Sporty Toyota Century Coupe Concept Teased for Tokyo Motor Show

Besides the Corolla concept, Toyota will also be showcasing its new Century coupe concept at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show.

Apart from the new and radical Toyota Corolla concept, Toyota will also be showcasing yet another sporty concept for this year’s Japan Mobility Show (JMS), this time from its luxury brand, Toyota Century. Say hello to the new Toyota Century coupe concept—a sleek, high-riding two-door fastback coupe, which is the last thing you expect a Toyota Century to be.

From the series of teaser images published, this peculiar Century concept isn’t exactly a sportier, two-door version of the current Century saloon, but instead it sits tall like a crossover. Combined with its sleek fastback-style roofline with no visible B-pillars and rear windscreen, this concept is essentially a hybrid between a two-door fastback coupe and a tall-riding coupe SUV.

In case a two-door tall-riding coupe isn’t weird enough, this Century concept also comes with sliding doors, possibly inspired by the Century SUV, thus adding a mix of MPV to this mumbo-jumbo of a concept.

Other than its confusing bodystyle, this Century concept does get similar design cues seen on its sedan and SUV siblings. Key highlights include dual-stack LED headlights and taillights, a wide front grille with the Century’s iconic phoenix badge, and large multi-spoke rims.

With no interior images unveiled for now, some reports have suggested that it might rock a centrally-mounted driver’s seat layout flanked by two passenger seats a la McLaren F1, although we’d reckon it won’t end up in an actual production car, if there's ever going to be one.

Predictably, no details were shared regarding its powertrain setup either for now, but given we can’t see any charging ports from its exterior design, it is safe to assume it’ll get the same V8 hybrid powertrain setup as the Century saloon.

As for its eventual availability, Toyota dubbed this radical thing as a “one of one,” thus hinting that it might just be a one-off thing, so your personal accountant can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now. That said, news of Toyota expanding its Century lineup into an entire dedicated sub-brand like Lexus has been looming for ages, with the brand often reserved for the Japanese domestic market for years.

Should this concept provide enough buzz during its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show, it might somehow convince Toyota’s upper echelons to take the Century brand global, and we’d reckon it will give the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley a run for their money.