Toyota Century V12

Available Century V12's

customer feedback

Hi Ben, I have registered the car last week. It is in a really good condition, looks great and a pleasure to drive. Thank you very much for all your help.
Regards, Andrew
- Andrew S VIC, Australia 2 cars incl. 2007 Nissan Skyline 350GT Type SP

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Toyota Century V12 (GZG50)

The Toyota Century is not only Toyota's but arguably Japan's flagship luxury vehicle. At the time of it's release the second generation GZG50 shape discussed here was the second most expensive Japanese production car ever made, only just behind the Honda NSX. The GZG50 Century had an almost 20 year production run from 1997 to 2017 and is famous amongst other things for being the only V12 powered vehicle ever to come out of Japan.

While some call it the Japanese Rolls Royce, the Century was aimed almost excusively at the Japanese market so there are some cultural differences in terms of what buyers wanted. The styling is conservative and somewhat retro (note the fender mirrors) which is what most Century owners were after, as Centuries were most typically used by politicians, company big wigs, and of course the royal family. At the very least the first owner of a Century would usually have been chaffuered around.

The famous 5.0L Toyota V12 produces 276hp (the Japanese legal limit at the time) and is renowned for being incredibly smooth and quiet rather than being immensely powerful. Transmissions were floor or column mounted autos, switching from a 4 to a 6 speed auto in around 2006.

Build quality is naturally excellent for a vehicle of this price and aspiration, and featured a hand finished 7 layer paint job. Interior trim materials include either leather or often a cloth made from wool, this is considered to be superior to leather by the Japanese as it is quieter and cooler in summer.

The focus of the Century is towards rear passengers who receive a plethora of luxury features. There is plenty of leg room due to the vehicles long wheel base, the front passenger seat also has a fold down centre which allows the rear passenger to stretch out and use the front seat as a leg rest. Rear passengers have multiple climate control vents, multiple reading lights and mirrors, and folding down the centre arm rest has buttons which control a wide range of features. Not only can rear passengers adjust rear climate controls and rear audio controls, there are also power rear seats with more comprehensive controls than many luxury car's front seats. These include power reclining rear seats, 4 way power moving seat bases, 4 way power head rests (all with memory functions for each side), heated and cooled rear seats, massaging rear seats, and power rear curtains. The rear also has a few thowbacks showing the vehicle's age such as a rear TV and even a factory tape recorder for taking notes.

Up front there are standard luxury features including heated front seats, numerous controls for adjusting all of the other power seats in the car, cruise control, power seatbelt adjustment, CD stacker and more. Multiple airbags are standard including front and rear side airbags.