One thing they failed to mention is the paintwork. The Century was lacquered paint and required a lot of hand work, much like the older Rolls Royce’s. They had multiple layers of hand rubbing to create incredible depth. One of the other videos on the Century said there are only about five people in Japan qualified to paint a Century. So, if you had a a fender bender and wanted the paint to be original it would cost you a fortune.

I love how they just casually talk about the blood stain in the trunk as if it were just a feature of the car lol

Worked for a Japanese company in the 2005 and they had the company chauffeur take me to the airport in one of those. Was very special and still remember how smooth and comfortable this car felt! Thanks for the blast from the past!!

13:24 "This is really a six passenger car..." Yeah.... 2 in the front, 3 in the back and 1 in the trunk!!!

Doug would have a field day with all of those quirks and features.

Not Velour.. It's Wool.. For the cooling and wicking properties that are appreciated in humid climates... And it's considered more "luxurious" than leather.

The Century is a wonderful car, and handbuilt at that. The fit and finish is flawless. I have driven the later V12 version, which is superb.

Looks like a big Toyota Crown, love the crowns have collected 7 over 40 years.

A 26 year run for a body style. Classic. Also featured in the opening scene in Lost in Translation as Bill Murray rides backseat on the way to the Tokyo Hilton

this car will go 1,000,000 miles no problem

9:50 Door closing sounds to die for. Soft, solid and heavy.

3:03 Production varied greatly as each car is built to order. However, closer to 1800 cars were built annually for this generation. 6:21 The Century was and is sold only in Japan. A few very used vehicles were spotted in Russia in the 90s. Toyota's presence in the South Korean market initiated in 2002. The same demographics in Korea are served by the Ssangyong Chairman. Toyota's joint venture with GAC Automotive sold their first cars in 2006. The Century, which must be ordered in person from a Toyota Store showroom, is not among their offerings. Neither China nor South Korea issue plates to LHD cars. 6:50 The local registration and inspection on this vehicle ended in the sixth month of the 29th year of the Heisei era, the reign of Emperor Akihito; June 2017 to the rest of us. 7:10 Sakichi Toyoda, one of the fathers of industrial Japan, founded the Toyoda Loom Works in 1926. He died a mere four years later. He did not survive to see his company become an international superpower. 7:30 Japanese, especially those who are likely to own one of these vehicles, abhor the sun. They don't want to look like a peasant laborer with tanned skin. They sell a lot of sunscreen lotion throughout Asia. 8:26 Fugu 9:18 Lace curtains are provided for protection from the sun and discretion. It is a standard feature. The lace to provide a washable surface at the tops of the seats are missing from this car. Replacements are available from Toyota in Japan. 9:44 If the seats have the original factory coverings, they are wool. It is warm in the winter. It is cool in the summer. It is the quietest automobile seating surface. 12:34 Leather was never available. The Australian leather used in Japan was determined to be fine for a plebeian car, but not for the Century.

I bought one of these two weeks ago and now it's my daily driver. Great fun car :)

25 years later and all the buttons and features still work. That's craftsmanship my friends.

The guy sounds so enthusiastic. Fun fact: his mad, sad, normal and happy expressions are all the same. :)

A spectacular car! We owe the Japanese so much for their technological contributions. Also, the thing I like and appreciate so much about Jay Leno is his graciousness and respect for things and people. I can't imagine him EVER making someone feel uncomfortable for any reason. He's a good guy. I'm a fan. He deserves his success.

That's not a 'registration' sticker, nor a 'shaken (mandatory inspection)' sticker; it's simply evidence of a recommended but not mandatory annual check. In this case with an expiration date of June 2017 (Heisei 29). This often coincides closely with the date that mandatory inspection 'shaken' comes due; cars in Japan at the end of a 'shaken' cycle often fetch less at sale due to the inspection fees, taxes and repairs that may be required at that time. The optional annual sticker can be an indication that a vehicle was especially well looked after. I don't blame the guy for not fully understanding, there's quite a bit of paperwork required here to own a vehicle. I've been through it many times during my nearly 30 years in Japan.

That shot at 18:24 is awesome, nice synchronization, kudos to cameraman and the one who drove the camera car.

Great video. A good friend of mine, a year ago bought a 1993 Toyota Century in Black with a leather interior. Absolutely stunning car. I've been lucky enough to drive It twice so far.

He didn't mention it in the video, but these cars are hand built in a special factory. Also the engine is the 5V-EU and was only used in the Century

This is better than anything from Rolls Royce at the time.

I love 90’s cars of all countries. It can be classified as an affliction at this point considering the work to keep them running.

I love when this guy brings theses cars on Jays show, they’re pretty amazing! Thanks again Jay for this channel I love it!

