If you’ve ever flown on a Japanese airline or shopped at a Japanese department store you know that Japan does luxury better than almost any country on Earth. That’s why it’s a bit odd that Japanese luxury cars faced such an uphill battle in brand perception. There are so many good ones, and we don’t just mean those wearing Lexus, Infiniti, or Acura badges. And we know the Toyota Century is the obvious answer, and no hate if you must choose it, but let’s try some deeper cuts as well. And no matter which one you choose, please show your work (explain why).
What’s the greatest luxury sedan?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s the most Gen X car?”.
As mostly Gen-Xers, we loved this week’s answers. They brought back tons of memories. We didn’t limit the answers to Japanese cars, and felt plenty nostalgic about KMMinLaPlata‘s list of Buick Skylarks, Jeeps, and VW Rabbits, as well as Taylor C.‘s first-gen Ford Taurus and Joe Musashi‘s Chevy Astro van.
Cars that straddled the line between US domestic and Japanese included Nigel‘s list of Geos and nlpnt‘s roll call of Detroit-badged imports like the Mazda Ford Escort, Mitsubishi Dodge Colt, and Isuzu Chevys. Alan‘s poetic tribute to the NUMMI Nova was like a time warp.
We presume that Biff is on the older side of Gen X having chosen the S30 Z, but for the most part people associated 80s and early 90s Hondas with this era. Sammy B‘s CRX, streetspirit‘s EF Civic, and ra21benj‘s DA Integra spoke to the emerging dominance of Soichiro’s creations.
We also loved MWC‘s characterization of a J80 Land Cruiser’s ability to both “fit in and bug-out”. And Not Janeane Garofalo could’ve fooled us with their answer. Janeane, is that you?
The winner this week was Tincho, who perfectly illustrated the NYC tri-state area Gen-X vibe:
GenX’r from NYC here. Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, if you were trying to make an impression, it was always tilting toward sedans, the dream cars were the Acura Legends and Maximas – defo drug dealer vibes – with aftermarket rims. A little later on, you started seeing the mafia-adjacent kids rolling around in LS400s and Infiniti Q45s.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Ben, I really think you need to define “greatness”. Also, the definition of a “Luxury car” has been an ever moving target from the time of the inception of the automobile, even at the very beginning, the very definition of Luxury was a private train car. If you took a poll today, The continental Europeans would say something from Mercedes, those from Great Britain would say Rolls Royce, Here in the US we have not had a contender in this class since before WW2, with the exceptions of the Lincoln Continental Mk. II and the original Cadillac Eldorado of the mid 50s, both of which sold in tiny numbers and which lost Ford and GM money on every one they made.
And of course for Japan we have the Century and the President.
So what is a luxury car then? They all will coddle their occupants with comfortable interiors, filled with the latest techno wonderments, and get you to your destination in silence and comfort. So I will argue that what sets them apart is the statement they make from the outside, and where this bit of automotive theatre plays out.
For most of the world the Rolls Royce wins this little bit of vanity theatre.
In Japan, unless you are the Emperor, or a member of the Royal Family, of course it’s the Century, but anyone else seen in a Century or President will be pegged as a Yakuza. Not very flattering.
The definition of luxury has changed over the decades. After 1930, mass produced luxury takes over as coachbuilt luxury cars were viewed as gauche during the Great Depression so you see factory bodied Cadillacs, Lincolns, Packards and higher trim Buicks and Chryslers taking over. They had power and technology, luxury, space and cigarette lighters in every ashtray because everyone smoked, making that the US luxury market from 1935 to 1985. German cars were about performance and vault like build quality and British cars were leather and wood and lambs wool carpeting (nothing smells as good as a Rolls Royce leather interior- that scent should be bottled and sold as a cologne).
Japanese luxury cars took all of that to heart but each manufacturer took a different path. Acura was all about Honda racing performance while Infiniti was the zen experience. Nissan had the 4 door sports car in the Maxima, Honda had the V6 Accord, Toyota had the Avalon, Mazda had the Millenia and the 929 while Mitsubishi had the technology laden Galant and then the Diamante. Lexus is, perhaps, the quintessential luxury car as the LS and the ES embrace the quiet, comfortable, technologically advanced climate controlled ride that we expect from a luxury car so you would think my answer would be the Lexus LS sedan. It meets all that criteria. However, the eccentric side of me would argue that quintessential luxury car is the Asian Market Toyota Camry. Power rear sunshade in the back window, shades in the rear doors, a reclining rear seat, and a control panel to adjust the rear climate control or change the music on the sound system and the boss seat buttons on the front passenger seat to give that rear seat passenger more room so you ride in discrete, chauffeur-driven luxury through the streets of Kulala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Phnom Penh, or Bangkok. If only we could get those features in US Market Camrys but I suppose one can dream.