Toyota Crown and Century crossovers go topless | USAEMALL.com

While there aren’t any convertibles or open-top vehicles within the Toyota vary proper now, the Japanese automaker has produced two one-off topless variations of its range-topping crossovers.

The first is a bespoke Century SUV developed for the victory procession for the primary Grand Sumo event of the 2024 season.

Although it’s typically referred by the corporate and its representatives as a convertible, it’s extra accurately an open-top parade automobile, as there isn’t a roof mechanism or any sort of add-on enclosure.

In addition to eradicating the roof, in addition to the B-, C-, and D-pillars, Toyota’s engineers have taken out the rear seats. The seat space is changed by a raised, carpeted foot relaxation, whereas a padded seating space is fitted the place a folding roof mechanism or parcel shelf may go.

The rear of the open-top Century SUV has a sedan-style boot lid married to the SUV’s tail-light association.

In a Toyota Times video (under) detailing the genesis of open-air Century SUV, the corporate additionally debuted a one-off Toyota Crown Crossover “convertible”.

It’s unclear what the aim of this different one-off automobile is as a result of, sadly, this author’s Japanese is proscribed to ordering ramen and apologising profusely for not being to talk the language.

Like the open-top Century SUV, the bespoke Crown Crossover has been free of its roof, B-, C-, and D-pillars, and most of its rear tailgate. Once once more there doesn’t look like a folding roof mechanism.

Unlike the Century, passengers within the rear of the Crown Crossover sit within the automobile’s common seats.

According to Simon Humphries, Toyota’s chief designer and chief branding officer, it was essential these two newest open-air fashions appear like they have been designed to be convertibles from the very starting.

It was equally essential, particularly to chairman Akio Toyoda, to keep away from having tell-tale indicators of a late-stage open-top conversion, akin to stubs from the sawn-off pillars.

Although each the the Century SUV and Crown Crossover share their names with Toyota’s massive rear-wheel drive sedans, each crossover variants are literally primarily based on the front- and all-wheel drive TNGA-Ok structure that underpins every little thing from the Camry by to the Toyota Grand Highlander and Lexus LM.

This isn’t the primary time Toyota has lopped the highest off a Century. In 2019, it produced a particular open-top model of the third-generation Century sedan for the Japanese royal household.

The firm additionally produced a bespoke open-air model of the first-generation Mirai hydrogen gas cell sedan for Pope Benedict’s go to to Japan in 2019.

Toyota has additionally produced quite a few one-off “convertible” conversions of earlier Crown and Lexus fashions for parades and different festivities.