September 15, 2025 • 36 mins
Can a vehicle embody the pinnacle of understated luxury while remaining virtually unknown outside its home country? Discover the Toyota Century, a masterpiece of engineering and tradition, which has been the hidden gem in Toyota's crown since 1967. This episode unravels the rich history and cultural significance of the Century, a vehicle that stands above even Lexus in Toyota's hierarchy and serves as the choice of Japan's elite. With its commitment to quality and craftsmanship, could the Century redefine what luxury means in different markets? Join us as we untangle the intricate threads of tradition, innovation, and cultural perception that make the Toyota Century a fascinating subject for any luxury vehicle enthusiast.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
a century, over a hundred years.
Okay, exactly a hundred years, one century.
But in the automotive world, century comes
to mind for a multitude of different
vehicles, but one main vehicle in
particular sets the stage for its name.
Its name is derived from its founder's
birthday when the vehicle first came out,
(00:20):
and with it that, they say, is just history
the Toyota Century, the top echelon of the
Toyota Motor Corporation, sitting above
standard Toyota products, hell, even Lexus
products.
Century is their top-tier brand, although
it's void of selling these things in North
America.
The Century brand of vehicles is now
growing with a new SUV.
(00:41):
But can Toyota do more and can it make
Century into its own dedicated brand?
Today, autolux is going to take a look at
the past, the present and the future of
Toyota's Century models.
(01:02):
Welcome back to the AutoLooks podcast.
I am your host, as always, the doctor to
the automotive industry, Mr. Everett Jay,
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(01:23):
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So, like we said in the beginning century,
I think in my home country one of our top
tier bands that sings about Canada, the
tragically hip, said it best.
You know you're ahead by a century.
Yeah, I gotta take reference to to music
(02:04):
here because you know music flows through
everything.
That's something we're going to talk about
in a future podcast.
But with this a century Toyota developed a
high-end brand and we're not talking like
premier or luxury, we're talking high-end
brand.
Sure, it falls under the Toyota name, but
it does use its own logo.
So it's not a whole heck of a lot of Toyota
(02:25):
into it.
But you got to remember the Japanese market
is completely different than one in North
America.
In North America we want to buy a Lexus
because we're better than our neighbor who
has a Toyota.
Oh, I have the Lexus ES.
Ooh, it's better than my Camry.
No, it's not.
It's the same freaking thing, just got a
(02:50):
few more luxury touches to it and, when it
comes down to Lexus, a few more eyes on it
than the Camry.
There's a little bit more fit and finish
that goes into it.
But the century brand, created in November
of 1967, coming all the way up to today,
has a very few generations of this vehicle
over its time.
Now it's getting an SUV counterpart, the
century SUV which we all know and we have
raid and gave it a copycat award because it
does look like the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
Come on, it's kind of similar to how you
(03:11):
know, the Aura Senate looks just like a
Rolls-Royce Phantom and, if you even go
back, the old Chrysler Imperial concept
from the early 2000s.
But a Century is the top tier of Toyota
engineering.
Their sedan was essentially their flagship
product.
It essentially was made as a limo product.
Originally derived its name from the 100th
(03:33):
birthday of Sakashi Toyota, born in
February 14th 1867, the founder of Toyota
Industries.
So when they came up with a name for this
vehicle, they figured.
Oh, what are we going to call it?
Well, our founder was born 100 years ago.
Okay, let's go with that, let's go with
that.
What can we think of you know 100 years?
It was like a century ago.
(03:54):
I just call it the Century and we'll figure
it out later.
Well, it's stuck and today the Toyota
Century is what you consider the top tier
of their products.
Now we all get it.
North America, we do have our own Sentry
here as well.
The Buick Sentry no longer exists.
But I remember as a kid seeing Buick
Sentries running around and seeing them
it's like, oh, cool Buick Sentry.
So when I heard the Toyota one, I'm like,
(04:15):
oh, they're just trying to use the American
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, put the brakes on
there.
Ever.
1967, toyota century.
You know the two of them.
They're both kind of old, so toyota really
didn't steal the name.
They utilized essentially a birthday for it.
When you think about it, the toyota century
could be toyota's gift to their founder.
It's currently used by the imperial house
(04:36):
of japan, the prime minister of japan and
most government leaders and executive
businessmen.
So this thing has a very target market
similar to that of hongki from china.
It basically did the same thing, only for
government officials and high-end business
clientele.
That's it.
Regularly.
People don't get their hands on it.
Well, centuries are a little bit different.
You somewhat can.
Now they're similar to an austin princess
(04:58):
daimler ds420, cadillac, series 70,
mercedes maybach, a hongkis-Royce Phantom
or even, if you want to really go back to
those days, a Zil limo.
It can only be purchased at specifically
identified Toyota store locations in select
markets.
They don't make this.
From my side of the world.
It comes in right-hand drive only, no left
(05:20):
hand.
So if you want to drive one over here, you
got to switch to the other side.
If you ever wondered about their logo, okay,
their logo is the gold Phoenix logo called
the Hoyo Fushiyaru.
Hopefully I got that right and Japanese
people listening to this send us a message.
Tell us how to say it properly, cause I'm
trying to do my best here.
It's from the Cynospheric Mythology.
It represents the Imperial House of Japan
(05:43):
and East Asian cultural sphere, which
includes Japan, china, korea and Vietnam.
So it's essentially saying the century is
the gold standard for this area.
This is made for the Imperial House.
This is made for the top-tier Asian
clienteles.
Now, we're not going to cut everybody out,
but at the beginning, yeah, let's just make
it Japan only.
(06:03):
The styling has essentially remained the
same, virtually unchanged.
The vehicles, the century sedans you get
now from the original century sedans in
1967.
Trust me, when they redid it just a couple
years ago I looked and go that's just an
enhancement.
That's not a new design, really it is.
But you just kind of bring it up to today's
technology with little you know key
features with it, when when the design's
(06:24):
good, it's a lot like a lot of other things
with Toyota.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Remember, the Camry is running on a
platform that was developed in the 80s.
My Tacoma outside is riding on a platform
from the early 90s.
Now, how many car companies out there like
Chrysler is a perfect example of it.
They get a great platform and then they
fucking change it for the next one.
(06:45):
Perfect example of that was the Dodge
Intrepid.
When they built that cab-forward design of
the original Intrepids for 1990, what was
it?
94, 93?
I had a 94 Concorde back in the day and
those things were like bulletproof.
The 3.5 liter V6 in those cars was amazing.
The platform was great.
I got over 300,000 kilometers on mine.
(07:05):
My dad got over 270,000 on his.
They went forever and then they released
the second generation, put a 2.7 in it that
blew up on you from a frame that rotted out.
It's like you had a good thing.
Why did you change it?
And Toyota has never done that with the
Century, because they built it perfect.
The only other changes, besides essentially
(07:29):
three generations of the Century product,
has been the inclusion recently of their
SUV generation.
This has been done due to the success and
history of the Century nameplate in Asian
marketplaces and a few others as a top tier
product.
And now, with more people going after these
high end or premier catalogs, especially in
the asian marketplace, china has hong kong,
which is going up against rolls royce and
bentley.
(07:49):
You can't just let the british own it
forever.
Now.
Everybody else wants a piece of this pie.
So toyota decided to give it an suv to make
it better.
For today they're usually painted black,
which kind of donates to its success.
Um, you know you, you can always find one.
They're black, they're black.
You know, don't have to worry about getting
this horrible antique burgundy from the 80s
(08:10):
Toyota Century.
No, they're black.
Got to remember most limos are white,
silver or black.
I always like saying that.
Always bet on black.
That's what Beavis always told me from
Beavis at Butthead.
If you didn't know that, you need to go and
play bb's butthead mini golf.
It's, it's awesome now.
The nissan president was its closest
japanese competitor and this actually put
up a fight between the two car companies
(08:32):
for supremacy in the high-end market of the
japanese marketplace.
But toyota kind of won over a lot more
people and once they got their hand into
the government and made it the mainstay
vehicle for the Emperor of Japan, c'est la
vie.
They kind of took it.
A few other notable competitors would be
the Mitsubishi Debonair, the Isuzu Stateman
(08:53):
DeVille and the Mazda Road Pacer.
Now, the funny thing is the Isuzu Stateman
DeVille and the Mazda Road Pacer are both
derived from the GM Holden line.
Yeah, so they're not even Japanese.
Derived from the gm holden line.
Yeah, so they're not even japanese.
So, besides the nissan president, the
mitsubishi debonair would really be the
only other main japanese competitor.
Now, over the years, like we said, there's
(09:13):
only been three generations.
Getting back to 1967, there's only three,
three generations of the toyota century.
That's how they built this thing so good.
And the funniest thing is the first
generation the G20, the G30, and the G40,
we're going to explain what those mean a
little bit later on, started in November
1967 when the vehicle came out, and went
(09:33):
all the way up to March of 1997.
Nearly a full 30 years, you know 29 years
and a few months, almost 30 years.
That's a long time for a vehicle, but you
have to remember you're going through the
end of the 60s, into the 70s, into the 80s
and into the beginning of the 90s.
Not a lot of tons of technological changes
and designs really happened.
(09:54):
You were able to carry vehicles for so long
during those periods, especially through
the 80s.
Yeah, everybody wanted to stay ahead of
everyone else, but we were still able to
hold on to products like this over this
time.
When it was released, it came with a V8
engine only, which made it the third
post-war Japanese car available with a V8
motor.
It was originally based on a 1964 Crown 8
(10:17):
platform.
Because Toyota knew they had great
platforms and great engines.
We're going to put a bigger engine in this
vehicle.
There's only two other cars in our market
that have V8s in it.
We got it.
The Americans love their V8s, but we're
going to put this thing up against
Rolls-Royce.
We got to have a power plant that's just as
powerful as a statement we need to make.
They dropped the V8 now underneath the hood
and then they utilized their crown platform.
(10:40):
Now the crown platform was essentially the
birthplace of Lexus.
Now, the Crown platform was essentially the
birthplace of Lexus.
Yeah, lexus may have come around was it
1989 or was it 86?
One of those two but they originally
derived from the Crown platform.
Even the original LS built for the American
marketplace all American specifications
because they knew the Americans would drop
tons more money on a luxury nameplate than
(11:03):
a standardized product.
Now what do you think?
The us had accurate infinity and lexus and
mazda even considered bringing up their
mani brand.
You want to hear more about that.
We did an entire podcast about mazda's
luxury brand a while back.
You can go back and take a listen to it
after.
This one's pretty good.
You'll learn some stuff about some cool
mass luxury things.
Besides mani, they had a couple others, but
(11:23):
Lexus was given birth from the Crown
platform and so was the Century.
Now the unfortunate thing for this is
Toyota was actually the second product to
come out.
It arrived two years after the Nissan
President.
Now Nissan wanted to call it the President
because they literally wanted to go after
all government officials.
They were starting to pick up on the idea
of it and Toyota couldn't have that.
(11:44):
No, no, no, no, no, no.
We got to do something cool.
We got to do something better.
They created the Century.
But, unlike the Nissan President, the
Century stayed on, and it stayed on for so
long, even with cool technology.
It had, back in the day, electromagnetic
door latches with interior and exterior
electrically operated door handles on a car
(12:07):
in 1967.
Hell, at that point in time I was just glad
if I can get something other than a radio
in my car.
Hell, most of us were still hoping we can
have a radio, and if you're on a volkswagen
you're hoping for heat.
Yeah, it originally had column shifters
with the base model.
The Type A and Type B manuals were
eventually phased out between 1973 and 1974.
(12:28):
So unless you wanted to pay for the base
manual, you had to get a stick shift.
So early generations had a big V8 and had a
stick shift in it.
You have to remember 1967, we're going all
the way up to 1974.
You get seven years of possible vehicles
with a stick shift in a century.
Now, trust me, that would be something cool
to have Blow people's minds, not just the
(12:49):
car but what's in it.
In 1971, they added climate control Because
you gotta remember this is the top tier of
the luxury makes.
In 73, they saw a change of the locks,
taillights and the addition of disc brakes.
78, november 78, fuel injection was added
to meet new emission standards.
This changed the car to what they called
(13:09):
the C30.
So the C20 was the original platform.
When they made enough changes to it, the
C30 came into play.
A brand new 4-liter V8 was added in
November 1982, along with new exterior
appearance which then changed it to the c40.
What a lot of people remember these days.
Now, this thing cruising on a cloud of air
(13:30):
essentially had a suspension of trailing
arms front and airbag support springs in
the rear which made this thing feel like
you're just floating on a cloud in
september of 1987 and received a light
makeover not full, gotta remember.
The c30 had more of a makeover.
The c40 was more of a change to the engines
(13:50):
and a little bit more of the imperious 1987
and we do mean light makeover
electronically operated, four-speed
automatic transmission, floor-mounted
shifter front bucket seats due to the
shifter meant a loss to the front bench.
An updated grille and cornering lamps were
integrated into the headlight surround so
you can actually see easier around corners,
(14:12):
making it safer for your limo driver to
chauffeur you around.
But you gotta remember this is 20 years
after it came out, 20 years or 1987.
September, 1987.
So you know 19 years, 10 months.
We're finally getting an update.
Bring us to the 80s.
Well, also in the 80s, right before the end
of the decade, toyota finally stated the
(14:33):
fact that this vehicle may seem like a limo
on its own, but they saw the North American
market building these big, long stretched
body vehicles and the Japanese market
wanted to get into that.
1989, the Century Limousine appeared.
Long stretched body vehicles and the
japanese market wanted to get into that.
1989, the century limousine appeared.
Its wheelbase was similar to that of the
deville, the town car, the s-class and the
rolls royce silver spirit.
(14:53):
So not a full-scale stretched limo but
still limo style a padded vinyl roof with
opera windows in the center pillar.
Where the stretch was added is how you
distinguish the limo additions from the
standard ones.
So besides it looking a little bit off
because the center pillar is a little bit
different that'd be b pillar is a little
bit thicker you got the opera windows in
(15:14):
vinyl to make it kind of stand out.
By september of 1990 there was also an
added l-type extended century model added
to the vehicle.
It.
So now three different models, one big
block engine and all sorts of luxury.
Over nearly 30 years 3,000 were built.
That's it 3,000 in 30 years.
(15:35):
Kind of sounds like Lamborghini.
Back in the early 2000s, when the Guard
would come out, they had less than 3,000
built.
Now they produce that in a year.
No, the Sentry wasn't for a high-end client.
Well, it was for the high-end clientele,
but it wasn't mass numbers and Toyota
wanted to keep it that way.
They were making money off of it, so it was
doing its justice and because the platform
(15:56):
was sold, it had been paid for.
See, that's the thing you got to get into
Platform, the thing you got to get into
platform technology.
Utilizing a good working platform for a
vehicle over such a long period of time,
you eventually get down to the point where
you don't need to make many updates besides
technological and essentially the vehicle
just becomes a bread and butter for your
corporation.
Dodge did that, or I should say Ram did
(16:18):
that, when they kept the previous design,
the Ram Classic, around as their entry
level.
The whole platform had been paid off, so it
was just extra money in the bank for them.
And since they didn't have anything
competing in the midsize market, they kept
it as a midsize priced product at a full
size scale Ingenious.
The second generation appeared in April
1997.
(16:39):
The G50, right, these G's right.
This one wasn't as long essentially 20
years, so one decade less from April 1997
to January 2017.
This one was powered by a new V12 motor in
place of the former V8, and had a very
similar design to the original, with some
updated modern touches four-speed auto
(17:00):
until the six-speed intelligent arrived in
2005.
The suspension was upgraded to double
wishbone control arms in the front and the
rear wheel airbag support springs in the
rear.
It is the first and only front engine v12
product ever produced in japan.
So if you're ever wondering that there are
no supercars from japan that have been made
(17:21):
with a front engine V12.
Only the Toyota Sentry ever came that way
Only one.
Now, if you listen to this podcast, it's
like in the future.
I'm talking 2025.
Right now, I'll say it's like 2035 and
Toyota's finally created another front
engine one.
Well, yeah, I'm wrong, but until then, as
of now, the 2025 is the only V12 front
engine vehicle ever produced in the
(17:43):
Japanese market.
Not for in the limited equipment as a
century became a standalone product in 2003.
It's a brief use of cng.
You remember late 90s and early 2000s
people started thinking of compressed
natural gas for powering systems.
I remember seeing miatas when I was younger.
It's kind of a neat idea but you know, a
(18:03):
little bit of extra goes into it.
You know, safety-wise.
In 1998, they started selling them in
Europe, china and the Middle East as
government cars.
Only 100 left-hand cars were ever made.
So yeah, I was a little wrong.
