This Is What Happens When You Mix A 300-HP Lexus V8 And A '76 FJ Cruiser

SA-based Allers Customs & Rods wanted to rebuild one to be a head-turner but also wanted to prove a point by using only local parts, so almost everything on this '76 FJ can be bought from a Toyota dealership, except for the original Toyota front cut and the custom cabin with the chopped windows.

After 1200 hours of labor, this is the mad result, a slammed, widened, big-wheeled custom creation that many swear is a Photoshop project. The non-Toyota parts include the front suspension that's built in-house, the wheels from a Land Rover Discovery along with the differential (that's made up of the two long sides to give it that width), the seats from a Wrangler and the headlights from a VW Golf 1. The rest is pretty much from Toyota. In the cabin there's locally produced electronic gauge cluster, a Lexus radio, dual batteries, a Momo wheel and a B&M shifter all protected by an integrated roll cage to improve safety.

Powering the FJ is a stock, newer generation 300-hp 1UZ Lexus V8 and they managed to get it to run on the original Lexus ECU. This was done to make the old FJ reliable, which it certainly now is having covered thousands of miles in the last year travelling to shows around the country. While 300 hp isn't any kind of milestone for a modern V8, in a car as light as this, things get very fast, very quick. To make sure the Toyota pays homage to it's roots, it was painted in the original colors using the paint codes that Toyota used back in 1976. The custom FJ is now sufficiently modern while being unmistakable old school too. A job well done.