A week from now, a wild rumour that surfaced in Japanese periodicals earlier this year will come true. Toyota will be doing the same with an even more distinguished nameplate – the Century – after splitting the Crown into a subset of models. The Japanese carmaker simply mentions that a “new car presentation” will be place on September 6 on its official YouTube channel, not that it is ready to debut a Century SUV.
The lone teaser image, though, virtually guarantees it’s a high-riding Century because the gloved driver is ready to unlock the back door. Toyota intends to uphold the tradition with its SUV counterpart, much as it does with the classic sedan, which has traditionally been a chauffeur-driven vehicle and has been sold mostly in Japan The preview strongly suggests the vehicle has a tall body with a tailgate instead of the saloon’s trunk lid.
2018 Toyota Century
This isn’t the first teaser, as Toyota previously showed off the Century on stilts during the debut of its Alphard and Vellfire minivans in the second half of June. Although specifics are not yet known, there have been some intriguing rumours suggesting that the SUV won’t share any mechanical components with its namesake sedan. Instead, it might be a 205-inch-long, luxuriously enhanced version of the Grand Highlander.
According to reports, the plug-in hybrid system for Japan’s Cullinan was taken from the Lexus TX 550h+. The latter has a 3.5-liter V6 that has been electrified and generates a combined 406 horsepower and an unknown amount of torque. Recall that the Century sedan has a V8 engine, whereas its predecessor had a mighty V12 – the only Toyota production car with a twelve-cylinder engine.
The Century SUV is said to be significantly more expensive than the Land Cruiser but it will still undercut the sedan. We’re hearing Toyota intends to sell it exclusively with two-row seating, and unlike the Japan-only sedan, there could be plans to export the model.