They did come out in the left-hand market,
but on a very, very limited basis.
You have to remember these markets Europe,
(18:24):
china and the Middle East.
Europe a lot of the ones that went over
there, mostly Great Britain.
China, a lot of the ones that went there,
mostly Hong Kong.
Middle East is really where you got your
left-hand derivative models.
Some of the left-hand cars actually have
made it state-sized for promotional and
testing purposes.
Toyota executives and North American
headquarters wanted to see if the American
(18:45):
market would pick up on a premium well, not
premium, ie premier or high-end Toyota
product.
They wanted to see if Century can make it
in one of the biggest automotive markets in
the world.
Well, at that point in time, talking 1998,
it was the biggest automotive market at
that time.
So they wanted to see if they could make it,
but unfortunately they didn't see a good
business case for this.
So the century never came to america.
(19:07):
Besides the ones that they brought over to
showcase it, they never actually sold any
stateside, and the second generation was
actually the only one ever sold outside of
japan.
They wanted to open it up and see what the
markets would respond to it.
Can a high-end japanese car with a toyota
name on it sell?
Well, no, these vehicles were essentially
made, like we said, as limousines to be
(19:29):
chauffeured around, and the most emphasis
in these vehicles was actually towards
leisure of the rear occupants.
So the rear seats were able to tilt back
with a massage option.
The front seats pulled flat on the
passenger side for the rear passenger to
put their feet up, so they could literally
stretch out with your laptop in hand and
work from the back of your vehicle from one
(19:51):
business meeting to the next.
The rear doors are equipped with a
self-close mechanism.
The door would close on its own when the
latch meets the striker.
You don't have to slam this door, basically
just put it and it goes.
Pretty cool.
It's kind of like how your hatch, your
electronic hatch, comes down and you don't
have to slam it.
It comes down and hits the back and goes.
It has that little pull in at the end.
(20:13):
That's what these doors did.
They wanted to make it a better experience
for everyone.
Now remember the original ones 30 years,
3,000 of them.
Okay, 1,000 every decade Because they sold
the second generation in more marketplaces.
They actually sold more of them overall.
They sold 9,500 of them just in the 20
years.
(20:33):
A decade less and three times more products.
So they did find a bear market for it.
But Toyota is all about quality control and,
as they learned with the century product
when you started getting into building more
of them, you open a can of worms,
essentially because you open yourself up to
more issues and if you're producing more,
you're not taking the time to see every
(20:55):
single detail, unless you're going to build
an even bigger facility with more people in
it, which toyota really didn't want to do.
For the century product, they were selling,
but they weren't selling to the expectation
that Toyota originally wanted.
From 2006 to 2008, the Sentry, royal or G51
model came out.
This became the official car of the Emperor
of Japan, specifically built for the
(21:17):
Emperor of Japan in mind.
It was built off of one design.
It had three sedans and one hearse ever
made.
The cassette is for for the emperor, that's.
It had wool cloth interior, granite entry
steps and rice paper headliner.
The front is upholstered in complete
leather and had a double wishbone on the
front and the rear with a supplemental
(21:38):
airbag spring and, to top it all off, five
liter V12 in a vehicle that stretched 20
feet long and 6.5 feet wide.
The G51 Century was it?
That was purpose built for the Emperor of
Japan.
Essentially, you know, kind of like that
Cadillac, that special Cadillac built for
the American President.
You know they're only built in very limited
(22:00):
numbers.
Well, this thing was as well.
It's kind of cool.
Like before, the same businessmen that were
buying the first generation could get the
same thing the emperor was cruising around
in.
Now, you know, only over a two-year period
2006, 2008, they only built a specific
amount of them for the emperor, but if
you've ever seen the Queen of England
before she passed away still rode around in
that old school Daimler.
(22:21):
It's kind of cool.
It was an old car, but they loved it.
Now, in June 22nd 2018, the third
generation, or the G60, was presented to
the world.
This was not just cool, this was a rebirth
Similar design but a more modern take on it
and more features.
This one came as your standard limo sedan,
(22:42):
but they also had a limited model
convertible and a one-off TRD Special
Edition.
We'll get into that one in just a little
bit.
Toyota decided to get away from the V12.
Too big of an engine, too much of a gas
guzzler, so they went back to a V8 engine
and because they knew about hybrid
technology through the Prius, they decided
(23:03):
to do a V8 engine with hybrid synergy drive
and the same output as a V12, with way
better fuel efficiency.
Because, you know, toyota loves hybrids and
they're always thinking about how they can
improve on what they have.
And they did this.
But the g60 started upping the century main
plate.
It started building them at a rate of 50
(23:23):
per month.
It was a fully handmade production and they
were not sold outside of japan.
That is it.
It's essential appearance influenced the
century royale, also from japan.
The addition of collision avoidance and
t-connect.
The mirrors were removed from the hood
mounting and put on standard sides with
turn signals involved.
Integrated heater with massaging receipts.
(23:44):
Adjustable power leg with rear seat
opposite the driver.
Rear mounted 20 inch LCD screen allows you
to control most products throughout the
vehicle Three wool color options and two
leather color options, both with wood
inlays for your interior.
The column is now back onto the floor
(24:04):
mounted.
Transmission shifter all automatic, no
stick shifts anymore, multi-link suspension
with a supplemental airbag springs, and
this essentially only allowed Century to
have that specific V8.
Now you gotta get it.
Toyota loves hybrids and loves saving gas.
That hybrid V8, synergy V8, underneath the
hood of those Centuries the third
(24:25):
generation was not available in the fifth
generation LS.
That wasn't an option, it was a
Century-only product.
So even other places in the world that
wanted this big block V8 with a hybrid
system couldn't get it.
It was dedicated only to the Toyota Century
product.
Pretty cool, but kind of takes away from
some of the other vehicles.
Since we weren't getting the Century over
on my side of the pond, I would have liked
(24:46):
to still have that V8 hybrid motor from the
other side.
Now they eventually got into their own V8
hybrid systems, but on their own Toyota.
Take In 2019, akairo.
Toyota makes a special edition of the
Toyota Century, the Toyota Century Garmin,
to showcase a sporty side of the Century
product.
Now, he did this because of his passion for
(25:07):
racing.
Yes, the CEO of Toyota loved racing, loved
going racing.
He raced this Century Garmin to the track.
It's essentially why it was done now.
They were never commercially sold.
There were only two cars ever made and only
for the toyota of japan executives, so only
executives on the board and toyota
headquarters in japan were ever allowed to
(25:28):
drive this thing.
There's never been plans to sell the garmin
century sedan, but there are a possibility
of selling the century suv garmin, which
they showcased when the SUV came out and
the SUV arriving in September of 2023, the
G70, as it's called.
You think they would go something else, you
know, leave the G's for the sedan and go
(25:48):
with something else for this.
But you know, could have called it the H10.
Yeah, maybe not.
The brand new Century SUV was brought out
due to an increase in SUV and CUV sales all
over the world.
More customers were starting to demand a
bigger vehicle and instead of building a
minivan for Sentry, they went all out and
built an SUV.
But they did this with the mindset of this
(26:08):
could become a global Sentry product.
Maybe, just maybe, sentry can go up against
Rolls-Royce and become a global high-end
brand.
That's a thought, but only right now.
It was built on the GAK platform, which
shared with the Grand Highlander and Lexus
TX.
So, yes, cruising around your Toyota Grand
Highlander as I like to call it the Grand
(26:29):
RAV4, because it has more of the front end
of previous generation RAV4s than what I
have that's what it looks like, literally.
Take a 2020 RAV4, stretch it back a bit and
you got yourself a Grand Highlander.
You should have just called it the Grand
RAV Built on that platform.
So they're utilizing a platform that
already exists, but there's a major
difference in it.
We're going to get into that.
(26:50):
This vehicle used a plug-in hybrid electric
power plant, a 3.5 liter V6.
Yeah, you think an SUV.
They would try and bring back the V12 or
even use the hybrid V8 in it.
Nope, they wanted to scale it back.
They did a 3.5 liter V6.
Now the Century SUV is, just like the sedan,
only sold in Toyota stores in Japan and
(27:11):
Lexus dealers in China.
So now the SUV is moving out First Century
since the fall of the second generation
sedan to be sold outside of Japan.
Now it's built to maximize rear space for
occupants, just like the sedan, but more
upright comfort.
Now, as we've talked about in a review
about the Toyota Century SUV, it does look
like a Rolls Royce.
