2024 Toyota Tacoma Blue Beetle arrives at SEMA Show, regardless of poor box office results
Not exactly the most popular superhero in the DC Universe, Blue Beetle was recently pushed into the mainstream by a DC Studious film distributed by Warner Bros. It was released on August 15, and the film clearly failed at the box office. As of October 29, the film has grossed $129.3 million worldwide, with $72.5 million coming from ticket sales in the United States and Canada.
The lowest-grossing film in the DC Extended Universe to date, Blue Beetle stars a hero truck in the form of a Toyota Tacoma. Instead of admitting its mistake of partnering with Warner Bros. For a B+ movie at best, Toyota decided to cross-promote the movie at the 2023 SEMA Show via a custom taco. This handcrafted truck ostentatiously features Blue Beetle graphics from Complete Customs.
Equipped with 18-inch aluminum wheels and tube-style steps, the pickup sweetens the deal with… uh… nothing else remotely worth mentioning. Designed by Calty Design Research studio in California, this car is far less than a true SEMA build.
Its beauty isn’t even close to Marty McFly’s 1985 Toyota SR5, a pickup that has been replicated by a whole lotta truck and Back to the Future fans over the years. On display in the center hall of booth 22200, the Blue Beetle Tacoma is a good pickup as long as you ignore the look-at-me wrap.
Better yet, the 2024 Tacoma is a massive upgrade from the N300 generation that preceded it. For starters, it rocks Toyota’s new Global Architecture – a frame platform for body-on-frame applications, an architecture shared with the Land Cruiser 300, Prado, Sequoia, Tundra, LX, and GX.
Photo: Toyota
The 2024 Tacoma is the only application of the TNGA-F to feature a manual transmission, which is a big deal in itself. Under the hood, the N400 sweetens the deal with a 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder available in four distinct flavors. The most powerful of the bunch is the i-FORCE MAX, which brings hybrid assistance to the mix for a total of 326 hp and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque.
At the bottom of the spectrum, the i-FORCE without MAX promises 278 hp and 317 lb-ft (430 Nm), making it more torquey than the old naturally aspirated V6. The manual transmission in the Blue Beetle SEMA truck comes with minor penalties. More importantly, 8 fewer horsepower and 7 less lb-ft compared to the eight-speed automatic transmission that replaces the old transmission.
At the bottom of the food chain, the SR Extended Cab is an automatic-only car with 228 hp and 243 lb-ft (329 Nm) of its name. It’s still better than the old production 2.7, and he said the engine is more than adequate in a work-oriented pickup truck. Speaking of which, maximum payload capacity and towing capacity are 1,709 pounds (775 kg) and 6,500 pounds (2,948 kg).
The made-in-Mexico 2024 Tacoma is scheduled to begin production in December 2023, and will reach customers’ hands in January 2024. By April 2024, the Japanese automaker will begin production of the i-FORCE MAX.
(Tags for translation)2024 Toyota Tacoma(T)Blue Beetle(T)Toyota Tacoma(T)Pickup Truck(T)Toyota(T)2023 SEMA Show