Toyota never used leather because a wool interior is quieter than leather , even the latest generation

WHAT A STUNNING LUXURY SEDAN!!..ICING ON CAKE IS THAT IT IS JAPANESE!! WHICH MEANS SOLID AS A TANK!!😍😍😘😘

Awesome now that some JDM only cars can be imported to US. Some of the finest cars ever built.

SUBTITLES FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING. Please like so they can see this.

The dash, I wanna see the dash - all the high end features etc.

Love it when Jay features Japanese cars! Thanks for sharing!

This reminds me of a late 80's CRESSIDA.

Quiet ride is an understatement, the sound of you inside was like a recording studio.

That's a really cool car. So many amenities and features, and still has a nice look to this day

Thanks for sharing your stuff with us commoners Jay! Awesome channel.

I don't know why but I have always absolutely loved this car. Incredibly dignified and restrained

The Lexus grandma! Lovely... The amazing mix of 60s vintage with 90s high tech!

Body style came out in 1967. That’s amazing!

Wow. Blood spots on the trunk. I reckon yakuza owned

I love how the guy, Chris, tells a lot of the jokes with a straight, deadpan face and a super casual tone.

Solid af. As soon as i heard the hood latch pop it was the exact same sound as the GS400 and LS400 i once owned. Toyota in the 90s were unstoppable

I was a Toyota mechanic for six years from '69 to '75. There is an untold story about the Century that Toyota will probably not admit to, but a little bit of research digs it out. You probably aren't going to believe it, but the Century was an afterthought. Here is the story. Toyota initially entered the American market in the mid-fifties with the Crown sedan in California. Sales were tepid and by the early sixties Toyota was looking for a way to break into the north American market in a bigger way. Their dilemma was how to do so without incurring a huge amount of debt. That's when they began casting around for an American car company to partner with. From Toyota's point of view, partnering with a large American car company where there was already a dealer network in place, instead of purchasing millions of dollars of real estate and building thousands of dealerships, was the best of both worlds. Around the same time that Toyota was looking for a way to break into the American market, the principals of the Studebaker Corporation in Hamilton, Ontario were struggling to keep Studebaker afloat. They'd shut down production in South Bend, Indiana, in California and at all overseas plants, but knew that if they didn't find a solution within two or three years, they would be facing bankruptcy. That's when they hit upon the idea of pairing with one of the Japanese manufacturers who were trying to break into the American market. They flirted with Nissan for a bit but then settled on wooing Toyota and in the '63/'64 timeframe entered into talks with representatives from Toyota. Toyota was interested in a ready-made sales network and Studebaker was interested in the idea of maybe selling a re-badged Toyota under the Studebaker name while keeping the Studebaker plant in Hamilton going. The problem was, Toyota's cars being sold in the US, though they were Toyota's largest model, the Crown, were too small and were so underpowered that the team from Studebaker felt that they'd probably flop. After all, Toyota had been selling the Crown on the American market in limited numbers in California since the mid-fifties and sales had been underwhelming - Studebaker needed a shot in the arm, not an anchor. Talks stalled. Toyota, not wanting to lose the chance at that ready-made network of dealers, decided to try and salvage the deal by producing a car that American buyers would look more favorably upon. They based their new model on the existing Crown model but with modifications. They'd already dumped the stodgy old Crown 4-door body, that had resembled a mid-fifties Dodge, and had debuted a new Crown body style. The new Crown was more squared off and its lines somewhat resembled the Studebaker Lark. To make that model more desirable for American buyers, Toyota decided to widen the Crown model by six inches. This provided more interior room, so the car more comfortably fit the average American body size. Knowing that the 4-cylinder engine powering their Crowns already being sold in America was not powerful enough for most American buyers, and that V8 engines were the default standard for power in America, Toyota decided to power the new model with an entirely new engine, a hemi V8 (Japan's first V8). The new model was christened the Crown Eight. While Toyota went about designing the new engine, tooling up for its production, and setting up a separate production line at a remote facility in order to build a test run of the new model. The mucky mucks at Studebaker continued casting around for new business partners. At one point, they were talking to representatives from Nissan when the Nissan reps learned they'd previously tried to woo Toyota, their biggest rival in Japan. At that point, the Nissan folks refused to meet with the Stude folks. Back in Japan, Toyota didn't want to have to commit to full scale production of the new model if a partnership with an American firm wasn't successful. If a partnership did work out, they were ready to add a proper production line at the existing Crown plant and begin producing the Crown Eight in large numbers. After about a year of frenetic activity, Toyota managed to debut a test run of the new Crown Eight in Japan and began selling it domestically. As 1966 rolled around, Studebaker's execs found the company hanging on by a thread. The Lark, which by then was the only model they still manufactured, hadn't been selling that well and they'd had to resort to using Chevrolet V8 engines as a way to save cost on production. Worse, they were facing a rebellion - they'd passed on the idea of partnering with a Japanese firm to their dealer network and a lot of dealers had balked and said they'd close their doors before they'd take on Japanese cars. Memories of WWII were still strong in the minds of many in the US and Canada. Despite this, a deal with Toyota was finally inked out and a final meeting was set at a hotel in Toronto to sign the papers. The two top execs at Studebaker arrived at the hotel the night before the meet. While having drinks together that night, one of the two expressed misgivings about the deal before he went up to his room. In the morning that exec said he couldn't go through with it and he left the hotel. The other Studebaker exec was caught between a rock and a hard place. If he went ahead and signed with Toyota, they might end up facing a dealer rebellion. If he didn't, and they couldn't find another way to save the company, Studebaker would have to cease operations and thousands of workers at the Hamilton plant would lose their livelihoods. By and by, he made up his mind that Studebaker would have to take its chances and try again to find another way to save the company. He walked out of the hotel less than thirty minutes prior to the time set for the meeting. Shortly thereafter, after over a hundred years of constant vehicle production - horse-drawn wagons, electric vehicles, and then gas-powered cars and trucks - Studebaker closed its doors for the last time. Toyota found itself holding the bag with an entirely new model and engine. The investment in designing and tooling up for production of the Crown Eight's V8 engine had been significant - they weren't willing to throw all that effort away. Toyota had been toying with the idea of vying for the Imperial car fleet. Now that they had a larger, more powerful engine, the time seemed right to produce a new larger luxury sedan with which to compete with Nissan, who'd been providing cars for the royal fleet for decades. They began designing and new model, the Century, to be powered with that new V8 engine, and built a limited run for the upcoming competition. When the next selection process was set for the royal fleet, the Toyota Century, with its very smooth and quiet little hemi, won handily. Since 1967, the Century has remained the choice of the royal fleet. That same year, after less than 4,000 total units had been produced, the Crown Eight ceased production. Today, Crown Eights are extremely rare; and, if one finds one for sale, it will cost a pretty penny. Among car folks, the story of how Packard got royally screwed when it bought Studebaker, and how trying to keep Studebaker afloat eventually resulted in Packard's demise, is legend. However, not much has ever been said about Toyota's near miss with Studebaker in the sixties. One has to wonder - if Toyota had been successful at buying Studebaker, would Toyota have eventually experienced the same fate as Packard, or would Toyota have been able to pull Studebaker out of the hole it had dug itself, and would Studebaker have survived? Toyota probably learned a lesson that day about how to deal with north Americans. Instead of trying to deal with one single manufacturer, they went about breaking into the north American market another way - they sought out individual dealers from all other marques who were interested in taking on, as a sideline, an additional, smaller and less expensive brand. This enabled Toyota to quietly feel out the American market, develop additional models targeted at this market, and grow to the point where, by 1975 Toyota had overtaken VW for the largest number of imports sold per year in the US, and people were lining up to be dealers. The rest is history.