(27:32):
But the build quality on this thing you
would think, oh, it's probably just like
baw, who has their.
Was that g90 that looks just like a
mercedes g-class?
Well, okay, they're just doing a knockoff,
right?
No, the century suv is built to quality.
There's three hours, three hours of
inspection to each vehicle built and the
(27:54):
master inspector has 17 specific steps to
go through to ensure these vehicles are
perfect.
And the paint has to be immaculate.
Any deviation, a hair, anything, they'll
send it right back.
These things are built to high quality.
Now their plans are officially to run 30
units per month.
You know, a little bit less than the
(28:15):
century sedan, but you got to ramp up
production.
They don't want to jump fully in the pool,
they're just taking their time.
They've gotten to that, guys, and gotten to
that part where it's like, oh, do I cross
this threshold and drop it down and freeze,
or do I just stay above it and stay the way?
I am right, we all know that threshold and
that's what toyota is holding out on now.
The suv has very similar features as a
(28:36):
century sedan.
Now the only difference is is toyota.
When they launched it, they launched it
with a concept of a garmin suv and toyota
is highly considering bringing this out.
They feel that they kind of missed on the
sedan, and now the sedan is a little bit
older.
They might want to wait until they update
the model before they create the sport one,
but the suv was built with the sport
(28:58):
garment style in mind.
Now this product may be positioned in the
same stable as rolls royce bentley or my
box or with audi horch, but they're not
sold in the same way.
Marketing literature does not market as a
sign of wealth or opulence.
New, it is sold as acquired through
persistent work, the only kind done in a
(29:19):
plain but formal suit.
Toyota is looking at the average person who
becomes a millionaire through hard work.
You know I'm unlike my past race this
weekend with my son.
Toyota doesn't want you to be able to throw
money to get the best thing ever.
This is going to be luxury.
No, be able to throw money to get the best
(29:39):
thing ever, this is going to be luxury.
No, they want to show that this is a
vehicle for the equal top tier people.
Like you said, old marketing literature
doesn't show wealth or opulence, it's not.
Oh, you, we want you to dub this out and we
want you the chrome and we want this thing
to be luxurious.
Put it in front of a massive mansion or a
huge cat.
No, a simple person and a simple suit that
worked hard to get that vehicle.
(30:00):
And that's what toyota, in the century
brand or sub-brand, is pushing towards.
They want to be rolls royce for the simple
person.
I know, you know, simple man, but simple
person.
It essentially runs in the same dialect as
base model rolls royce and bentley.
So not the phantom or like the 100x, not
the most, saying more of the continental.
Its design influences more towards the
(30:22):
rolls-royce which, you know, everybody kind
of utilizes that.
Oris and russia use the exact same thing
too, but the sedan doesn't use rolls-royce.
The sedan uses purebred toyota design.
Now, with the sedan and suv, toyota has to
think about it.
If they want to create a Century brand out
of this Toyota want to go after high-end
(30:42):
market clientele.
Do they want to create a sub-brand of Lexus
in North America as the Century models, or
do they want to create Century as a
dedicated high-end product?
Well, as we said, they don't want to show
off wealth and opulence with it, which
means the American marketplace might be out
for the Century product, because they know
the American marketplace is all about
wealth and opulence and showing off that
(31:04):
you're better than your neighbors.
Or in Japan, it's more subtle they don't
want that You'd be a millionaire driving
around a beat up old Saturn.
They don't care, you got there and you get
it through hard work.
Toyota has to ask himself do they want to
make that move?
Do they want to make the century brand?
Well, you know toyota, looking towards
doing this, would have to expect to grow it,
(31:24):
like we said, it has a sedan and an suv.
You know you got to expand upon that.
We get it.
The convertible is going to have to become
more available.
The stretch model is going to be definitely
more available, especially in the chinese
market.
They like stretching vehicles out.
Then you're gonna have to look at other
things maybe a minivan, maybe a sports car.
Remember, all these high-end ones have
coupes, convertibles, grand touring product.
(31:44):
You gotta look at a two-door fun vehicle
too, as you said sedan, suv, convertible,
coupe, sports car.
And if you want to compete against the main
competitors honkey rolls, bentley, oris,
lucid and now the brand new Cadillac
Celeste Can they do this?
Well, they can.
In their home market, in Japan and possibly
China, they could build the Century brand.
(32:06):
After that, the Middle East, india and
Australia would be right up their alley.
You have to remember you don't have to
change much when you're settling into
Australia or India because they drive on
the same side Japan.
After that, the European marketplace would
be a good place to go and North America
would be last.
Why would Western society be last for
Toyota to try and push the century model
(32:27):
out?
Because, like they said, they don't want to
build this off of wealth and opulence.
They want to build it off of quality and
hard work.
They want to show people that this thing
means you made it, not you bought it.
So, really, should this brand come out?
Possibly, in the end, the Toyota Century is
just an amazing sub-branded product from
Toyota Motor Corporation.
(32:48):
Yes, on our site we don't have a dedicated
website to go towards the Century brand,
because the Century brand is essentially
part of the Toyota Motor Corporation and
it's only available in Japan and China.
Should Toyota grow it?
Yes, should they come to very specific
marketplaces?
Yes, middle East is very good for high-end
clienteles.
India is a growing place and Toyota is
already a big name there.
(33:08):
They can grow there.
Australia?
Well, yeah, australia loves it.
They're still in love with Toyota, maybe
not so much if they found out that Toyota
is the reason why their automotive industry
completely collapsed there, because when
they left, ford and GM followed real
quickly because the parts suppliers just
jacked up the rates because there was only
two car companies left Right.
So maybe not so much, but it is still the
(33:28):
same market for the same hand driving North
America tread lately.
We say we like these luxurious vehicles.
We say we like these luxurious vehicles,
but unless you have that wealth and
opulence behind it royalty making you
better than everyone else it might take a
long time to kind of push the market
through.
Look how long it took for Lexus to be seen
in North America marketplace as a top-tier
(33:50):
luxury brand competing with the likes of
Cadillac, lincoln, bmw, audi and Mercedes.
Hell.
Jaguar as well Took a long time.
So take their time, grow it and build the
Century into its own brand, I figure by
2037, almost 70 years after the original
product was created.
Maybe by then start thinking about more
global domination for the Century brand.
(34:13):
And one last little note the Century GT45
was a gas turbine and electric motor was
shown in concept form in the 1975 Tokyo
Auto Show in its first generation product.
It was a gas turbine hybrid concept,
essentially showing what was going to come
out in the 2000s when Toyota put that
hybrid V8 underneath the hood.
(34:33):
Yeah, 1975,.
Toyota showcased the technology that was
eventually going to adorn this car pretty
cool.
So, yes, the century brand should become
one of its own.
Toyota should really get start considering
making it its own brand.
And if they're not going to do it that way,
then create a premier brand utilizing the
crown nameplate for it as well.
If not, well then.
(34:54):
Just stick with what you're doing, because
you're still doing it good.
All I know is I would like to have one of
these Toyota Sentries in my neck of the
woods out in Canada, but let's just do a
special import.
I ain't ever getting one.
Oh well, I can still pick up a Buick Sentry.
So if you like this podcast we'd like share.
Comment about it on any friends, tell your
(35:15):
family, tell your co-workers.
Send this out to all your friends, your
family, co-workers, well-wishers.
Tell them about some of the great products
that Toyota has made over the past.
The century brand was an amazing thing.
You gotta see it to believe it and to
understand what Toyota has actually built
for the marketplace.
So stop by, take a listen, go to the
website.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
(35:35):
the ratings.
Go to the corporate links website page.
Find out all that information.
After you've dropped this line, like I said,
leave us a comment, like us, share us, post
about it.
We don't care, just get the word out, tell
people about the Toyota century and this
amazing product and then tell them to go
over the auto looks podcast and listen to
the story behind the Toyota century product.
(35:56):
The AutoLooks Podcast is brought to you by
Ecomm Entertainment Group and distributed by
Podbean.com.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email@AutoLooks.net.
So, like I said before, my name's Everett
Jay, doctor to the automotive industry.
I am the host owner and curator of
everything that is either AutoLooks
AutoLooks, AutoLooks.net or the
AutoLooks Podcast.
I'd like to give a big thank out to
(36:17):
PodBean.com for getting this podcast out
into the world and Ecom Entertainment for
keeping us going.
So for myself, ever, jay, strap yourself in
for this one comfortable ride that toy to
century is going to take us on.
