Going Off-Road And Beyond With Three Wild SEMA-Builds

Car culture comes in many forms, and one of them is the custom-built car, whether it’s for show or go. One of the biggest stages to discover new and rather outrageous custom cars is the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas. Every year, hundreds of builds from small custom shops to global manufacturers are unveiled to the public, featuring the latest in technology, design and performance. This year, three mad off-roaders stood out to me, built to do one thing: conquer the unbeaten path. Built by Nissan, Jeep and Honda, each one takes a different approach to the concept of building the ultimate 4×4. Let’s take a closer look!

The Speciality Equipment Market Association show is renowned for its outrageous builds. Legends of the industry such as Chip Foose, Dave Kindig and Richard Rawlings (Gas Monkey Garage) regularly steal the spotlight with very special one-off cars. They are joined by mainstream manufacturers, mostly out of their US branches, but that’s not all. SEMA is also very much about new tools and components, so you will find brands like Borla (exhaust systems), Willwood (brakes specialist) and many others displaying the latest tech. There are also demonstrations, special events, seminars and so on, and the showing of complete cars is only part of the whole gathering, albeit a high-profile one!

Nissan Armada Jungle Patrol Concept

First up is Nissan, no stranger to the world of off-roading. Its legendary Patrol is one of the longest-running 4x4s in production, all the way from 1951 to today. Renowned for its durability, much like the Defender, Land Cruiser and Pajero, there have been countless cool and utilitarian versions of it. Nowadays, the Patrol is part of a more luxury-focused range of full-size SUVs, which also includes the X-Trail and Armada. And this is where the radical Armada Jungle Patrol Concept comes in, unveiled at this year’s SEMA show.

The Armada Jungle Patrol Concept is built for expeditions in the most desolate areas of the world, with an open-top roof construction, heavy-duty roll cage, bull bars, light bars and so on. It runs on 37-inch off-road tyres by Yokohama and can tackle just about anything you point it at thanks to a wider track and long-travel suspension components such as adjustable coil-overs. And don’t worry if you knock it into some trees or rocks in the process, as the bumpers and fenders are custom-made in steel. The interior remains largely untouched when it comes to the front seats, but in the back it has two inward-facing benches to bring along a couple of your mates.

The standard 425bhp 3.5-litre V6 in the front has been left untouched by Nissan, but it has gained a prototype NISMO exhaust system. The exterior is finished in matte black, with red details all around, including bear-claw-like slashes down the side. Pretty rad, but it will very likely remain a concept car, although rumour has it some components will enter the NISMO parts catalogue.

For more information, please visit Nissan.com.

Jeep Wrangler Scrambler SRT

The Jeep is a genuine slice of Americana, making its fame in the Second World War as the Willys Jeep. From then on, it would become a symbol of freedom through the CJ-series, which is fittingly short for Civilian Jeep. Much like the Patrol, Defender and Land Cruiser, it’s an off-roading legend and can rely on a huge fanbase. For SEMA 2026, Jeep brought along the new Wrangler Scrambler SRT, and there’s a strong demand from the public to put this into production pretty much unchanged. And for what it’s worth, I would be all for it!

The Wrangler Scrambler SRT started life as a regular Wrangler, and takes inspiration from the CJ-8 Scrambler from the 1980s. It’s the first Jeep to wear the SRT badge, which indicates this machine is packing some serious power. To make it a true Scrambler, it is a two-door long-wheelbase Wrangler with a pickup bed. The roof can be taken out, and up front you get the iconic grille with vertical slats. It runs a bespoke independent front suspension system, with a trophy-truck-inspired axle in the rear and heavy-duty wheels with stubby tyres built for high-speed desert crossings. Underneath, skid plates keep the drivetrain safe, and the car’s fitted with rugged front and rear bumpers.

But what perhaps matters most is the engine. Jeep enlisted the help of the SRT division of the Stellantis Group it’s part of, and power is said to come from a V8, although it’s undisclosed which one exactly and just how much power it packs. It could be the 6.4-litre Hemi V8, or perhaps even the mighty Hellcat V8, which is a 6.2-litre supercharged unit producing just over 700 horsepower in standard trim. What’s also pretty interesting is that the rear seats can be turned from forward to rear-facing, or even removed entirely.

For more information, please visit Jeep.com.

Honda Passport Trophy Truck

Last but by no means least of the three off-road machines we selected from this year’s SEMA show is the Honda Passport Trophy Truck. Where the Nissan and Jeep are primarily built for non-competitive off-roading adventures and come with a licence plate, or at least potentially, the Passport Trophy Truck is a completely different beast. It’s a full-fledged, purpose-built performance off-roader designed with one goal in mind: winning the famous Baja desert rally, part of the SCORE World Desert Championship

To start with the most important bits, at least for petrolheads, the Passport Trophy Truck is powered by a twin-turbo 2.4-litre V6 coupled to an 800-volt hybrid system that develops a combined 1,300 horsepower! Sounds wild, and it probably is, as competing in the Baja is no joke. And it carries more innovative trickery underneath, as instead of a conventional high-performance axle layout, the Passport uses dual rear drive shafts connected to angled spiral bevel gears at each wheel. To maximise ground clearance, the front wheels get power through portal gears mounted at each front hub instead of a central hub.

The Passport also has a state-of-the art electronics system to control the vehicle, including dual-axle brake-by-wire, adaptive traction control and AI power deployment. Compared to most other Trophy Trucks competing in the top class of the SCORE championship, it really breaks with conventions, and time will tell if it is indeed for the better, although it has all the signs that this is a race-winning machine. Everything is wrapped up in a carbon-kevlar composite body designed to optimise airflow in and around the car. It will make its racing debut at the Baja 500 event in June next year, with back-to-back SCORE Baja 1000 winner Bryce Menzies behind the wheel.

For more information, please visit HondaNews.com.

Editorial note: The information used and images portrayed in this article are sourced from and used with permission of Jeep (Stellantis), Nissan and Honda, unless stated otherwise.