It's been nearly two months since Toyota pulled the wraps off the first-ever Century SUV, yet it feels like the luxury high-rider has been around for a good while now. Not that we got the chance to see how good it is, but because the internet cannot have enough of it.
Ever since it broke cover at the beginning of September, the Toyota Century SUV has been imagined in multiple guises. Most of those renderings pretty much revolved around the occasional styling tweak, and some of them portrayed it dressed in aftermarket attire.
One of the latest digital takes on it that we came across was signed by Digimods Design on YouTube and shows the luxury high-rider as a pickup. It features a beefed-up styling all around, has underbody protection, side steps for easier ingress and egress, and a bed behind the cabin. It also rides significantly higher than the real thing and comes with different wheels and tires.
Now, while Toyota could come up with a pickup version of the Century SUV without breaking a sweat, we are not so sure the automotive world is actually ready for such a model. It would be a niche vehicle as not many people would be willing to blow a small fortune on a luxury workhorse, especially one that does not feature a body-on-frame construction.
That's right, the Century SUV is based on the TNGA-K platform, if you forgot, which ties it to models such as the Camry, Avalon, Crown, Venza, Highlander, and RAV4, among others. The Sienna also uses this architecture, which is compatible with mid-size and business cars, and so does the Lexus TX, RX, NX, LM, and ES. As for the Land Cruiser, Land Cruiser Prado, Tacoma, and Tundra, they are based on the TNGA-F.
Even if it used a proper architecture that would've made it feel at home on arduous tracks, it still would've been a niche vehicle that would've probably failed to attract enough buyers to make it viable from a financial standpoint. And we cannot simply mention premium pickups without reminding ourselves about the Mercedes-Benz X-Class failure, can we?
On a different note, Toyota's Century SUV is currently on sale in the Land of the Rising Sun, where it kicks off at 25,000,000 yen or around $167,000 at the current exchange rates. Only 30 units of the luxury high-rider come to life each month at the Tahara facility, and unfortunately for those who have set their eyes on this model, it is being sold strictly in Japan, just like the sedan that uses a different platform. That's a pity, as it would've made for a fine competitor to the likes of the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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