Thank you.
a century, over a hundred years.
Okay, exactly a hundred years, one century.
But in the automotive world, century comes
to mind for a multitude of different
vehicles, but one main vehicle in
particular sets the stage for its name.
Its name is derived from its founder's
birthday when the vehicle first came out,
(00:20):
and with it that, they say, is just history
the Toyota Century, the top echelon of the
Toyota Motor Corporation, sitting above
standard Toyota products, hell, even Lexus
products.
Century is their top-tier brand, although
it's void of selling these things in North
America.
The Century brand of vehicles is now
growing with a new SUV.
(00:41):
But can Toyota do more and can it make
Century into its own dedicated brand?
Today, autolux is going to take a look at
the past, the present and the future of
Toyota's Century models.
(01:02):
Welcome back to the AutoLooks podcast.
I am your host, as always, the doctor to
the automotive industry, Mr. Everett Jay,
coming to you from our host website at
AutoLooks.net.
If you haven't been there, stop by check it
out.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
the ratings.
Go to the Corporate Links website page.
Big or small, we have them all Car
companies from around the globe, all
available on one direct location and that
is AutoLooks.net.
(01:23):
Click the corporate links page at the top
and you can be brought to all the different
car companies from around the globe.
We got ones from all the different
countries that you never even thought had
car companies from.
Click the links, go to their websites, even
see some of the vehicles they produce, all
available from one website, AutoLooks.net.
The AutoLooks podcast is brought to you by
(01:44):
Ecomm Entertainment Group and distributed by
PodBean.com.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email@autolooks.net.
So, like we said in the beginning century,
I think in my home country one of our top
tier bands that sings about Canada, the
tragically hip, said it best.
You know you're ahead by a century.
Yeah, I gotta take reference to to music
(02:04):
here because you know music flows through
everything.
That's something we're going to talk about
in a future podcast.
But with this a century Toyota developed a
high-end brand and we're not talking like
premier or luxury, we're talking high-end
brand.
Sure, it falls under the Toyota name, but
it does use its own logo.
So it's not a whole heck of a lot of Toyota
(02:25):
into it.
But you got to remember the Japanese market
is completely different than one in North
America.
In North America we want to buy a Lexus
because we're better than our neighbor who
has a Toyota.
Oh, I have the Lexus ES.
Ooh, it's better than my Camry.
No, it's not.
It's the same freaking thing, just got a
(02:50):
few more luxury touches to it and, when it
comes down to Lexus, a few more eyes on it
than the Camry.
There's a little bit more fit and finish
that goes into it.
But the century brand, created in November
of 1967, coming all the way up to today,
has a very few generations of this vehicle
over its time.
Now it's getting an SUV counterpart, the
century SUV which we all know and we have
raid and gave it a copycat award because it
does look like the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
Come on, it's kind of similar to how you
(03:11):
know, the Aura Senate looks just like a
Rolls-Royce Phantom and, if you even go
back, the old Chrysler Imperial concept
from the early 2000s.
But a Century is the top tier of Toyota
engineering.
Their sedan was essentially their flagship
product.
It essentially was made as a limo product.
Originally derived its name from the 100th
(03:33):
birthday of Sakashi Toyota, born in
February 14th 1867, the founder of Toyota
Industries.
So when they came up with a name for this
vehicle, they figured.
Oh, what are we going to call it?
Well, our founder was born 100 years ago.
Okay, let's go with that, let's go with
that.
What can we think of you know 100 years?
It was like a century ago.
(03:54):
I just call it the Century and we'll figure
it out later.
Well, it's stuck and today the Toyota
Century is what you consider the top tier
of their products.
Now we all get it.
North America, we do have our own Sentry
here as well.
The Buick Sentry no longer exists.
But I remember as a kid seeing Buick
Sentries running around and seeing them
it's like, oh, cool Buick Sentry.
So when I heard the Toyota one, I'm like,
(04:15):
oh, they're just trying to use the American
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, put the brakes on
there.
Ever.
1967, toyota century.
You know the two of them.
They're both kind of old, so toyota really
didn't steal the name.
They utilized essentially a birthday for it.
When you think about it, the toyota century
could be toyota's gift to their founder.
It's currently used by the imperial house
(04:36):
of japan, the prime minister of japan and
most government leaders and executive
businessmen.
So this thing has a very target market
similar to that of hongki from china.
It basically did the same thing, only for
government officials and high-end business
clientele.
That's it.
Regularly.
People don't get their hands on it.
Well, centuries are a little bit different.
You somewhat can.
Now they're similar to an austin princess
(04:58):
daimler ds420, cadillac, series 70,
mercedes maybach, a hongkis-Royce Phantom
or even, if you want to really go back to
those days, a Zil limo.
It can only be purchased at specifically
identified Toyota store locations in select
markets.
They don't make this.
From my side of the world.
It comes in right-hand drive only, no left
(05:20):
hand.
So if you want to drive one over here, you
got to switch to the other side.
If you ever wondered about their logo, okay,
their logo is the gold Phoenix logo called
the Hoyo Fushiyaru.
Hopefully I got that right and Japanese
people listening to this send us a message.
Tell us how to say it properly, cause I'm
trying to do my best here.
It's from the Cynospheric Mythology.
It represents the Imperial House of Japan
(05:43):
and East Asian cultural sphere, which
includes Japan, china, korea and Vietnam.
So it's essentially saying the century is
the gold standard for this area.
This is made for the Imperial House.
This is made for the top-tier Asian
clienteles.
Now, we're not going to cut everybody out,
but at the beginning, yeah, let's just make
it Japan only.
(06:03):
The styling has essentially remained the
same, virtually unchanged.
The vehicles, the century sedans you get
now from the original century sedans in
1967.
Trust me, when they redid it just a couple
years ago I looked and go that's just an
enhancement.
That's not a new design, really it is.
But you just kind of bring it up to today's
technology with little you know key
features with it, when when the design's
(06:24):
good, it's a lot like a lot of other things
with Toyota.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Remember, the Camry is running on a
platform that was developed in the 80s.
My Tacoma outside is riding on a platform
from the early 90s.
Now, how many car companies out there like
Chrysler is a perfect example of it.
They get a great platform and then they
fucking change it for the next one.
(06:45):
Perfect example of that was the Dodge
Intrepid.
When they built that cab-forward design of
the original Intrepids for 1990, what was
it?
94, 93?
I had a 94 Concorde back in the day and
those things were like bulletproof.
The 3.5 liter V6 in those cars was amazing.
The platform was great.
I got over 300,000 kilometers on mine.
(07:05):
My dad got over 270,000 on his.
They went forever and then they released
the second generation, put a 2.7 in it that
blew up on you from a frame that rotted out.
It's like you had a good thing.
Why did you change it?
And Toyota has never done that with the
Century, because they built it perfect.
The only other changes, besides essentially
(07:29):
three generations of the Century product,
has been the inclusion recently of their
SUV generation.
This has been done due to the success and
history of the Century nameplate in Asian
marketplaces and a few others as a top tier
product.
And now, with more people going after these
high end or premier catalogs, especially in
the asian marketplace, china has hong kong,
which is going up against rolls royce and
bentley.
(07:49):
You can't just let the british own it
forever.
Now.
Everybody else wants a piece of this pie.
So toyota decided to give it an suv to make
it better.
For today they're usually painted black,
which kind of donates to its success.
Um, you know you, you can always find one.
They're black, they're black.
You know, don't have to worry about getting
this horrible antique burgundy from the 80s
(08:10):
Toyota Century.
No, they're black.
Got to remember most limos are white,
silver or black.
I always like saying that.
Always bet on black.
That's what Beavis always told me from
Beavis at Butthead.
If you didn't know that, you need to go and
play bb's butthead mini golf.
It's, it's awesome now.
The nissan president was its closest
japanese competitor and this actually put
up a fight between the two car companies
(08:32):
for supremacy in the high-end market of the
japanese marketplace.
But toyota kind of won over a lot more
people and once they got their hand into
the government and made it the mainstay
vehicle for the Emperor of Japan, c'est la
vie.
They kind of took it.
A few other notable competitors would be
the Mitsubishi Debonair, the Isuzu Stateman
(08:53):
DeVille and the Mazda Road Pacer.
Now, the funny thing is the Isuzu Stateman
DeVille and the Mazda Road Pacer are both
derived from the GM Holden line.
Yeah, so they're not even Japanese.
Derived from the gm holden line.
Yeah, so they're not even japanese.
