Toyota has just launched the 14th generation Crown sedan in Japan with a controversial front grille and a new hybrid variant. Offered since 1955, the latest rear- and all-wheel-drive Toyota Crown sedan will be offered with a four-cylinder hybrid as well as a choice of two V-6s, and Toyota hopes to sell 4000 units a month in Japan alone. Will we ever see the Toyota Crown in the U.S.? The answer is almost certainly, "not a chance," but we can't pass up a bit of forbidden fruit every once in a while.
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The Crown will be offered in Royal and Athlete trim lines -- it's the latter that features one of the strangest front grilles we've ever seen. Perhaps in an effort to attract younger customers, the Toyota Crown Athlete has a polarizing front grille and an available 3.5-liter V-6 mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, a combination not found on the Crown Royal. Possibly previewing what we'll see on the upcoming redesigned Lexus IS, the Toyota Crown offers a hybrid with a 2.5-liter I-4 engine as well as a 2.5-liter V-6 in rear- and all-wheel drive mated to a six-speed automatic.
The Crown is offered in six exterior colors, though Toyota's consumer site curiously shows one car in a bright-pink hue, pictured at right. Inside, the Toyota Crown has wood-grain panels with gold stitching and a pre-collision system. With four cameras positioned around the vehicle, the Crown offers a better view of what's lurking on each side of the sedan. To prevent oncoming traffic from being blinded by the Crown's high-beam headlights, the car will selectively block certain portions of the lights. Other premium options include adaptive cruise control, rear power seats, a multi-function touch panel to control interior displays, and heated rear seats.
Then there's the hybrid system, which uses a nickel-metal hydride battery and 2.5-liter I-4 engine like the Toyota Camry Hybrid, but has nearly 220 hp and is said to provide the performance of a 3.0-liter V-6. We're not sure the 14th-generation Toyota Crown would fit in the U.S. market, but wonder how much of the car's technology previews what we'll see in upcoming Lexus models.
Source: Toyota
I’ve come a long way since I drove sugar packets across restaurant tables as a kid, pretending they were cars. With more than 17 years of experience, I'm passionate about demystifying the new car market for shoppers and enthusiasts. My expertise comes from thoughtfully reviewing countless vehicles across the automotive spectrum. The greatest thrill I get isn’t just from behind the wheel of an exotic car but from a well-executed car that’s affordable, entertaining, and well-made. Since about the time I learned to walk I’ve been fascinated by cars of all shapes and sizes, but it wasn’t until I struggled through a summer high school class at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design that I realized writing was my ticket into the automotive industry. My drive to high school was magical, taking me through a beautiful and winding canyon; I've never lost the excited feeling some 16-year-olds get when they first set out on the road. The automotive industry, singing, and writing have always been my passions, but because no one seeks a writer who sings about the automotive industry, I honed my writing and editing skills at UC Irvine (zot zot!), serving as an editor of the official campus newspaper and writing stories as a literary journalism major. At USC, I developed a much greater appreciation for broadcast journalists and became acquainted with copy editing rules such as why the Oxford comma is so important. Though my beloved 1996 Audi A4 didn’t survive my college years, my career with MotorTrend did. I started at the company in 2007 building articles for motorcycle magazines, soon transitioning to writing news posts for MotorTrend’s budding online department. I spent some valuable time in the copy editing department, as an online news director, and as a senior production editor. Today, MotorTrend keeps me busy as the Buyer's Guide Director. Not everyone has a career centered on one of their passions, and I remind myself all the time how lucky I am.
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