Toyota Century V12 | Spotted
No doily seat covers or curtains, but who cares when you get Toyota's only production V12 up front?
Toyota is a company of two halves. On the one side, there’s the endless stream of economy boxes that provide reliable transport for people who couldn’t really give a monkeys about cars. Toyota and Lexus combined shifted over 10 million cars last year and currently controls around 12 per cent of the market. Or, in other words, more than one in every ten cars sold is a Toyota.
This means that it makes a lot of money, enough to build some properly outrageous cars without the bean counters losing their minds. This is where we see the wilder, more creative side of Toyota, the side that’s brought us the Lexus LFA, the GR Yaris and, soon, a front-engined V8 sports car that’s seemingly built with GT3 racing in mind. Coupled with that are some proper oddballs, like the road-going Mega Cruiser military vehicle, the hydrogen-powered Mirai and the stately Century, like the example we have here.
At a glance, the Century seems completely at odds with pretty much anything else Toyota makes. Whereas the majority of its cars are aimed at the everyman, with even its most expensive sports car, the GR Supra, costing around £50k before it was discontinued here in Britain, the Century has traditionally been the most luxurious and most expensive car in its arsenal. A brand-new Century SUV today will set you back 25 million yen (or £120,000), while it's said a full-specced limousine could be knocking on the door of half a million quid. Huge money for a car that comes from a company that makes the Prius and whatever a bZ4X is.
But Toyota is also a company big on engineering excellence, and nothing exemplifies that more than the Century. It’s the only road-going car in the company’s history that’s been fitted with a V12, which is alive and kicking in one from 2000. The 5.0-litre engine obviously wasn’t a screamer (though some pricey aftermarket headers can make it sound like an F1 car), but was instead pillowy-smooth like a Rolls-Royce. Coupled with that was a silky four-speed automatic gearbox, air suspension all round and humungous sidewalls on the tyres to put its executive passengers in the utmost comfort.
It’s the design, however, that really defines the Century. Both inside and out, very little has changed from the 1967 original. The overall exterior silhouette, grille shape and chrome trim is near identical to the original, while the interior is trimmed in fine fabrics rather than leather, as the Japanese market apparently sees cloth as more luxurious and comfortable. The dash, meanwhile, is covered in buttons and switches, many of which are marked with Japanese characters and will require a fair bit of Google translating to figure what they all mean. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t come with the Century’s signature doily seat covers and curtains, but you could always ask your local retirement home if they’ve got any spare.
Jokes aside, this is a very cool car, and one that won’t cost you nearly as much now as it would have done 25 years ago. The asking price £16,495, which is about what you’d pay for an original Continental GT or an old Silver Spirit. The upside of the Century is that you’re getting something far rarer that’s been built by a company famous for its resilient cars. The downside, other than all the switches and infotainment menus being in Japanese, is that it’s difficult to imagine there being many - if any - people in the UK who know how to work on it. Good thing Toyota makes ‘em tough.
SPECIFICATION | TOYOTA CENTURY
Engine: 4,996cc V12
Transmission: four-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 280@5,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 355@4,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
Year registered: 2000
Recorded mileage: 67,145
Price new: N/A (Japan)
Yours for: £16,495
A poster on the barge thread has one of these. He's timed it at about 6.5 to 62 I think, which suggests more like 300bhp - 320bhp and is perfectly decent for a car of this sort and it won't frustrate like the likes of the old 728i BMWs or Mercedes S280s. I can't help but think that someone bothered by the engines specific output or acceleration times is rather missing the point though.
He's had the inlets off to do plugs and coils recently and it's the most wilfully restricted inlet system I've ever seen; it's built for low end torque, ultra smooth running, and eternal life. Fingers crossed he'll spot this thread, I don't think anyone else on PH is running one?
However - at the time the Japanese manufacturers had an agreement that it would not quote power outputs in excess of 280bhp and plenty of those cars made more than they claimed.
With their propensity for rust I'd stay away from this myself but not because I think they are going to be especially hard to work on.
With their propensity for rust I'd stay away from this myself but not because I think they are going to be especially hard to work on.
It's not like it's likely to need any major surgery either.
I fancy one of these but would prefer to have the uglier wing mounted mirrors
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff