SEMA 2026 Factory Builds: Jeep Ditches the Solid Axle, Ford Brings a 1,200-Plus-HP Bronco

For as long as there has been a Wrangler, the solid front axle has been the one thing Jeep (@jeep) would not touch. At the 2026 SEMA Show, it touched it. The Wrangler Scrambler SRT Concept rides on independent front suspension, the first Wrangler ever to do it, and Jeep developed the setup with off-road racer Casey Currie (@caseycurrie). The payoff is 14 inches of wheel travel up front and 15 in the rear, numbers that belong in a desert race truck, not a showroom Jeep.

That build sets the tone for the factory side of SEMA 2026, which ran Nov. 3 to 6 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The automakers' hero builds leaned hard toward dirt, sand and snow. Toyota (@toyotausa) put five trucks on snow tracks, Nissan (@nissanusa) bolted GT-R turbos onto a Frontier, Ford (@ford) built a winter rescue Bronco around its biggest crate engine yet, and Mitsubishi (@mitsubishimotors) had its own booth at SEMA for the first time since 2012. Here is what each brand brought and why it matters.

Jeep Wrangler Scrambler SRT Concept

The Scrambler name goes back to the CJ-8 of the early 1980s, the stretched CJ with a short pickup bed. The concept borrows that front end, wears Punk'n orange paint and keeps a bed out back. Under the hood is the naturally aspirated 6.4-liter HEMI V8 rated at 470 hp and 470 lb-ft, rolling on 37-inch tires.

The independent front end is the headline. A solid axle is great for rock crawling articulation, but at triple-digit speeds through whoops it gets thrown around. Moving to IFS is how Trophy Trucks and the Ford Raptor handle the desert, and it is the reason this concept matters more than a paint scheme. Stellantis's Tim Kuniskis told The Drive the rear-facing jump seats in the bed can flip and fold flat into a load floor. Jeep has not announced pricing or a production version of this spec, so treat it as a strong hint, not a promise.

Ford Bronco Frostwarden and Megazilla 2.0

Ford's halo build began, per Ford, as an idea for an Arctic search-and-rescue Bronco and grew into a rolling billboard for the new Megazilla 2.0 crate engine. That is a 7.3-liter V8 topped with a 3.0-liter Whipple Gen 6 supercharger, and Ford says it is not just the original Megazilla with a blower bolted on: the block is stronger, and it gets a supercharger-specific camshaft, upgraded pistons, larger injectors and a revised belt drive and damper. Output is more than 1,200 hp on race fuel.

The rest of the truck backs up the rescue theme. It rolls on 42-inch BFGoodrich tires, and Ford lists portal gear lifts, upgraded Dana driveline hardware, custom Bilstein dampers and 18-inch Weld beadlock wheels. According to Ford, the engine went in at Kincer's shop (@kincerchassis) in Tennessee. Frostwarden is a one-off concept that Ford will not sell.

Toyota: Crown Signia GT-S, Snowhunter, Woodland and Race Day

Toyota split its display into four themes: Urban Life, Off-Road, Snowy Terrain and Race Day. The street car was the Crown Signia GT-S Concept from Toyota Motorsports Garage, the in-house shop. Custom coilovers drop it nearly five inches, integrated widebody fenders cover 295-mm-wide tires on 21-inch HRE wheels, and the brakes are adapted from the Lexus RX 500h F SPORT PERFORMANCE. The paint is a custom dark gray metallic with extra flake and five clear coats.

What it does not have is more power. The stock hybrid powertrain carries over, which is the fair knock on it. As a styling study, though, it shows that the Crown Signia already has the long-roof proportions for a proper sport wagon. Toyota says it is strictly a concept.

The Snowhunter family was the wildest corner of the booth: five body-on-frame concepts based on the Tundra, Tacoma, 4Runner, Land Cruiser and Sequoia, each wearing camouflage and white powder-coated snow tracks in place of wheels. Toyota's CALTY design studio led the look. The Woodland family went the other way, with five lifted takes on everyday models (RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid, Sienna, bZ, Grand Highlander and a second Crown Signia) in Horizon Blue, a color Toyota pulls from its 1966 palette, with black over-fenders and all-terrain tires.

