The New Toyota Century Is Here, With Hybrid Power And No V12

The Century is one of the weirdest cars Toyota has ever made. The second-generation version was fitted with a ‘1GZ’ engine - the only production Japanese V12 ever made - and stayed in production for nearly 20 years.

It was old-fashioned enough when it was first released in 1997, and had a reputation for being the wheels of choice for important government types and, err, gangsters. There’s now an all-new version on the block, and it’s just as quirky.

Just check out those 100 per cent wool seats! And the wood! And the net curtains! It really is a blast from the past, and even the all-new exterior isn’t vastly different to the old one.

Beneath the retro veneer though, much has been done to bring it bang up to date. There’s an LCD panel to control all the electrically-adjustable seats, a big entertainment display, a 20-speaker audio system, safety systems like collision avoidance, and much more besides.

The car has also - sadly - lost the V12. In its place is a ‘2UR-FSE’ 5.0-litre V8, supplemented by Toyota’s ‘THS II’ hybrid system.

The wheelbase has been extended to give rear seat passengers more space, and Toyota has even increased the door opening height and reduced the drop between the treadplate and the floor to make ingress and egress a little more graceful.

Fancy sampling those soft wool seats (leather is available, but why would you want that?) in person? The car will be on display at the Toyko Motor Show later this month.