So, besides the nissan president, the
mitsubishi debonair would really be the
only other main japanese competitor.
Now, over the years, like we said, there's
(09:13):
only been three generations.
Getting back to 1967, there's only three,
three generations of the toyota century.
That's how they built this thing so good.
And the funniest thing is the first
generation the G20, the G30, and the G40,
we're going to explain what those mean a
little bit later on, started in November
1967 when the vehicle came out, and went
(09:33):
all the way up to March of 1997.
Nearly a full 30 years, you know 29 years
and a few months, almost 30 years.
That's a long time for a vehicle, but you
have to remember you're going through the
end of the 60s, into the 70s, into the 80s
and into the beginning of the 90s.
Not a lot of tons of technological changes
and designs really happened.
(09:54):
You were able to carry vehicles for so long
during those periods, especially through
the 80s.
Yeah, everybody wanted to stay ahead of
everyone else, but we were still able to
hold on to products like this over this
time.
When it was released, it came with a V8
engine only, which made it the third
post-war Japanese car available with a V8
motor.
It was originally based on a 1964 Crown 8
(10:17):
platform.
Because Toyota knew they had great
platforms and great engines.
We're going to put a bigger engine in this
vehicle.
There's only two other cars in our market
that have V8s in it.
We got it.
The Americans love their V8s, but we're
going to put this thing up against
Rolls-Royce.
We got to have a power plant that's just as
powerful as a statement we need to make.
They dropped the V8 now underneath the hood
and then they utilized their crown platform.
(10:40):
Now the crown platform was essentially the
birthplace of Lexus.
Now, the Crown platform was essentially the
birthplace of Lexus.
Yeah, lexus may have come around was it
1989 or was it 86?
One of those two but they originally
derived from the Crown platform.
Even the original LS built for the American
marketplace all American specifications
because they knew the Americans would drop
tons more money on a luxury nameplate than
(11:03):
a standardized product.
Now what do you think?
The us had accurate infinity and lexus and
mazda even considered bringing up their
mani brand.
You want to hear more about that.
We did an entire podcast about mazda's
luxury brand a while back.
You can go back and take a listen to it
after.
This one's pretty good.
You'll learn some stuff about some cool
mass luxury things.
Besides mani, they had a couple others, but
(11:23):
Lexus was given birth from the Crown
platform and so was the Century.
Now the unfortunate thing for this is
Toyota was actually the second product to
come out.
It arrived two years after the Nissan
President.
Now Nissan wanted to call it the President
because they literally wanted to go after
all government officials.
They were starting to pick up on the idea
of it and Toyota couldn't have that.
(11:44):
No, no, no, no, no, no.
We got to do something cool.
We got to do something better.
They created the Century.
But, unlike the Nissan President, the
Century stayed on, and it stayed on for so
long, even with cool technology.
It had, back in the day, electromagnetic
door latches with interior and exterior
electrically operated door handles on a car
(12:07):
in 1967.
Hell, at that point in time I was just glad
if I can get something other than a radio
in my car.
Hell, most of us were still hoping we can
have a radio, and if you're on a volkswagen
you're hoping for heat.
Yeah, it originally had column shifters
with the base model.
The Type A and Type B manuals were
eventually phased out between 1973 and 1974.
(12:28):
So unless you wanted to pay for the base
manual, you had to get a stick shift.
So early generations had a big V8 and had a
stick shift in it.
You have to remember 1967, we're going all
the way up to 1974.
You get seven years of possible vehicles
with a stick shift in a century.
Now, trust me, that would be something cool
to have Blow people's minds, not just the
(12:49):
car but what's in it.
In 1971, they added climate control Because
you gotta remember this is the top tier of
the luxury makes.
In 73, they saw a change of the locks,
taillights and the addition of disc brakes.
78, november 78, fuel injection was added
to meet new emission standards.
This changed the car to what they called
(13:09):
the C30.
So the C20 was the original platform.
When they made enough changes to it, the
C30 came into play.
A brand new 4-liter V8 was added in
November 1982, along with new exterior
appearance which then changed it to the c40.
What a lot of people remember these days.
Now, this thing cruising on a cloud of air
(13:30):
essentially had a suspension of trailing
arms front and airbag support springs in
the rear which made this thing feel like
you're just floating on a cloud in
september of 1987 and received a light
makeover not full, gotta remember.
The c30 had more of a makeover.
The c40 was more of a change to the engines
(13:50):
and a little bit more of the imperious 1987
and we do mean light makeover
electronically operated, four-speed
automatic transmission, floor-mounted
shifter front bucket seats due to the
shifter meant a loss to the front bench.
An updated grille and cornering lamps were
integrated into the headlight surround so
you can actually see easier around corners,
(14:12):
making it safer for your limo driver to
chauffeur you around.
But you gotta remember this is 20 years
after it came out, 20 years or 1987.
September, 1987.
So you know 19 years, 10 months.
We're finally getting an update.
Bring us to the 80s.
Well, also in the 80s, right before the end
of the decade, toyota finally stated the
(14:33):
fact that this vehicle may seem like a limo
on its own, but they saw the North American
market building these big, long stretched
body vehicles and the Japanese market
wanted to get into that.
1989, the Century Limousine appeared.
Long stretched body vehicles and the
japanese market wanted to get into that.
1989, the century limousine appeared.
Its wheelbase was similar to that of the
deville, the town car, the s-class and the
rolls royce silver spirit.
(14:53):
So not a full-scale stretched limo but
still limo style a padded vinyl roof with
opera windows in the center pillar.
Where the stretch was added is how you
distinguish the limo additions from the
standard ones.
So besides it looking a little bit off
because the center pillar is a little bit
different that'd be b pillar is a little
bit thicker you got the opera windows in
(15:14):
vinyl to make it kind of stand out.
By september of 1990 there was also an
added l-type extended century model added
to the vehicle.
It.
So now three different models, one big
block engine and all sorts of luxury.
Over nearly 30 years 3,000 were built.
That's it 3,000 in 30 years.
(15:35):
Kind of sounds like Lamborghini.
Back in the early 2000s, when the Guard
would come out, they had less than 3,000
built.
Now they produce that in a year.
No, the Sentry wasn't for a high-end client.
Well, it was for the high-end clientele,
but it wasn't mass numbers and Toyota
wanted to keep it that way.
They were making money off of it, so it was
doing its justice and because the platform
(15:56):
was sold, it had been paid for.
See, that's the thing you got to get into
Platform, the thing you got to get into
platform technology.
Utilizing a good working platform for a
vehicle over such a long period of time,
you eventually get down to the point where
you don't need to make many updates besides
technological and essentially the vehicle
just becomes a bread and butter for your
corporation.
Dodge did that, or I should say Ram did
(16:18):
that, when they kept the previous design,
the Ram Classic, around as their entry
level.
The whole platform had been paid off, so it
was just extra money in the bank for them.
And since they didn't have anything
competing in the midsize market, they kept
it as a midsize priced product at a full
size scale Ingenious.
The second generation appeared in April
1997.
(16:39):
The G50, right, these G's right.
This one wasn't as long essentially 20
years, so one decade less from April 1997
to January 2017.
This one was powered by a new V12 motor in
place of the former V8, and had a very
similar design to the original, with some
updated modern touches four-speed auto
(17:00):
until the six-speed intelligent arrived in
2005.
The suspension was upgraded to double
wishbone control arms in the front and the
rear wheel airbag support springs in the
rear.
It is the first and only front engine v12
product ever produced in japan.
So if you're ever wondering that there are
no supercars from japan that have been made
(17:21):
with a front engine V12.
Only the Toyota Sentry ever came that way
Only one.
Now, if you listen to this podcast, it's
like in the future.
I'm talking 2025.
Right now, I'll say it's like 2035 and
Toyota's finally created another front
engine one.
Well, yeah, I'm wrong, but until then, as
of now, the 2025 is the only V12 front
engine vehicle ever produced in the
(17:43):
Japanese market.
Not for in the limited equipment as a
century became a standalone product in 2003.
It's a brief use of cng.
You remember late 90s and early 2000s
people started thinking of compressed
natural gas for powering systems.
I remember seeing miatas when I was younger.
It's kind of a neat idea but you know, a
(18:03):
little bit of extra goes into it.
You know, safety-wise.
In 1998, they started selling them in
Europe, china and the Middle East as
government cars.
Only 100 left-hand cars were ever made.
So yeah, I was a little wrong.
