Fushinjin! Toyota Century SUV imagined

Perhaps not realising the impiety of his actions, Photoshop wizard Theo Throttle has rendered the Toyota Century as… an SUV.

Wielding his mouse and keyboard shortcuts with reckless abandon, Theo has given the legendary Japanese limousine the body it would need to succeed in the West.

Because, let’s be real: if Toyota were to once again offer the Century badge in America, Australia or Europe, the ‘upper large’ luxury SUV space is where it would have to compete.

16

Yes, Rolls-Royce still does conventional models in the Phantom and Ghost, and the ‘affordable’ Ghost is admittedly its top seller, but the flagship Cullinan SUV is where the brand has seen greatest attention and demand since its 2017 debut.

If Rolls offered an SUV at the Ghost price point, there’s no question it would eclipse all other models in the line.

Likewise, Bentley offers the Bentayga SUV in short and stretched forms, Mercedes has launched the GLS as a high-riding successor-of-sorts to the S-Class, and a more luxurious Maybach version is also offered.

BMW’s X7 resides in the same space (where a more upmarket Alpina model might someday join it), and the big new Range Rover has again pushed the idea of luxury SUV into new territory.

16

So… beyond Japan, the Century would perhaps make best sense as an SUV.

It’s a good thing then, for zealous adherents of the Century legend, that Toyota is unlikely to offer its most exclusive, hand-built icon in the West again.

For 55 years, accounting for just three generations of Century, Toyota has shown little inclination to turn its group flagship – yes, it sits in higher esteem than the Lexus LS – into an earner.

It has always, but especially now, existed only to showcase the best the brand can offer, to its own definition of the term, for the only market that can ever truly appreciate all it represents: Japan.

I do really bloody like how this one looks, though.

16