In a bid to better understand how their vehicle technologies hold up in real-world conditions, Toyota has launched the Five Continents Driving Project, whereby they send their engineers on epic road trips through varied terrain. The upcoming North American leg, which they're calling the Ever-Better Expedition, "will tackle some of the continent's most challenging driving environments, from the summer heat of California's Death Valley to the icy roads of an Alaskan winter, and from the steep ascent of Pikes Peak in Colorado to the urban congestion of New York City."

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However, they're not rolling out in stock Camrys and Priuses; it looks like the engineers have had a bit of pre-trip fun, creating customized vehicles that will serve as rolling test-beds for whatever the road may throw at them. Check out this bad-ass ride that Car & Driver calls an "SUVan," a Sienna minivan body dropped onto a ruggedized Tacoma pickup chassis:

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Perched high atop the chassis of a Toyota Tacoma pickup, this former mom-mobile now rolls on ultrawide, off-road tires and features cool, rear-hinged front doors. Fender flares and a new front bumper—both seemingly formed out of flat sheetmetal panels—add to the utilitarian look, while a front-mounted winch, auxiliary lights, and dark-tinted headlights create a sinister vibe. The SUVan is finished in matte black, naturally.

The North American journey began last week. Here's what they're expecting to do on the 110-day, 16,500-mile trip:

This is actually the second leg of the trip, by the way. The first was in Australia, where 50 engineers spent 72 days traversing 12,500 miles:

Toyota promises to update the U.S. trip's website with info on all nine specialty vehicles they'll be using, but thus far that page is still blank. Perhaps they sent their web folks on the trip too?