They did come out in the left-hand market,
but on a very, very limited basis.
You have to remember these markets Europe,
(18:24):
china and the Middle East.
Europe a lot of the ones that went over
there, mostly Great Britain.
China, a lot of the ones that went there,
mostly Hong Kong.
Middle East is really where you got your
left-hand derivative models.
Some of the left-hand cars actually have
made it state-sized for promotional and
testing purposes.
Toyota executives and North American
headquarters wanted to see if the American
(18:45):
market would pick up on a premium well, not
premium, ie premier or high-end Toyota
product.
They wanted to see if Century can make it
in one of the biggest automotive markets in
the world.
Well, at that point in time, talking 1998,
it was the biggest automotive market at
that time.
So they wanted to see if they could make it,
but unfortunately they didn't see a good
business case for this.
So the century never came to america.
(19:07):
Besides the ones that they brought over to
showcase it, they never actually sold any
stateside, and the second generation was
actually the only one ever sold outside of
japan.
They wanted to open it up and see what the
markets would respond to it.
Can a high-end japanese car with a toyota
name on it sell?
Well, no, these vehicles were essentially
made, like we said, as limousines to be
(19:29):
chauffeured around, and the most emphasis
in these vehicles was actually towards
leisure of the rear occupants.
So the rear seats were able to tilt back
with a massage option.
The front seats pulled flat on the
passenger side for the rear passenger to
put their feet up, so they could literally
stretch out with your laptop in hand and
work from the back of your vehicle from one
(19:51):
business meeting to the next.
The rear doors are equipped with a
self-close mechanism.
The door would close on its own when the
latch meets the striker.
You don't have to slam this door, basically
just put it and it goes.
Pretty cool.
It's kind of like how your hatch, your
electronic hatch, comes down and you don't
have to slam it.
It comes down and hits the back and goes.
It has that little pull in at the end.
(20:13):
That's what these doors did.
They wanted to make it a better experience
for everyone.
Now remember the original ones 30 years,
3,000 of them.
Okay, 1,000 every decade Because they sold
the second generation in more marketplaces.
They actually sold more of them overall.
They sold 9,500 of them just in the 20
years.
(20:33):
A decade less and three times more products.
So they did find a bear market for it.
But Toyota is all about quality control and,
as they learned with the century product
when you started getting into building more
of them, you open a can of worms,
essentially because you open yourself up to
more issues and if you're producing more,
you're not taking the time to see every
(20:55):
single detail, unless you're going to build
an even bigger facility with more people in
it, which toyota really didn't want to do.
For the century product, they were selling,
but they weren't selling to the expectation
that Toyota originally wanted.
From 2006 to 2008, the Sentry, royal or G51
model came out.
This became the official car of the Emperor
of Japan, specifically built for the
(21:17):
Emperor of Japan in mind.
It was built off of one design.
It had three sedans and one hearse ever
made.
The cassette is for for the emperor, that's.
It had wool cloth interior, granite entry
steps and rice paper headliner.
The front is upholstered in complete
leather and had a double wishbone on the
front and the rear with a supplemental
(21:38):
airbag spring and, to top it all off, five
liter V12 in a vehicle that stretched 20
feet long and 6.5 feet wide.
The G51 Century was it?
That was purpose built for the Emperor of
Japan.
Essentially, you know, kind of like that
Cadillac, that special Cadillac built for
the American President.
You know they're only built in very limited
(22:00):
numbers.
Well, this thing was as well.
It's kind of cool.
Like before, the same businessmen that were
buying the first generation could get the
same thing the emperor was cruising around
in.
Now, you know, only over a two-year period
2006, 2008, they only built a specific
amount of them for the emperor, but if
you've ever seen the Queen of England
before she passed away still rode around in
that old school Daimler.
(22:21):
It's kind of cool.
It was an old car, but they loved it.
Now, in June 22nd 2018, the third
generation, or the G60, was presented to
the world.
This was not just cool, this was a rebirth
Similar design but a more modern take on it
and more features.
This one came as your standard limo sedan,
(22:42):
but they also had a limited model
convertible and a one-off TRD Special
Edition.
We'll get into that one in just a little
bit.
Toyota decided to get away from the V12.
Too big of an engine, too much of a gas
guzzler, so they went back to a V8 engine
and because they knew about hybrid
technology through the Prius, they decided
(23:03):
to do a V8 engine with hybrid synergy drive
and the same output as a V12, with way
better fuel efficiency.
Because, you know, toyota loves hybrids and
they're always thinking about how they can
improve on what they have.
And they did this.
But the g60 started upping the century main
plate.
It started building them at a rate of 50
(23:23):
per month.
It was a fully handmade production and they
were not sold outside of japan.
That is it.
It's essential appearance influenced the
century royale, also from japan.
The addition of collision avoidance and
t-connect.
The mirrors were removed from the hood
mounting and put on standard sides with
turn signals involved.
Integrated heater with massaging receipts.
(23:44):
Adjustable power leg with rear seat
opposite the driver.
Rear mounted 20 inch LCD screen allows you
to control most products throughout the
vehicle Three wool color options and two
leather color options, both with wood
inlays for your interior.
The column is now back onto the floor
(24:04):
mounted.
Transmission shifter all automatic, no
stick shifts anymore, multi-link suspension
with a supplemental airbag springs, and
this essentially only allowed Century to
have that specific V8.
Now you gotta get it.
Toyota loves hybrids and loves saving gas.
That hybrid V8, synergy V8, underneath the
hood of those Centuries the third
(24:25):
generation was not available in the fifth
generation LS.
That wasn't an option, it was a
Century-only product.
So even other places in the world that
wanted this big block V8 with a hybrid
system couldn't get it.
It was dedicated only to the Toyota Century
product.
Pretty cool, but kind of takes away from
some of the other vehicles.
Since we weren't getting the Century over
on my side of the pond, I would have liked
(24:46):
to still have that V8 hybrid motor from the
other side.
Now they eventually got into their own V8
hybrid systems, but on their own Toyota.
Take In 2019, akairo.
Toyota makes a special edition of the
Toyota Century, the Toyota Century Garmin,
to showcase a sporty side of the Century
product.
Now, he did this because of his passion for
(25:07):
racing.
Yes, the CEO of Toyota loved racing, loved
going racing.
He raced this Century Garmin to the track.
It's essentially why it was done now.
They were never commercially sold.
There were only two cars ever made and only
for the toyota of japan executives, so only
executives on the board and toyota
headquarters in japan were ever allowed to
(25:28):
drive this thing.
There's never been plans to sell the garmin
century sedan, but there are a possibility
of selling the century suv garmin, which
they showcased when the SUV came out and
the SUV arriving in September of 2023, the
G70, as it's called.
You think they would go something else, you
know, leave the G's for the sedan and go
(25:48):
with something else for this.
But you know, could have called it the H10.
Yeah, maybe not.
The brand new Century SUV was brought out
due to an increase in SUV and CUV sales all
over the world.
More customers were starting to demand a
bigger vehicle and instead of building a
minivan for Sentry, they went all out and
built an SUV.
But they did this with the mindset of this
(26:08):
could become a global Sentry product.
Maybe, just maybe, sentry can go up against
Rolls-Royce and become a global high-end
brand.
That's a thought, but only right now.
It was built on the GAK platform, which
shared with the Grand Highlander and Lexus
TX.
So, yes, cruising around your Toyota Grand
Highlander as I like to call it the Grand
(26:29):
RAV4, because it has more of the front end
of previous generation RAV4s than what I
have that's what it looks like, literally.
Take a 2020 RAV4, stretch it back a bit and
you got yourself a Grand Highlander.
You should have just called it the Grand
RAV Built on that platform.
So they're utilizing a platform that
already exists, but there's a major
difference in it.
We're going to get into that.
(26:50):
This vehicle used a plug-in hybrid electric
power plant, a 3.5 liter V6.
Yeah, you think an SUV.
They would try and bring back the V12 or
even use the hybrid V8 in it.
Nope, they wanted to scale it back.
They did a 3.5 liter V6.
Now the Century SUV is, just like the sedan,
only sold in Toyota stores in Japan and
(27:11):
Lexus dealers in China.
So now the SUV is moving out First Century
since the fall of the second generation
sedan to be sold outside of Japan.
Now it's built to maximize rear space for
occupants, just like the sedan, but more
upright comfort.
Now, as we've talked about in a review
about the Toyota Century SUV, it does look
like a Rolls Royce.
