The Century’s status alone makes it a very special car. At $175,000, making it more expensive than a fully loaded Lexus LS. The Century is a large, four-door retro-styled cruiser with a hybridized 5.0-liter V8 powertrain and some quite unusual features, there’s a dusk whisk hidden in a special case located under the floor of the boot. It’s a simple device that brushes off the dust of the dashboard and seats. Century is the only car in the world that comes equipped from the factory with such a feature.
The V-8-powered first-gen Century was in production from 1967 to 1997. The V-12 second-gen version spanned two decades, from 1997 to 2017. The third-generation Century sports the 5.0-liter V-8 and hybrid system out of the previous-generation Lexus LS 600h L.
The cars are even hand painted. They’re actually wet sanded by hand, then hand polished to a true mirror finish. Quality of paint job is finest and not even Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Maybachs, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and McLarens comes close to this Toyota.
A total of four people in the world are skilled enough to paint a Century. The four craftsmen were sent off to learn lacquering techniques from a high-end lacquerware workshop for six months.
The doors are hung by hand. The interior wood panels are hand-cut and hand-sanded, with each car needing 15 hours of woodworking. The body panels are hand-adjusted and the body panels are hand-finished.
Japan’s recently enthroned Emperor Naruhito is getting a custom one-off open-top Century limousine for his coronation replacing his father’s Rolls-Royce Corniche for parade.
Specifications:
Engine displacement – 4,968cc
Max: Output – 381PS/6200 RPM
Max: Torque – 510 N.m/4000 RPM
