2018 Toyota Century is a $180,000 Japanese Rolls-Royce
Imagine going to the dealer to buy a Corolla and seeing one of these bad boys.
It first broke cover at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show, but now, Toyota has finally attached a price tag to its first new mega-fancy limousine in 20 years, and it ain't cheap.
Toyota announced this week that the 2018 Century will set buyers back a cool ¥19.6 million, or about $180,000 at today's exchange rate. That's a bit more than you'd spend on a Mercedes-Maybach S-Class limousine, but it's staggeringly cheaper than either Rolls-Royce sedan, the cheaper of which starts around $300,000.
This thing just oozes class.
You won't see any Toyota badges on the Century, though -- the phoenix that adorns its front grille is hand-engraved over a period of six weeks. Even the rear is devoid of the Toyota name, displaying only "Century" in big letters across the trunk. It's big and bulky, which gives it a stately appearance that leads you to believe that there's bound to be someone important in that second row.
This isn't a Toyota for drivers, either. The second row is where it's at, featuring two individual rear seats straddling a 7-inch touchscreen for controlling vehicle functions. There's also an 11.6-inch rear screen to keep occupants entertained on the drive. There's a whole lot of wood, and the ceiling features one of the nicest textures I've ever seen in a car. The standard interior is wool, but if you don't like feeling that old-school, you can snag up some optional leather.
While the last century used a big ol' V12 for motive force, the new Century relies on something a bit less thirsty. Under the hood is a 5.0-liter V8 mated to a hybrid-electric drivetrain, putting out a net 425 horsepower. It packs a few safety systems, too, including blind-spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking and full-speed adaptive cruise control.
Despite being on sale since the 1960s, this is only the third iteration of Century. The first generation was produced from 1967 to 1997, and its successor lasted nearly as long, ending production last October. The order books are now open for the new Century, and Toyota hopes to sell about 50 a month.
