Tag Archives: crown

Taxis queue before Marunouchi Toei theater circa 1966

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Matt De Mangos

It’s springtime in 1966 and you’re looking to catch a flick at the Marunouchi Toei. It had just opened in 1960 (and still exists today). Will it be the yakuza drama Nihon Daikyôkaku (English title: Japan’s Most Chivalrous), or perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Showa Snap | Tagged cedric, crown, nissan, s40, Taxi, toyota | 4 Comments

Motorcycle racing pioneer, father of Prius, and more inducted into Japan Automotive Hall of Fame

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Ben Hsu

The Japan Automotive Hall of Fame has selected its 2024 inductees. In addition to four vehicles of historical importance to Japan’s automotive history, the JAHoF has also selected five individuals whose work in the field are considered significant contributions to … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged crown, denso, mazda, MX-30, prius, QR Code, S230, toyota | 2 Comments

Tokyo Vice‘s cars elevate a pretty great yakuza series to something totally unprecedented

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Ben Hsu

The yakuza series Tokyo Vice is currently on its second season. It’s not the most mind-blowing crime story, but one thing it has going for it is its excellent use of period correct Japanese cars. The series is set in … Continue reading →

Posted in Film/TV | Tagged cedric, century, crown, fairlady z, HG50, kawasaki, ken watanabe, leone, nissan, Odakyu Romancecar, P10, police car, president, Primera, s13, s130, silvia, subar, subaru, t100, Tokyo Vice, toyota, VG40 | 3 Comments

Nissan Skyline tops Japanese survey about dream cars

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Steve Chang

Monday, September 19, was Respect for the Aged Day in Japan. To mark the occasion Kinto, a car sharing service, held a survey to ask drivers of three generations about their motoring habits, including what their dream cars were when … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged 117, 2000gt, bellett, bluebird, celica, Cima, corolla, corona, crown, fairlady z, honda, isuzu, Land Crusier, lexus, nissan, prelude, silvia, skyline, soarer, sunny, supra, toyota | 4 Comments

This 1960 Toyopet Crown Custom Sports is the only known survivor from Japan’s first coachbuilder

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Ben Hsu

The Toyota Automobile Museum has shared some images of one of the rarest and most seldom seen cars from its collection, the 1960 Toyopet Crown Custom Sports. The hand-built car was the first attempt at a coach-built car from Japan. … Continue reading →

Posted in Galleries | Tagged crown, s30, toyopet, toyota, Toyota Automobile Museum | 1 Comment

Which Toyota Crown is the real Toyota Crown?

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Ben Hsu

After much consternation and speculation the 16th-generation Crown was launched earlier this month, and to be honest we are still vexed. The Crown Crossover is, to us, such an affront to nearly 70 years of tradition that we can’t stop … Continue reading →

Posted in Next Version | Tagged crown, S230, toyota | 9 Comments

Toyota Crown sedan lives on as model expands into new segments

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Ben Hsu

Thank the car gods that we were wrong. It turns out that the horrendously ugly Toyota Crown that we’re getting in the US is only one version of the Crown. There’s actually four versions of the car, including a rear-wheel-drive … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged crown, S230, toyota | 5 Comments

Patent images of Toyota Crown confirm doubts of ultra-loyal sight-unseen buyers

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Ben Hsu

For decades, there has been a particular breed of customer for the Toyota Crown. These buyers were so loyal, dealers could count on them to trade in for each new generation before they had ever laid eyes on the car. … Continue reading →

Posted in Next Version | Tagged crown, S235, toyota | 15 Comments

The Toyota Crown sedan will live on, joined by SUV, report says

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Ben Hsu

The big news of the day yesterday was a report on Toyota bringing an SUV-ified version of the Crown to the US market. It sounds like an abomination. However, buried deep in the report was a separate item, one that … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged crown, toyota | 4 Comments

Toyota Crown making a return to the US?

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Ben Hsu

The Toyota Crown might be returning to the US market, if a leaked dealer schedule sheet is to be believed. Though it’s been Toyota’s most popular and evergreen sedan in Japan for nearly 70 years, it was sold stateside for … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged crown, toyota | 7 Comments

Japanese Classic Car Show 2021, Part 01

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Ben Hsu

To close out 2021, a year where things were finally opening up again, we’re going back to the Japanese Classic Car Show. After a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, JCCS was back in full form. Perhaps trying to … Continue reading →

