Toyota’s Ultimate V8 Toyota Camry Sleeper Is Still One of the Best Factory Builds

Every once in a while, a midnight doom scroll will lead you away from a nightmare news landscape and into a rabbit hole of “Oh, yeah, I forgot they made that.” This time, a 900-horsepower drag-racing Toyota Camry popped up. It’s not a random garage project either, but a sleeper build developed in-house.

The year was 2014, and the all-new 2015 Camry was on sale. As far as redesigns go, the sedan’s next-gen looks were bolder but, you know, for a Camry. And why bother doing anything aftermarket with it, especially for the SEMA Show, an event that thrives on the big, boastful, and brash? A quiet Toyota just doesn’t fit in. Then someone had an idea.

“The whole project started with [Toyota motorsports] national manager, Steve Appelbaum,” Marty Schwerter of the Motorsports Technical Center told USA Today at the time. “He wanted to build this sleeper Camry for SEMA. We said, ‘Are you crazy?’ SEMA is all about bling; it’s all about in your face.”

Well, “sleeper” and “in your face” are complete opposites, but the Toyota built a SEMA car exactly as requested and was given a name as basic as possible: Toyota Sleeper Camry. But don’t dismiss this one with a yawn. 

Sleepers are supposed to appear boring and bland — just like a Camry! Yet, underneath its Camry shell, which is all it was, lay a full tube-frame chassis. Power came from a Tundra-sourced, TRD supercharged 5.7-liter 3UR-FE V8 engine. 

According to Schwerter, the setup produces 612 horsepower. But, this being the SEMA Show, that’s not all the supercharged Camry can do. Capable of handling a 300-shot of nitrous oxide, Schwerter claims the hot rod Camry can punch out about 900 hp. The vehicle’s transmission, rear axle, and electronics were also taken from a Tundra.

For raceway shoes, the Camry wore 335/30/18-size drag racing tires. Although the team had yet to drive the Toyota dragster “in real anger,” the estimated quarter-mile time was 9.8 seconds. You can enjoy a bit of sensory confusion in the video below, where the vehicle hits the straights during the 2016 Toyota Nationals. 

“This is the most extreme build we’ve ever unveiled at SEMA,” said Appelbaum. “The transformation from seemingly stock Camry to full-blown racecar just shocks the senses.” 

Another surprising thing about the Toyota racer is that it was built in 11 weeks. Either the motorsports tech team is that efficient, or maybe that’s all the time they had (because auto show timelines are notoriously tight). Nevertheless, it’s a fun car to come across, one that even Jay Leno saved for a season finale.

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