We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›
We’re still a few months out from first drive reviews of the 2025 Toyota 4Runner—we’ll be on and off-road testing it in January. Meanwhile, Toyota is stoking hype with a one-off concept built in the spirit of the original T4R, with two doors and a removable roof section. The Toyota TRD Surf Concept will make its appearance at the 2024 SEMA show in November and, probably, inspire a whole bunch of social media posts crying for it to go into production.
So far, Toyota’s only shown a brief tease of what the completed concept will look like (see below). But this embedded video (see above) provides some interesting context on the project.
The first-gen Toyota 4Runner, which came out for ’84, was basically a pickup truck with a removable camper shell. While a fixed piece of roof covered the front seats, the whole back section covering the rear seats and cargo area came off creating a lot of openness for fair-weather adventuring. In other parts of the world, the model was known as the Toyota Hilux Surf—hence the concept name.
I actually got to drive one a million years ago when I lived in Australia—I found one on some message board and took a train to test drive it. Tooling around in a Toyota 4×4 with most of the roof missing was a lot of fun, though I didn’t end up buying it because it was rustier than a shipwreck. Large SUV hardtops are cumbersome and annoying to remove and re-install, but it’s worth it if you like breeze. The 4Runner and Hilux Surf have the added advantage of keeping front passengers shaded, so you can kind of get the best of both worlds on a sunny day.
It’s funny to think that the 4Runner’s only just now entering its sixth generation so many years later. As Team Manager Marty Schwerter states in the video, the SUV hadn’t been redesigned since 2010!
Don’t count on a removable roof being an option on the new-for-’25 model, even if that body style sticks around until 2038. But if you’re interested in making your own, maybe the Toyota SEMA crew will share its learnings. Looks like they cut up a fifth-gen ‘Runner to get a sense of how to best go about the surgery. But cutting is one thing—getting a new roof piece to mate up nicely will be much more challenging.
Toyota’s taking this build pretty seriously, though. Those outwardly stamped “turbo” emblems on the doors are super cool and so is the beveling and stamping being done on the hood. I can’t wait to see the finished product.
The Japanese automaker isn’t stopping its roof-chopping rampage with the 4Runner, either. The CALTY design team is cooking up a topless Land Cruiser it’s calling the ROX concept for the SEMA show. This one’s not nostalgic the way the two-door T4R is, but it’s a pretty cool parade float of fun ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing the final version of that, too.
Got any dream mods for the new sixth-gen 4Runner? Tell me about them at andrew.collins@thedrive.com