Race Day covered the GR side. Toyota lists the 2026 GRMN Corolla, the hydrogen-burning GR Corolla H2, a GR Corolla ARA rally car, the 2027 GR86, a GR Supra in a 7-Eleven collab livery and, according to Toyota, the very last GR Supra MkV built. For Supra people, that last car is a quiet bookend to the A90 era.

Nissan: Frontier RONIN, Pathfinder XE-V6, Armada Jungle Patrol

Nissan's trio was the most cohesive off-road lineup at the show. The Frontier RONIN starts with the production truck's 3.8-liter V6 and adds the twin turbochargers from the R35 GT-R NISMO, fed by an off-road-specific intake to keep dust out. Nissan has not released a horsepower number, and we will not guess at one. The chassis borrows modified Titan suspension and a Titan rear axle, the track is 12 inches wider, the truck sits four inches higher on 35-inch tires, and Nissan quotes 14 inches of travel.

The Pathfinder XE-V6 is for anyone who grew up around the original. The Pathfinder turns 40 in 2027, and the concept wears a throwback livery, a four-inch lift, a rear-mounted spare, custom bumpers, rock sliders, skid plates and a Warn winch. The Armada Jungle Patrol, per Motor1, takes its cues from African safari rigs, with an open roof, side-facing rear seats, a wider track, long-travel suspension and 37-inch tires on prototype NISMO beadlocks. All three are show concepts, not dealer builds.

Mitsubishi 2028 Outlander Diamond Trail Edition

Mitsubishi had its own booth at SEMA for the first time since 2012, and unlike most factory builds here, the vehicle it came to launch is one you will be able to buy. The 2028 Outlander Diamond Trail Edition gets tougher bumpers and all-terrain tires. MotorWeek reports the bumpers improve the approach angle from 18.3 to 20.5 degrees, and that a new Rock drive mode reacts faster to wheel slip.

According to MotorWeek, Mitsubishi showed three of them: a stock truck with factory accessories, an overland build on a 1.5-inch lift from Anderson Design & Fabrication with BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain tires and a Thule roof rack, and a more aggressive build on a 2.5-inch Flatout Suspension lift with Method wheels and BFGoodrich KO3 tires. Pricing has not been announced.

Ringbrothers "Billie" 1965 Pontiac GTO

Not every big-name build came from an automaker, and the best muscle car reveal on the factory side of the hall sat in Gentex's (@gentexcorporation) booth. Ringbrothers' (@ringbrothers) "Billie" started as a 1965 Pontiac Tempest convertible and became a GTO with a body widened five inches. Power comes from a Wegner Motorsports supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 making 650 hp and 650 lb-ft, backed by a Bowler 10-speed automatic. Motor1 and Carscoops both report the build took more than 5,500 hours.

Honda and HRC: a race shop on the show floor

Honda Racing Corporation USA (@hondaracing_us) filled its booth with 12 vehicles. The Civic Type R HRC Concept made its North American debut, and Honda (@honda) says it is in development for the US market. Next to it sat the Aston Martin Aramco (@astonmartinf1) AMR26 with Honda's RA626H power unit, Felix Rosenqvist's (@frosenqvist) 2026 Indy 500 winning IndyCar, and the Acura (@acura) ARX-06 in its farewell livery. The centerpiece was the Passport Baja Spec, a hybrid Trophy Truck rated at more than 1,300 hp that debuts at the 2027 Baja 500. HRC also used the show to launch its own parts line, which hits Honda and Acura dealers in March 2027. We photographed that booth car by car, and it gets its own story.

What it adds up to

Read the factory builds together and the message is plain. The manufacturers think the money and the passion are in trucks and SUVs that leave the pavement, and the engineering they show off now comes straight from desert racing: independent front ends, long-travel suspension and big turbo or supercharged power. Ford and Honda went further and used SEMA to sell parts, a crate engine and an HRC catalog, not just to show concepts. For the scene, that is the useful part. Concepts go back on the truck after the show. Crate engines and dealer parts stay.