(27:32):
But the build quality on this thing you
would think, oh, it's probably just like
baw, who has their.
Was that g90 that looks just like a
mercedes g-class?
Well, okay, they're just doing a knockoff,
right?
No, the century suv is built to quality.
There's three hours, three hours of
inspection to each vehicle built and the
(27:54):
master inspector has 17 specific steps to
go through to ensure these vehicles are
perfect.
And the paint has to be immaculate.
Any deviation, a hair, anything, they'll
send it right back.
These things are built to high quality.
Now their plans are officially to run 30
units per month.
You know, a little bit less than the
(28:15):
century sedan, but you got to ramp up
production.
They don't want to jump fully in the pool,
they're just taking their time.
They've gotten to that, guys, and gotten to
that part where it's like, oh, do I cross
this threshold and drop it down and freeze,
or do I just stay above it and stay the way?
I am right, we all know that threshold and
that's what toyota is holding out on now.
The suv has very similar features as a
(28:36):
century sedan.
Now the only difference is is toyota.
When they launched it, they launched it
with a concept of a garmin suv and toyota
is highly considering bringing this out.
They feel that they kind of missed on the
sedan, and now the sedan is a little bit
older.
They might want to wait until they update
the model before they create the sport one,
but the suv was built with the sport
(28:58):
garment style in mind.
Now this product may be positioned in the
same stable as rolls royce bentley or my
box or with audi horch, but they're not
sold in the same way.
Marketing literature does not market as a
sign of wealth or opulence.
New, it is sold as acquired through
persistent work, the only kind done in a
(29:19):
plain but formal suit.
Toyota is looking at the average person who
becomes a millionaire through hard work.
You know I'm unlike my past race this
weekend with my son.
Toyota doesn't want you to be able to throw
money to get the best thing ever.
This is going to be luxury.
No, be able to throw money to get the best
(29:39):
thing ever, this is going to be luxury.
No, they want to show that this is a
vehicle for the equal top tier people.
Like you said, old marketing literature
doesn't show wealth or opulence, it's not.
Oh, you, we want you to dub this out and we
want you the chrome and we want this thing
to be luxurious.
Put it in front of a massive mansion or a
huge cat.
No, a simple person and a simple suit that
worked hard to get that vehicle.
(30:00):
And that's what toyota, in the century
brand or sub-brand, is pushing towards.
They want to be rolls royce for the simple
person.
I know, you know, simple man, but simple
person.
It essentially runs in the same dialect as
base model rolls royce and bentley.
So not the phantom or like the 100x, not
the most, saying more of the continental.
Its design influences more towards the
(30:22):
rolls-royce which, you know, everybody kind
of utilizes that.
Oris and russia use the exact same thing
too, but the sedan doesn't use rolls-royce.
The sedan uses purebred toyota design.
Now, with the sedan and suv, toyota has to
think about it.
If they want to create a Century brand out
of this Toyota want to go after high-end
(30:42):
market clientele.
Do they want to create a sub-brand of Lexus
in North America as the Century models, or
do they want to create Century as a
dedicated high-end product?
Well, as we said, they don't want to show
off wealth and opulence with it, which
means the American marketplace might be out
for the Century product, because they know
the American marketplace is all about
wealth and opulence and showing off that
(31:04):
you're better than your neighbors.
Or in Japan, it's more subtle they don't
want that You'd be a millionaire driving
around a beat up old Saturn.
They don't care, you got there and you get
it through hard work.
Toyota has to ask himself do they want to
make that move?
Do they want to make the century brand?
Well, you know toyota, looking towards
doing this, would have to expect to grow it,
(31:24):
like we said, it has a sedan and an suv.
You know you got to expand upon that.
We get it.
The convertible is going to have to become
more available.
The stretch model is going to be definitely
more available, especially in the chinese
market.
They like stretching vehicles out.
Then you're gonna have to look at other
things maybe a minivan, maybe a sports car.
Remember, all these high-end ones have
coupes, convertibles, grand touring product.
(31:44):
You gotta look at a two-door fun vehicle
too, as you said sedan, suv, convertible,
coupe, sports car.
And if you want to compete against the main
competitors honkey rolls, bentley, oris,
lucid and now the brand new Cadillac
Celeste Can they do this?
Well, they can.
In their home market, in Japan and possibly
China, they could build the Century brand.
(32:06):
After that, the Middle East, india and
Australia would be right up their alley.
You have to remember you don't have to
change much when you're settling into
Australia or India because they drive on
the same side Japan.
After that, the European marketplace would
be a good place to go and North America
would be last.
Why would Western society be last for
Toyota to try and push the century model
(32:27):
out?
Because, like they said, they don't want to
build this off of wealth and opulence.
They want to build it off of quality and
hard work.
They want to show people that this thing
means you made it, not you bought it.
So, really, should this brand come out?
Possibly, in the end, the Toyota Century is
just an amazing sub-branded product from
Toyota Motor Corporation.
(32:48):
Yes, on our site we don't have a dedicated
website to go towards the Century brand,
because the Century brand is essentially
part of the Toyota Motor Corporation and
it's only available in Japan and China.
Should Toyota grow it?
Yes, should they come to very specific
marketplaces?
Yes, middle East is very good for high-end
clienteles.
India is a growing place and Toyota is
already a big name there.
(33:08):
They can grow there.
Australia?
Well, yeah, australia loves it.
They're still in love with Toyota, maybe
not so much if they found out that Toyota
is the reason why their automotive industry
completely collapsed there, because when
they left, ford and GM followed real
quickly because the parts suppliers just
jacked up the rates because there was only
two car companies left Right.
So maybe not so much, but it is still the
(33:28):
same market for the same hand driving North
America tread lately.
We say we like these luxurious vehicles.
We say we like these luxurious vehicles,
but unless you have that wealth and
opulence behind it royalty making you
better than everyone else it might take a
long time to kind of push the market
through.
Look how long it took for Lexus to be seen
in North America marketplace as a top-tier
(33:50):
luxury brand competing with the likes of
Cadillac, lincoln, bmw, audi and Mercedes.
Hell.
Jaguar as well Took a long time.
So take their time, grow it and build the
Century into its own brand, I figure by
2037, almost 70 years after the original
product was created.
Maybe by then start thinking about more
global domination for the Century brand.
(34:13):
And one last little note the Century GT45
was a gas turbine and electric motor was
shown in concept form in the 1975 Tokyo
Auto Show in its first generation product.
It was a gas turbine hybrid concept,
essentially showing what was going to come
out in the 2000s when Toyota put that
hybrid V8 underneath the hood.
(34:33):
Yeah, 1975,.
Toyota showcased the technology that was
eventually going to adorn this car pretty
cool.
So, yes, the century brand should become
one of its own.
Toyota should really get start considering
making it its own brand.
And if they're not going to do it that way,
then create a premier brand utilizing the
crown nameplate for it as well.
If not, well then.
(34:54):
Just stick with what you're doing, because
you're still doing it good.
All I know is I would like to have one of
these Toyota Sentries in my neck of the
woods out in Canada, but let's just do a
special import.
I ain't ever getting one.
Oh well, I can still pick up a Buick Sentry.
So if you like this podcast we'd like share.
Comment about it on any friends, tell your
(35:15):
family, tell your co-workers.
Send this out to all your friends, your
family, co-workers, well-wishers.
Tell them about some of the great products
that Toyota has made over the past.
The century brand was an amazing thing.
You gotta see it to believe it and to
understand what Toyota has actually built
for the marketplace.
So stop by, take a listen, go to the
website.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
(35:35):
the ratings.
Go to the corporate links website page.
Find out all that information.
After you've dropped this line, like I said,
leave us a comment, like us, share us, post
about it.
We don't care, just get the word out, tell
people about the Toyota century and this
amazing product and then tell them to go
over the auto looks podcast and listen to
the story behind the Toyota century product.
(35:56):
The AutoLooks Podcast is brought to you by
Ecomm Entertainment Group and distributed by
Podbean.com.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email@AutoLooks.net.
So, like I said before, my name's Everett
Jay, doctor to the automotive industry.
I am the host owner and curator of
everything that is either AutoLooks
AutoLooks, AutoLooks.net or the
AutoLooks Podcast.
I'd like to give a big thank out to
(36:17):
PodBean.com for getting this podcast out
into the world and Ecom Entertainment for
keeping us going.
So for myself, ever, jay, strap yourself in
for this one comfortable ride that toy to
century is going to take us on.
Thank you.
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