Posted in events, jccs | Tagged 240Z/260Z/280Z, 3000GT, 411, 4runner, 510, 521, 610, 620, 720, a10, a20, a60, a70, accord, Accord 2G, Accord CA, Accord Wagon, acty, acura, ae86, Alto Works, aw11, az-1, b110, b120, beat, Bighorn/Trooper, bluebird, c10, c110, CA77 Dream 305, camry, cappuccino, cb1100, CB700SC, CB92 Benly, celica, celsior, civic, Civic EA, Civic EF, Civic EG, civic wagon, corolla, cressida, crown, Crown Majesta, crx, CRX EA, CRX EF, CT90, Daniel Wu, dc2, del Sol, DT250, e100, e20, e70, e80, fairlady roadster, fairlady z, fc3s, fj60, Fugu Z, galant, Galant VR-4, glc, greddy, GT750B, Hakosuka, hilux, Hilux Surf, honda, Honda N-Series, honda z, HT1, impreza, impulse, infiniti, Infiniti J30, Infiniti M30, integra, Integra 1G, Integra 2G, Integra Type R, isuzu, J200, J80, japanese classic car show, kei, kp61, L10, L25, land cruiser, legacy, Legacy Wagon, legend, Legend 1G, Legend 2g, lexus, Lexus LS, lexus sc, mazda, miata, Miata NA, mitsubishi, monkey, mr2, MX-3, n10, N30, N60, nissan, nsx, NSX NA1, pao, prelude, Prelude 2g, Prelude 3g, Prelude BB6, pulsar, QA50, r100, r30, r31, r32, r33, r34, rx-2, rx-3, rx-7, Ryu Asada, RZ350, s12, s120, s13, s130, s14, s30 z, s50, S500/S600/S800, s800, sa22c, sambar, Sera, silvia, skyline, soarer, sports 800, st185, st205, starlet, subaru, Subaru 260, Sung Kang, sunny, sunny truck, Super 90, SuperCub, supra, suzuki, sw20, T160, T180, te27, te37, tercel, toyota, TT500, U11, v10, wagons, x30, x60, x80, XS650, yamaha, z31, z32, Z34B | 7 Comments

SHOWA SNAP: Traffic in eastern Tokyo circa 1964

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Matt De Mangos

We haven’t done a Showa Snap in a while, but this shot of Tokyo from 1964 seemed like a good photo to bring it back with. This shot of eastern Tokyo is another bustling street scene, with buses, streetcars, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Showa Snap | Tagged bluebird, cedric, crown, nissan, toyota | 7 Comments

Sonny Chiba gave the Mitsubishi Galant GTO a star turn in Key Hunters

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Ben Hsu

Sonny Chiba, who passed away earlier this month, was synonymous with the Toyota Carina in Japan. For two decades the action star appeared in Carina commercials, and drove Carinas in real life (provided by Toyota, of course). However, there was … Continue reading →

Posted in JNC Theater | Tagged colt galant, crown, datsun, fairlady roadster, galant gto, Key Hunter, mitsubishi, ms51, toyota | 1 Comment

Japan brought out its best cars for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Ben Hsu

The 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo was a turning point for Japan. They were the first Olympics to be held in Asia, and Japan was ready to rejoin the world as a symbol of modernity. As a show of its … Continue reading →

Posted in Nihon Life | Tagged cedric, colt, corona, crown, crown eight, debonair, dyna, fuso, gloria, mitsubishi, nissan, Olympics, prince, s30, s40, shinkansen, t40, toyota | 7 Comments

The Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins trailer gets Japanese cars right

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Ben Hsu

Hollywood movies often get car scenes wrong, but especially when the setting is in Japan. Typically they just sprinkle in some a Nissan Figaro in the background or set up a parking garage drift in Los Angeles that stands in … Continue reading →

Posted in JNC Theater | Tagged 4runner, celsior, century, crown, Hilux Surf, lexus, Lexus LS, Snake Eyes, toyota, vip | 6 Comments

EVENTS: The inaugural Kyushu Kei Car Meeting

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Daniel O'Grady

On Sunday April 25th the inaugural Kyushu Kei Car Meeting was held in Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture. I see a raised hand in the back there. “Inaugural” means, like, the first one? Well, yeah. Due to a glaringly obvious oversight, … Continue reading →

Posted in events | Tagged alto, Autozam AZ-1, B360, beat, Cara, copen, crown, daihatsu, Fellow, fronte, honda, kei, life, Life StepVan, mazda, minica, Minica Dangan, minicab, mitsubishi, NIII 360, nissan, porter cab, R-2, s12, s40, silvia, subaru, subaru 360, suzuki, tn360, toyota, Vivio | 14 Comments

The Toyota Crown Vellfire minivan is slightly less insulting than the Crown SUV

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Ben Hsu

We’ve been very concerned with the Toyota Crown recently. It has been rough times for the nearly 70-year history of Japan’s staple sedan. We recently learned that, at the Shanghai Auto Show, Toyota debuted the Crown Kluger SUV, a lightly … Continue reading →

Posted in Next Version | Tagged alphard, crown, toyota, vellfire | 14 Comments

The Toyota Crown Kluger SUV is here to replace the Crown sedan

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Ben Hsu

Last year, we learned that 2021 would be final year of the Toyota Crown. The staple of Japan’s streets would, after over six decades of continuous production, come to an end due to lagging sedan sales. Its replacement is not … Continue reading →

Posted in Next Version | Tagged crown, Crown Kluger, toyota | 13 Comments

Watching a Toyota Crown get lavishly detailed is extremely satisfying

Posted on April 7, 2021 by J Elrick

Owning a black car can be a blessing and a curse. A sleek, perfectly paint-corrected and waxed example can give an elegant car such as this MS60 Crown a menacing yakuza vibe. On the other hand, it’s also one wrong … Continue reading →

Posted in Video | Tagged crown, ms60, toyota | 2 Comments

VIDEO: A virtual tour of Toyota’s Motorsports Biography exhibit

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Ben Hsu

The Toyota Automobile Museum’s excellent “Toyota Motorsport Biography: Everlasting Challenge Spirit” exhibit is scheduled to end on April 11. Sadly, travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have prevented most overseas travelers from seeing it in person. However, the museum … Continue reading →

Posted in museums | Tagged 2000gt, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 89C, celica, crown, imsa, mobilgas trial, s30, T165, TF109, toyota, toyota 7, Toyota Automobile Muesum, TS020 | Leave a comment