KIDNEY, ANYONE? S40 Toyota Crown BOGO

There’s a incredibly rare S40 Toyota Crown being auctioned on Bring A Trailer right now. It’s located in New Hampshire and has no reserve. Specifically, it’s a 1966 Toyota Crown Deluxe with a 3R engine and a three-on-the-tree manual transmission. And, if you act now, they’ll throw in another one for free. 

Originally the ’66 Crown was purchased without an engine or transmission but the seller was able to source a donor 1963 Crown. The ’63, pictured above, was a project that stalled out half complete with a freshly rebuilt engine and transmission. After donating it’s running gear the owner plucked other bits and pieces for his main project as well. The donor car comes with only a bill of sale as a title is not available, but if you can procure one it could be a great project as well.

The main ’66 Crown being auctioned is not a complete restoration but is reported as being drivable. Frankly, I think the exterior patina is perfect and I would leave it as is. The car appears to be structurally sound and only has minor blemishes to the paint, namely near the trailing edge of the rear quarter panels.

The inside of the car has fresh door cards and seats, but the pillars do need to be addressed. In the pictures of the vehicle, it does look like all the gauges are functional, which is a major bonus for anything as rare as an early American Crown. It appears as though the majority of the heavy lifting with this project has previously been completed.

The factory radio in the car is quite a sight to behold; one can only hope that it is functional so you can listen to that AM static as it was meant to be heard. It may be slightly worrying to see all of those loose wires under the dash, however, so that is something worth noting. The carpet also shows some stains but that could be possibly be cleaned as opposed to requiring a total replacement.

Under the hood, the freshly installed motor resides in a very tidy looking engine bay, again appearing to not have any major corrosion that will need addressing. The fresh paint and factory sticker on the air cleaner do wonders for how well put together it looks. The seller also notes that a fresh battery was recently installed and Collector’s Choice high-ZDDP oil has been used since being put back together.

The seller states that only 400 miles have been added onto the car in their ownership, totaling 55,000 miles, which is believed to be original mileage for the chassis.

Generally speaking, proof that an engine and transmission overhaul being performed is difficult without documentation, but as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. The seller has helpfully included a picture of the gearbox with the pan removed exposing what appear to be a very fresh gear set.

Typically for kidney cars we try to find specimens that are unique or in exceptional condition. While this is not perfect car, it is certainly rare, with reportedly a mere 271 examples imported to the US. The early Crowns are an important piece of JNC history, and have a strong following in Japan. If you’re interested in a very rare chance to get a LHD RS41 Toyota Crown, the car is for sale for at Bring A Trailer. As always, buyer beware, but if you do purchase this car, contact us and we will send you out a JNC inkan along with our eternal jealousy.