Three SEMA Off-Road Builds That Push the 4×4 Brief in Very Different Ways

SEMA has a way of turning sensible engineering into something louder, taller and far less restrained.

This year’s off-road standouts came from three familiar names, but they weren’t chasing the same idea of adventure.

Nissan leaned into remote-expedition theatre, Jeep revived a cult pickup silhouette with SRT intent, and Honda brought a competition machine aimed squarely at Baja.

At a glance

• Nissan, Jeep and Honda each showed a major off-road build at SEMA with very different missions.
• The highlights include a 37-inch-tyred Armada concept, a V8 Wrangler Scrambler SRT and a 1,300-horsepower Honda Passport Trophy Truck.
• Honda’s racer is set for Baja 500 competition, while production pricing or general availability for the concepts has not been confirmed.

Nissan Armada Jungle Patrol Concept

Nissan’s Armada Jungle Patrol Concept takes the brand’s off-road heritage and gives it an expedition-grade SEMA treatment.

The wider story starts with the Patrol, a nameplate that has been part of the 4×4 landscape since 1951 and sits among the durability icons of the segment.

For SEMA, the Armada becomes something more extreme than a luxury-leaning full-size SUV.

The concept uses an open-top roof construction, a heavy-duty roll cage, bull bars and light bars, all signalling a machine built for remote terrain rather than a polished boulevard stance.

Its 37-inch Yokohama off-road tyres sit with a wider track and long-travel suspension components, including adjustable coil-overs.

Custom steel bumpers and fenders add a functional edge, particularly for a vehicle imagined around rough, low-margin environments.

The cabin keeps the front seats largely familiar, while the rear is reworked with two inward-facing benches.

Nissan left the standard 425bhp 3.5-litre V6 untouched, though the build gains a prototype NISMO exhaust system.

Visually, the matte black finish and red detailing make it look less like a showroom exercise and more like a support truck for a desert film crew.

Jeep Wrangler Scrambler SRT

The Jeep Wrangler Scrambler SRT works from a different kind of nostalgia.

Its reference point is the CJ-8 Scrambler of the 1980s, translated through a modern Wrangler platform and pushed into performance territory.

Jeep’s SRT badge matters here because this is described as the first Jeep to wear it.

The format is a two-door, long-wheelbase Wrangler with a pickup bed, removable roof section and the brand’s familiar vertical-slat grille up front.

Under the skin, the build uses a bespoke independent front suspension system and a trophy-truck-inspired rear axle.

Heavy-duty wheels, off-road tyres, skid plates and rugged bumpers round out a package clearly aimed at fast desert running rather than slow rock-crawling alone.

The powertrain is deliberately tantalising.

Jeep is said to have used a V8 with help from Stellantis Group’s SRT division, but the specific engine and output have not been disclosed.

The cabin adds one of the build’s more playful details, with rear seats that can face forward, face rearward or be removed altogether.

Honda Passport Trophy Truck

Honda’s Passport Trophy Truck isn’t simply a show build with bigger tyres.

It’s a purpose-built performance off-roader developed with the Baja desert rally in mind, part of the SCORE World Desert Championship.

The headline figure is substantial even by top-class desert-racing standards.

A twin-turbo 2.4-litre V6 is paired with an 800-volt hybrid system for a combined 1,300 horsepower.

The drivetrain layout is just as notable as the output.

Instead of a conventional high-performance axle setup, the Passport uses dual rear drive shafts connected to angled spiral bevel gears at each wheel.

At the front, power reaches the wheels through portal gears mounted at each front hub, a solution intended to maximise ground clearance.

The electronics package includes dual-axle brake-by-wire, adaptive traction control and AI power deployment.

Its carbon-kevlar composite body is shaped to manage airflow around and through the truck, a reminder that modern desert racing is as much about efficiency and control as it is about suspension travel and nerve.

The Passport Trophy Truck is scheduled to make its racing debut at the Baja 500 in June next year, with back-to-back SCORE Baja 1000 winner Bryce Menzies behind the wheel.

Details & Specifications

Taken together, these three machines show how elastic the off-road brief has become.

Nissan’s concept is about remote travel with dramatic hardware, Jeep’s Scrambler SRT channels heritage through desert-speed aggression, and Honda’s Passport Trophy Truck treats the rough stuff as a laboratory for hybrid performance.