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.
I’m not specifically thinking of ultra-high end luxury. I left the question open because I wanted to let everyone come up with their own definition of luxury. Some may not want to be as ostentatious, others may prize quietness above all else. Otherwise everyone would just pick the Century :).
I will again stay true to my deep, personal belives and opt for Nissan/Datsun Laurel C31.
And why, You ask? Lemme’ explain:
The car was (and still is) a full fledged executive limousine. Classic 4 door sedan, long wheelbase, roomy interior with velour, plush seats comperable only to those found in Mercedes W123. With todays materials and craftmanship one can create almost anything inside the car: an elegant bippu style cabin in black leather, a wacky pimp’s car in pastelle colored fur etc.
Mechanicly the car can also be made to be a wolf on sheeps cloting. Let it look almost stock outside with only wider, aftermarket rims in mirror finish and some slight drop. But under the steel You can hide almost any powerplant from Nissans portfolio starting from bored/stroked L-series, thru any iteraion of venerable RB up to some VG or VQ series V6’s. All that to have the power reserve that might be needed in a Luxury Limo.
All that togheter can give the ultimate VIP package: luxury, timeless elegance, perfomace giving the feel of safety, without beeing ostantiatious and vulgar.
Not very JNC answer – Mercedes Benz W140 S600. It was your favourite luxury sedan’s favourite luxury sedan. The benchmark for Lexus, arch rival for BMW, the choice for the Yakuza boss’s boss (who likely had a Toyota/Nissan VIP sedan) and accumulation of 100 years of Mercedes engineering prowess at the time. The V12 lives on in Pagani’s. The chassis was good enough to be a first gen Maybach. Its presence graced countless rap videos and Hollywood movies while significant world events happened with this car lurking in the background.
I will suggest a different kind of luxury, the Mazda Type-GA three wheeled truck-bike thing!
Imagine the grim scene, 1945, the city of Hiroshima just got blasted hard, there is not much left at all, a whole city-worth of rubbles to clean out and a whole city to rebuild, lacking manpower and trying to feed everyone left while trying to save the injuried, with nothing more than your two hands.
And then BAM! A worktruck! No more wheelbarrowing on crushed streets or ox-carting for you my good sir! It does not need caring, watering and feeding a couple times each day! Dump some gasoline in its belly, kick it to life and it will be glad to serve, each day everyday! Being able to offload hard work to a self-powered machine when there is already too much to do by hand is a forgotten luxury.
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.
いつかはクラウン (Someday, a Crown) The Century is for the elites, but the Crown is the attainable luxury car that every other Japanese manufacturer can only imitate.
-a heavily biased MS137 owner
A rusty, beaten ’93 4Runner TuRD whose A/C you’ve spent hour after sweaty hour wrenching on smack dab in the middle of a blazing, windless early September SoCal driveway. Goop up the hands, wash and reorganize tools, grab a grapefruit Topo Chico from the garage fridge, and test your work – 50F wind blasting your filthy face never felt so blissful. Pure luxury.
Alternately, a few 20 degree drifts around a traffic circle in a clean, bone stock LS430 with Yusef Dayes pumping through the Levinson feels pretty darn opulent.
Obligatory Century reference: you haven’t lived until chauffeured with your feet through the seatback after one or four stiff old fashioneds.