The First Century

Testing Toyota’s Imperial Limousine.

- Jonny Lieberman

Back in 1967, Toyota launched the Century as a reaction to the Nissan President, which made its debut in 1965 as a possible candidate for use by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan. The President was a reaction to the 1964 Toyota Crown 8, a large, 2.6-liter V-8-powered four-door built to stop the use of foreign (i.e., American) luxury sedans.

The first Century was based on the Crown 8, and for a while it used a 3.0-liter version of the latter’s engine. In 1973 the displacement grew to 3.4 liters before finally growing to 4.0 liters in the early ’80s, about 15 years after the original car launched. No matter, as the first-gen Century stayed in production for another decade and a half—finally getting replaced by a V-12 in the second generation, which made its debut in 1997.

There are maybe two dozen Toyota Centurys in America. Most owners don’t want someone else driving their Century, let alone testing it. But we have a connection in legendary PR fixer Joe Molina, who let us test his 1992 example, which pumps out 190 hp and 238 lb-ft, good for 75 mph all day.

The trickiest thing about driving the Century around L.A.—besides sitting on the “wrong” side of the car—is adjusting to the fender-mounted mirrors. Fender mirrors were popular in Japan because of Tokyo’s narrow streets. Like driving on the wrong side, you get used to them.