Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, Mercedes S-Class. You can forget all these luxury sedans when talking about the Toyota Century, as people refer to this as the Japanese Rolls-Royce. And this second-generation Century has been given a VIP-style tuning in America, all with a stanced twist.
Back in 1967, Toyota introduced the Century as its flagship decades before the Lexus brand was born. And while other Japanese carmakers came up with full-size luxury sedans in the 1960s and 1970s (Nissan President, Mitsubishi Debonair, Isuzu Statesman de Ville, Mazda Roadpacer), none of these came close in popularity.
Another special feature of the Century is that it remained largely unchanged through 1997 when the second generation took over—we’re looking at an Mk II right now. And while Japanese royal figures use the Century, this has also become a thing in the US over the past couple of years.
Sure, Toyota introduced the third-gen Century in 2018, but that’s a hybrid V8 (the first generation was a N/A V8), and the aftermarket wants to play with this second-gen Century, which is Japan’s first V12 production car and the only Toyota to have this engine layout. Oh, and Toyota is working on a Century SUV to take on the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
As you’ve probably gathered by now, social media loves the Century V12 and so does the movie industry (think: Umbrella Academy). In the UK, carwow’s Mat Watson promised to add such a Toyota to his collection after reviewing one a few months ago and American YouTuber Effspot installed an $18,000 exhaust on his cheap example, making it sound like an F1 car. Plus, Doug DeMuro sold a few of these on Cars and Bids.
Of course, this means the Century has exited the window of affordability, so the average price for one of these V12 Toyota in the US sits at $20,000 these days.
VIP tuning for this Toyota Crown V12
This Toyota Crown V12 belongs to YouTuber Divine (Mike). He got the car from Japan in 2022. And, as he’s done with his first-gen Acura NSX and Gen IV Supra, Mike decided to stance the hell out of his Century and then some.
The factory air suspension—the Century is a reliable car, but this sometimes fails—made room for airlift performance hardware. The factory wheels of the Toyota were converted to three-piece units by @chamorroboy86 and now feature floating center caps.
Now, those mods alone may have been enough for the VIP tuning (aka Bippu tuning), a style that traces its roots to the JDM scene and is all about customizing expensive, RWD luxury sedans.
However, it got fitted with a full body kit from Japanese specialist Junction Produce. This not only brings a more angular lower area instead of the rather rounded factory look—especially up front—but also replaces the all-chrome look with a shade of black matching the rest of the car. And while some people will hate that last change, some chrome trim is still on the car.
Dynamics? The Crown’s 5.0L 1GZ-FE V12 engine was officially rated at 276 hp over the Japanese carmakers’ gentlemen’s agreement, even though it made 295 hp for export markets. And if you’re wondering what that means on a car that weighs in at 4,520 lbs, you should know Mat Watson recorded a 7.6s 0 to 60 mph sprint in the Century.
