Toyota's Ultimate V8 Toyota Camry Sleeper Remains Among the Top Factory Builds.

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      Occasionally, a late-night scroll can divert you from a disturbing news cycle and send you down a rabbit hole of “Oh, right, I forgot they did that.” This time, a 900-horsepower drag-racing Toyota Camry caught my attention. It's not just a random garage project; it's a sleeper build created in-house.

      Back in 2014, the brand-new 2015 Camry was being sold. The redesign made the sedan look bolder, but still, you know, typical for a Camry. Why would anyone consider modifying it, especially for the SEMA Show, which is known for its flashy, showy displays? A subdued Toyota simply wouldn’t fit in. But then an idea emerged.

      “The whole project began with [Toyota motorsports] national manager, Steve Appelbaum,” Marty Schwerter from the Motorsports Technical Center mentioned to USA Today at the time. “He wanted to create this sleeper Camry for SEMA. We thought, ‘Are you out of your mind?’ SEMA is all about glitz and attention.”

      The concepts of “sleeper” and “in your face” are fundamentally different, yet Toyota created a SEMA vehicle as envisioned and named it straightforwardly: Toyota Sleeper Camry. But don’t write this off as dull.

      Sleepers are meant to look unremarkable and plain — just like a Camry! However, beneath its exterior, which is all that it was, lies a full tube-frame chassis. Powering it is a Tundra-sourced, TRD supercharged 5.7-liter 3UR-FE V8 engine.

      According to Schwerter, this setup generates 612 horsepower. However, in typical SEMA fashion, that’s just the beginning. Able to handle a 300-shot of nitrous oxide, Schwerter asserts that this performance-oriented Camry can deliver around 900 hp. The vehicle's transmission, rear axle, and electronics also came from a Tundra.

      For drag racing, the Camry was fitted with 335/30/18 drag tires. Though the team had yet to put the Toyota dragster through its paces “with real intensity,” the estimated quarter-mile time was 9.8 seconds. You can experience some sensory dissonance in the video below, showcasing the vehicle speeding down the straights during the 2016 Toyota Nationals.

      “This is the most extreme build we’ve ever showcased at SEMA,” stated Appelbaum. “The shift from an apparently stock Camry to a full-fledged racecar is truly astonishing.”

      Another noteworthy aspect of the Toyota racer is that it was constructed in just 11 weeks. Whether the motorsports tech team is particularly efficient or that's all the time they had (since auto show schedules are notoriously tight) is unclear. However, it's an exciting car to come across, one that even Jay Leno featured for a season finale.