(first posted 5/24/2018) Finding Toyota’s absolute top model for their domestic market and Japan’s only production car ever with a V12 engine, what an unexpected treat it was when visiting the Japan Classic Day on May 20. The Toyota Century is a luxurious flagship limousine for Japanese dignitaries and captains of industry. A conservatively styled automobile with an exceptional build quality and driven by a chauffeur.
The first generation, powered by a V8 engine, was introduced in 1967. The production of a redesigned Century started in April 1997; it also received a new, majestic V12 engine.
The Century is a full-size sedan alright, yet with an overall length of 5.27 m (207.5”) it’s not going ridiculously over the top.
The owner was so kind as to open the hood and start the engine, resulting in a sound of silence. Toyota’s 1GZ-FE engine is a 5.0 liter DOHC 48v V12 with variable valve timing. Its factory rated maximum power output is 280 DIN-hp; a rather conservative rating, so to speak.
The transmission is a 4-speed automatic, in 2005 the Century got a 6-speed automatic.
Cloth upholstery, everywhere.
The logo comes from the Asian mythology and represents the Japanese Imperial Family.
As mentioned, the first generation was launched in 1967. That’s exactly a century after Sakichi Toyoda’s birthyear, he was the founder of Toyota Industries.
The text at the bottom says the car is completely hand-built in 9 days by a select group of 42 assemblers. Power and performance are adequate.
Related reading:
Perpetual Classic: 2013 Toyota Century – The Ultimate Brougham Time Machine
What can i say………………i would love to own one of these!!! Small Cadillac done right!!!
‘Power and performance are adequate’. Isn`t that what Bentley claimed when they released their 1962 models/
Yep, I believe that is a nod to exactly that.
A speed shop in Japan put this V12 in a MKIV Supra, something tells me power is more than adequate and no doubt silky smooth.
I have read about a build of one in NZ put in a Mark II/Cressida, with an individual throttle body setup.
The 280 hp rating would be the ‘gentlemans’ agreement’ where they didn’t advertise power outputs above that figure, no matter what the actual power output was.
Wow – The American car perfected. I suppose we should have expected Toyota to be the one to do it.
Seeing this does nothing to mute my distaste for the awful job Ford did with the 1980 Lincoln Continental/Town Car. This is what the big Lincoln of the 1980s should have been.
I’d bet this car doesn’t make any business sense for Toyota.
+1 Hubba. Presumably it exists to give the Japanese elite something Japanese to be chauffeured in.
What the new Continental should have been! Just lovely.
Maybe the newest version of the Century, just unveiled last fall, might be more suitable, as this one is pretty old.
And yet it really isn’t all that different from the original 1967 Century. That’s 51 years and counting. Has there ever been such car styling continuity outside of the original Beetle?
Just a few Rolls-Royce Phantom VII styling cues. Still like it far better than any of the awful designs they are spewing out now at Toyota & Lexus. Spindle nose is worse than Acura’s old beak. Japanese car design is pretty sad at the moment IMHO.
Apart from some Mazdas, yes Japanese current designs are a wasteland. Which is one reason why my current car is German.
To me it’s not the American car perfected, it’s a standard Japanese car done without any attention to cost control, and with a little American seasoning. What’s that stuff my father in law ruins his steak with – Lawry’s? I can’t see these having sold well in the US.
Always fancied bringing one of these to the UK just because.
It intrigues me that the boot is on the other foot here – RHD in the Netherlands. I always thought if the UK was LHD personal imports from the US and Europe would be far more common – not that they are especially rare.
I wonder how many Dutchmen long for a Japanese weirdsmobile but are put off by RHD.
If you really long for a “Japanese weirdsmobile” (or an English one, for that matter) then RHD isn’t a problem at all. Several of them were present at the event. I’m sure you get used to it very quickly when driving around.
Yeah I used to drive an LHD Beetle in Scotland. It was fine, but I know some people would never do it.
Neat car! It puts two words in the same sentence I never thought I would see: Toyota and V-12 !!
I tend to agree with the Japanese (if this one car can be taken to speak for an entire nation) that cloth, at least the right cloth, is more luxurious than leather.
Just as long as you quit your cigar habit
From what I understand, the Japanese preference for cloth is related to the noise leather makes as it flexes and rubs the person entering/exiting a car. Cloth is quieter.
There may be other components to this preference, too.
Is high grade WOOL fabric so unlike leather it isn’t sticky/sweaty in warm weather.
If I could own one import JDM car, the Century would be it.
Same here.
This vehicle was the most prestigious car in Japan because Nissan gave up the exclusivity of its President in 80s. It is probably much better built than Rolls Royce, Bentley and Maybach. But its exterior is totally lack of originality, the overal shape looks like a 70s Chevy, and the rear end looks like a copy of Russian Zil. Why don’t they make it look at least a upgraded LS400?
I think that misses the point of these. It looks very like the original.
I love these cars. Got to ride in one in Tokyo back in 2000 – the original model, where, IIRC, the back of the passenger seat kicked forward to create a footrest. I’m not quite sure how you are supposed to make this version work.
For several years in the mid aughts, there was one of these in the same garage I used in NY – seems it was assigned to Toyota’s US finance chief, who was based there – just like GM used to be.
In reference to the new Continental, copying this would be nice, but the Mitsubishi Debonair Executive would be a closer match. That said, two things I really like about the new Conti are the flat beltline and relatively upright C pillar and resulting trunk. And supposedly they’re going to offer suicide doors!
The Japanese “executive limousine” sector is one of my favourite niche car segments, due to oddities like a V12 engined Toyota, a HQ Holden rebadged as an Isuzu (Isuzu Statesman de Ville) and msot bizarre of all – a HX Holden fitted with a rotary engine (Mazda Roadpacer).
I like the front seat pass tru which allows conversation between the driver and the executive toes of the rich.
There was a period where I found these curiously 1960s Detroit.
Yet compared to modern overstyling, the Century now seems to have a timeless elegance.
Less is more. No substitute for cubes and pots being the exception which gilds the rule…