This LS3-Swapped Toyota 86 SEMA Build Will Blow Your Mind

Whatever you think of the Toyota GR86, there's no denying that it presents a great platform for car builders to personalize. This specific 86 is something else entirely, though, and its build process is truly something to behold. Even Toyota Gazoo Racing, which itself showed off impressive GR86 builds at SEMA 2022, would be impressed by this creation.

Many months ago, fabricator and visual artist Cameron Cocalis decided to put his personal touch on his Toyota 86. And by the personal touch, we mean that he gutted the whole thing, kept the roof, outer rear three-quarter sections, doors and a section of the floor pan, and created everything else from scratch. And that's no exaggeration, as a look at this car's build record on Instagram will confirm.

The completed creation has been revealed at the Toyo Tires booth at SEMA 2022, and competes in Battle of the Builders at the same event. This car is definitely not just a show pony, though, for it has all the potential to be a proper, drivable monster. A neat wide-body kit covers it all, but the real beauty lies under that custom bodywork. The car may not be road-legal anymore, but it should definitely tear up a drag strip and absolutely rag it at a drifting contest - it certainly has the design and hardware to do just that.

Among the hundreds of photos and videos on Cameron's well-presented Instagram, you can see how he figured out the roll cage and subframe designs, fabricated a rear tube frame to handle a custom rear suspension system with pushrod-actuated remote shocks, fabricated a tube frame front end to accommodate an engine upgrade, and stuffed his creation full of Chevy LS3 V8, complete with tucked wiring and a gorgeous equal-length exhaust header setup.