Surprised we didnt get a “...good day Mr Bond” from Jay on this car review.

My 1982 Lincoln Mark VI Signature Series Coupe had a complete digital dash that even told you how many miles to empty and warned you when you were within 50 miles of an empty tank. It also had an electronic eye for the high beams that would sense another car coming and turn the high beams off. Not to mention the softest ride this side of a marshmallow. American luxury at it's finest!

I've always loved this car - even if I've only seen it in photos and videos. It's just so charming in some way. Great to see it on your channel however.

Always a pleasure. Mr.Leno rocks!!

I saw the Doug Demuro review but this one is just as great and informative. I have a 1992 Century V8, not the 1993 which has the airbag on the steering wheel. I just imported it and vlogged on finally receiving it. It is sleek just as you guys mentioned. Prestigious look indeed.

I love my classic Chevrolet's but I really love this car.

I watched a documentary about this car and it’s truly amazing. There’s only I think 5 people in the whole world that’s allowed to paint them. They have to work as a painter for Beau Coup years before they are allowed to be trained on how to paint them, and when the Body and Painters graduate from their special school that they have to go through they’re presented with Custom made tools that’s made for each person’s hands. I don’t know anybody that’s got tools made for their hands only

I just road in one of the 2ed gen century’s last month NRT airport to the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku I loved the pass thru for my legs.

Smokey Nagata is the name of the guy with the Supra. He is a great guy.

My uncle owns one. Very nice car and very rare here in America.

Wow. Great tour of the seemingly unending list of features.

Love this channel. Thanks Jay.

This is a gorgeous vehicle!

Love the more “obtainable” cars on this channel please do more like this!!!

I saw one of these beauties in Holland this summer. My mouth fell open. Never expected to see this car outside of Japan.

