad little Datsun 620 truck with a Hakosuka Skyline front. I love the cantilever suspension in the back. Very cool build!
Thanks for joining me on this journey through the 2025 Toyo Treadpass.
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By Richard Francis.
