Honda’s Family SUV Name Is Going On A 1,300-HP Baja Monster
Honda Racing Corporation is putting its most mainstream nameplate on its most extreme project yet. The company has teased a 1,300-horsepower trophy truck called the Passport Baja Spec, built to compete in the Trophy Truck class of the 2027 SCORE World Desert Championship. It’s an odd pairing on paper: Passport is Honda’s two-row family crossover, the one with heated seats and an optional off-road app for the infotainment screen. Slap that badge on a purpose-built desert racer and you get a vehicle that shares nothing but a name with the SUV in Honda dealer lots.
The full reveal happens this Thursday, Oct. 29, at a private event in downtown Los Angeles hosted by Menzies Motorsports and Race Service. From there, the Passport Baja Spec heads to the HRC booth at SEMA in Las Vegas, running Nov. 3-6, for its first public showing. The truck won’t actually race until next June, when it lines up for the 2027 SCORE Baja 500 with two-time Baja 1000 winner Bryce Menzies behind the wheel.
Why Honda Picked A Family SUV Name For A Desert Racer
The nameplate choice isn’t as random as it looks. Honda already sells a Passport TrailSport, and last year’s off-road racing program ran a truck nicknamed the “Baja Passport” that, despite the tough looks, still used a production-adjacent twin-turbo V6 to stay relatively close to stock. The Baja Spec throws that restraint out. This is a purpose-built trophy Truck, a different category entirely from anything wearing a VIN plate, and HRC is leaning into the connection rather than hiding it. Honda gets to borrow brand recognition from a crossover people actually cross-shop against a Toyota 4Runner, while handing it over to a race truck that has nothing under the skin in common with one.
HRC hasn’t released a full spec sheet yet, but the teaser image shows massive off-road tires and a widebody shell built around long-travel suspension. The company says the truck will fold in tech developed across its motorsports portfolio, from Formula 1 and IndyCar to IMSA sports cars and Honda’s existing Baja program.
Honda’s Baja Pedigree Goes Back To 1962
Honda didn’t just show up to Baja one day with a checkbook. The company’s desert-racing roots trace back to 1962, five years before the first official Baja 1000 even existed. That year, LA-based Honda dealers Dave Ekins and Bill Robertson Jr. rode two Honda CL72 motorcycles from Tijuana to La Paz in 39 hours and 56 minutes, a run that helped set the template for what became the Baja 1000 in 1967.
That history isn’t just trivia Honda likes to trot out. The brand has become the winningest motorcycle manufacturer in Baja history, with 22 overall victories. On four wheels, its off-road program has racked up 17 class wins since 2015, including four Baja 1000 titles and five Baja 500 wins.
What’s Still Unknown Before The Reveal
Beyond the 1,300-hp figure and the June 2027 Baja 500 debut, HRC has kept most hard details under wraps. There’s no confirmed engine architecture, no weight figure, and no word on how much of the Passport Baja Spec’s chassis or aero package carries over from Honda’s prior off-road builds. Thursday’s event in Los Angeles and the public SEMA display should start filling in those blanks, and given how much attention this truck is already drawing for its name alone, expect more technical details to surface as the reveal approaches.
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