The Toyota 2000GT was another car not appreciated enough & unfortunately not enough were produced. Amazing that this body style lasted 30 years.

I cringed when Jay plopped his work boots on the velour seats @ 10.50

8:50 omg that sound is so satisfying

The privacy shade is to prevent people at a distance taking photos of you in the car doing meetings. Can't photograph through that, but it will let light in.

I dream of riding in the back of a 2023 Century, what a car

Beautiful example of old Japanese technology......😎👍😁 As always great Show Mr Leno.

What a beautiful car!

Real treat to see this on Jays garage. This has to be the premier luxury model out of Japan & wish I knew the name of the coach works builder, I dont think it was Mitsuoka. Back in 2015 we sent a maroon one off to a small importer in the south, ended up in Alabama. Regret not making a road test video. And true story with Mr.Nagata from Top Secret, he was on a war path for a long while, s, im certain he's still planning a return haha

Now that's luxury. I thought my Dad's 1972 Toyota Corona was luxury back in the 70's. Thanks Jay, good one.

VERY CHRYSLER LOOKING. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO SEE THE DASH.

How funny to see this, I was just looking at buying one, so I'll look forward to this. Best bought directly from Japan & you can choose the exact model you like, as there are so few in other countries, myself in the UK. Thanks Jay. Why does the Century always make me think of the original series of Hawaii 5-0? ;--)

I saw one of these here in Sydney Australia about five years ago. They are a good looking car and very quiet as they float by.

I enjoy this guest, he knew very much about the car but at the same time not cocky and aloud Jay to get his words in too. Not all guest are like that

6:50 "..that's a registration sticker.." 😂 Just laugh the dead pan reply Thanks for making me laugh Jay and guest! Love your vids Jay

That's definitely an awesome car. I'd love to drive it

My neighbour has one the same year in a dark blue color I will never get over the little doily curtains in the back such a cool car

Mr Original Rare is pretty neat. He absorbs all Jay's questions and answers very coolly and knowledgeably.

This and the Nissan President are up there on my must have import list

The japanese "Grand Marquis" in terms of comfort and like a real car with column shifter!

Close to my home, there is an abandoned house. And believe it or not, next to that abandoned house stands a Toyota century with an EXTENDED WHEELBASE!! Just like the EMPEROR'S!!! It's my dream car and I hope it's for sale for 20k or less!

Beautiful amazing car. Thank you for this video on this Japanese legendary car.

Still wishing Toyota never gave into the groupthink complaints of “boredom” and kept to smart luxury with Lexus. Chasing everyone else via silly sport aspirations and excessive styling made themselves far less unique.

If Toyota engineered a full size truck the way they engineered this, they would be the market leader.

Great video as always Jay! One thing about those white, lacy privacy curtains, they lower the light in the cabin making it difficult to see into the cabin and exceptionally easy to see out of and they may lower the interior temperature slightly giving the air conditioning a chance to work.

Chris Marion has such a mellow voice. He does great reviews.

Someone should make a compilation of jay talking about Japanese hood mirrors hahaha

If I would have the money and I would only be able to get one Japanese car. It would be a Century! I love 'em.

I just found out about this car yesterday and It's one of my favourite cars ever now

I thought I heard that the interior of the Century is upholstered in wool as Japanese view it as a premium to leather. Thanks Jay, you make my Mondays more interesting.

"built for comfort not for speed" So could you say this is the Howlin' Wolf of cars?

I'm surprised that the owner never mentioned one of the more interesting aspects of this car; that the engine is a pushrod Hemi V8. The same V8 engine family was manufactured by Toyota from 1963-1997

from the trunk to the plate this car has a story. That alone is worth owning it just for the conversations you'd have at car meets.

Me and my friend went out together and bought one, it was imported from Japan. They wanted $13,000 and we got it for $10,000 NZD. 75,000km on the clock, so low mileage!

Nice to see the Majestic Chicken again. ;) (Doug DeMuro sent me)

We had this car in Saudi Arabia. I remember seeing them in Toyota dealers showrooms from the late 90s to around 2002. However, they didn't sell many of them because of the high price. They were offered with left hand drive and V12 engine.

So happy Jay is back in Double Denim

A guy at my job has one of these, and and it has a small bar in the rear. He says finding parts is difficult. Looks awe.

awesome Jay!

The new Century is really beautiful...far more elegant than RR.

Hay to you Jay Thanks for the huge range of unique cars you present on a weekly basis Regards to you and your team

This car fits Jay perfectly, nice and floaty

Jay, time to investigate a 1994-96 Cadillac Fleetwood.

2:35 "You gotta wait a couple years..." Looks at his watch

haha I love this guys sense of humor....amazing car

Jay looks like a kid with his favorite toy. He Really liked this car.