The Toyota Crown (Japanese: トヨタクラウン Toyota Kuraun) is a line of mid-size luxury sedans by Toyota primarily aimed at the Japanese market and sold in other select Asian markets.
Introduced in 1955, it has served as the mainstream sedan from Toyota in the Japanese market throughout its existence and holds the distinction of being the longest running passenger-car nameplate affixed to any Toyota model, along with being the first Toyota vehicle to be exported to the
United States in 1958. Its traditional competitors in Japan and Asia have been the
Nissan Cedric/
Gloria/
Fuga and the
Honda Legend, along with the defunct
Mazda Luce,
Isuzu Bellel, and
Mitsubishi Debonair.
Available at
Toyota Store dealers in Japan, the Crown has been popular for government usage, whether as a
police car or for transporting government officials. It has also been popular with Japanese companies as company cars along with use as a taxicab. While a base Crown was available for many years aimed at the taxicab market, the increasing opulence and price of the Crown line led to the creation of the
Toyota Comfort in 1995 as a more affordable alternative.
In North America, the first through fourth generations were offered from 1958 through 1973.
[2] It was replaced with the
Toyota Corona Mark II, which was later renamed the
Toyota Cressida, after which the Cressida was replaced by the
Toyota Avalon as Toyota's large sedan in North America. The Crown has also been partially succeeded in export markets by its closely related sibling, the
Lexus GS, which since its debut in 1991 as the Toyota Aristo has always shared the Crown's platform and powertrain options. Later models of the GS and Crown have taken on a very strong aesthetic kinship through shared design cues.
The Crown's history and reputation has given it prominence in the Toyota lineup, as it is one of the few current Toyota models to carry its own unique insignia for the model line with the current Crown having a stylized crown emblem on the grille and steering wheel along with inspiring the names of its smaller progenitors. The
Corona, introduced as a smaller companion to the Crown means "crown" in Latin and was initially exported as the "
Tiara", while the
Corolla took its name from the regal
chaplet. The
Camry's name is derived from the Japanese phrase kanmuri (冠, かんむり) meaning "little crown" and the
Toyota Scepter took its name from the
sceptre, an accessory to a crown.