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Another Toyota concept truck shown at the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas was the Tundra Midnight Rider Tailgater, made in partnership with Brooks & Dunn. For those who are not familiar with them, Brooks & Dunn is a popular and almost legendary American country music duo, for which Toyota has been a sponsor for over 3 years. Brooks & Dunn will be having their farewell tour in 2010 after 20 years of writing and singing songs together and in celebration of their career, Toyota developed the Tundra Midnight Rider Tailgater with them.

Toyota used the Tundra because of Brooks & Dunn’s predominantly truck-using fan base and thought about having a traveling truck that provides both comfort and utility. To execute the idea, Toyota sought the help of The B.A.D. Company to convert the Tundra CrewMax Limited 4×2 V8 into the ultimate tailgating vehicle for Brooks & Dunn.

The exterior of the modified Tundra CrewMax was painted black with silver metallic flakes and features custom western-engraved silver door handle surrounds, a custom Brooks & Dunn license plate, chrome Brooks & Dunn steer skull logo at the front grille, 20-inch Mickey Thompson “Classic-Lock” polished aluminum wheels with 35-inch Mickey Thompson “Claw” off-road tires, Bushwacker bolt-on fender flares and a 3-inch suspension lift.

The B.A.D. Company used black leather trim seats and silver accents inside to match its exterior. A Toyota navigation system and rear seat entertainment, along with a Kicker sound system provides passengers with the best entertainment even while on the road.

To get the Ultimate Tailgating Experience, users simply need to slide out the tailgate to expose a Grill  N Chill cooking area produced by Go! Products. This area is complete with countertops, infrared barbecue, beverage tap and ice chest. To provide entertainment while people are partying at the back, a 42” flat screen TV, also with a Kicker sound system and a dual subwoofer system, four 2-way speakers and everything you need to get the best sound in various conditions were placed at the truck bed for more versatility.

With the Tundra Midnight Rider Tailgater by Brooks & Dunn, not only will Toyota be able to take part in the duo’s last hurrah, it will also give them an opportunity to evaluate the people’s response to interior treatments and bed utility to influence design possibilities in succeeding Tundra models.

Inspired by the Hot Rod era in the 50’s and 60’s, Toyota showed another concept truck, this time for the full-size Toyota Tundra at the 2009 SEMA Show. Because of the growing interest for the old school hot rod-inspired accessories in the automotive industry, the Japanese automaker thought it would be an interesting idea. Toyota partnered with Phoenix-based Sucker Punch Sally’s this time, to channel the iconic hot rod era to create a truck that can both work hard and play hard at the same time, the Toyota Hot Rod.

Toyota provided the flat back Tundra Regular Cab 4×2 to be made over hot rod style. Sucker Punch Sally’s painted it black with candy red hot rod flames, used Bonneville moon hubcaps, added a custom cherry bomb exhaust and a 1950’s Toyota logo at the grille.

For the interior, they gave it a full custom tuck ‘n’ roll package, a custom headliner, a dash pad and carpet and hand-turned brass dashboard controls. Fender Guitars created custom radio knobs as a finishing touch. Also, SPS added custom aluminum side panels and railing and a custom curly maple wood cargo deck by the Fender Custom Shop topped the bed.

The Tundra Rod could have been a great concept, but it looks like a lot of people still prefer last year’s Ultimate Tundra Sleeper.