The Crown were introduced in 1955 in Japan to meet the demands of public transportation.
The Crown was intended for private purchase, while the Master served in a commercial form as a taxi, both with the same 1.5 L Type R engine used on their previous car, the Toyopet Super.
The front doors open conventionally, and the rear doors are "suicide doors", a feature also utilized on the Toyota AA, Toyota's first car.
Small engine displacements were used to keep the vehicle affordable, as the Japanese Government began to impose an annual road tax to help develop and maintain a national transportation infrastructure in 1950.
The appearance of the Crown shows some similarities with the European Ford Versailles and Simca Vedette.
The Crown was much more popular than the Master due to the more compliant suspension of the Crown, and while the Master was intended for taxi service, the Crown was more accepted by the market over the Master, and more Crowns were sold into taxi service than the Master.
The Crown was designed to replace the Super but Toyota was not sure if its independent front coil suspension and its suicide type rear doors were too radical for the taxi market to bear.
A six-door wagon known as the Airport Limousine was shown as a concept car at the 1961 Tokyo Motor Show. It did not go into production.
Its coil and double wishbone independent front suspension was a departure from the leaf sprung live axle front suspension used on most previous models but was similar to the independent front suspension used on the 1947 Toyopet SA.
In 1958 it introduced a Ball joint suspension. Production of the Masterline pickup started in April 1957 by the former Central Motors.
In August 1957, three Toyota delegates with the intent to establish a sales company in the United States introduced a white and black Crown and Crown Deluxe at a public relations event attended by dealers and the media.
Both models were constructed with 50% thicker steel than the average American car at the time and the black Deluxe model was nicely appointed with lots of chrome and luxurious items like a radio, heater and whitewall tires which prompted the press to liken it to a "baby Cadillac".
This promising initial showing along with the strong reputation of the Crown in Japan gave Toyota the confidence to pursue exports to the United States despite known high-speed performance issues.
As a publicity stunt to demonstrate the car's reliability, Toyota staged a campaign common to American automakers: a coast-to-coast endurance run from Los Angeles to New York.
The Toyopet was barely able to limp into Las Vegas before the project had to be called off.
Toyota's first export to the United States began with 30 Crown Deluxe's in June 1958 after establishing Toyota Motor Sales USA the previous October, the first directly managed retail dealer (Hollywood Toyota) the previous February, U.S. wholesale and import companies, and a parts warehouse in Long Beach.
oyota also signs up 45 dealers to sell cars in its initial year, growing to 70 dealers by 1960 and 90 by 1962.
In the effort to obtain certification from the California Highway Patrol for the sale of the Crown in California, Toyota shipped the cars without headlights and installed General Electric sourced sealed beam units upon arrival which met the required standard for brightness.
For 1958, Toyota introduced the Crown in sedan form only (Standard and Deluxe) with a base price of $2187.
Options included $94 AM radio and $75 whitewall tires.
By the end of 1960, Toyota Motor Sales USA had accumulated 1.42 million dollars in losses from lackluster sales of the Crown.
In November 2000, Toyota released the Origin, a retro version of the RS series Crown to celebrate 100 million vehicles having been built in Japan.
Due to the introduction of the Corona, the dramatically restyled and enlarged Series S40 was launched in 1962, and saw the introduction of the Custom model.
According to the Japanese Wikipedia article for the Crown, the styling was said to be influenced by the recently introduced Ford Falcon in 1960.
The front grille approach has a similar appearance to the 1960 Imperial Crown (Chrysler), which speaks to Toyota's aspirations that the Crown be a large, comfortable sedan.
The station wagon body style carried over from the previous generation Masterline, but with more attention to the luxurious approach used on the Crown.
Headlights were integrated within the boundaries of the greatly enlarged grille, providing a clean, modern appearance.
A 2-speed automatic transmission was introduced, called Toyoglide, with a column shift.
A bigger and better car than the previous S30 series, it initially had four-cylinder R-series engines before the addition of the "M" six-cylinder engine in 1965.
Deluxe and Super Deluxe models were available with added features.
The sedan and wagon were known simply as the Crown while the commercial vehicles (coupe utility, double cab coupe utility (pick ups), and van) were known as the Masterline.
There was also a limited run of the sedan known as the Toyota Crown S (MS41S) which featured twin SU style carburettors on the 2.0L M in-line-six engine, sportier camshaft, sports instrumentation, sports suspension, 4 speed floor shift, bucket seats, 14 inch wheels, disc brakes on the front and larger drum brakes in the rear.
This Crown became the first Toyota to be exported to Europe, after the head of Denmark's Erla Auto Import A/S saw it at the Tokyo Motor Show.
They brought in 190 of these subsequent to a May 1963 agreement.
In the US, the MS41L sedan was available in the US for $2,305.00 PoE while the MS46LG station wagon was available for $2,525.00 PoE.
Some optional features include an automatic transmission for $160 and a radio for $60.
A two-door Crown Convertible was displayed at the 1963 Tokyo Motor Show, based on the Crown 1900 sedan. It was not put into production.
This Crown generation was the first to be assembled in Australia, from CKD kits, by AMI in Port Melbourne, with significant local content.
AMI, which assembled numerous brands including Triumph and, for a short time, Mercedes-Benz, was to become the basis of Toyota's current Australian manufacturing operation.
The longer, wider and more upmarket Crown Eight (ja:トヨタ・クラウンエイト) was introduced in 1964 for the Japanese market, powered by a 2.6 L V8 engine.
However, it had a different model designation, VG10.
The car was first introduced at the 1963 Tokyo Motor Show and introduced for sale on April 20, 1964, nine days before Emperor Showa's birthday and the beginning of Golden Week in Japan.
The Crown Eight was designed primarily to replace full-sized American automobiles that were commonly used by major corporations.
The Crown Eight represents the first Japanese mass-produced vehicle with an 8-cylinder engine.
The main rivals at the time were the Prince Gloria Super, Mitsubishi Debonair, and Nissan Cedric Special, all equipped with a six-cylinder engine.
It was the first Crown to exceed vehicle size classification regulations in length, width and engine displacement capacity.
The width at 1,845 mm (72.6 in) compares to the Century at 1,890 mm (74 in), and as such no Crown before or since, including the Crown Majesta, has matched the width dimension of the Crown Eight until the year 2008 for Crown and 2009 for Majesta.
The Crown Eight was considered as a possible submission for use by the Japanese Imperial Household Agency as a car to be used by senior members of the Imperial House of Japan, but it lost out to the Nissan Prince Royal.
The Crown Eight was replaced in 1967 by the first Century with the model code VG20.
Approx 3,800 Crown Eights were produced.
Some of the items that were exclusive to the Crown Eight were climate control, automatic headlamps, electrically powered windows, electric cruise control,
a three-speed "Toyoglide" automatic transmission, and electromagnetic door latches, which were also installed on the Crown Eight successor, the Century.
Launched in 1967, the mechanicals were much the same as the previous generation, but additional equipment was included.
Higher specification models used the 2.0-liter M engine or the 2.3-liter 2M engine.
A premium level Super Saloon joined the Super Deluxe model, and was available with the 2M engine including twin carburettors, electric windows, rear seat radio controls, air conditioning and luxury fabric on the seating including the crown logo embossed into the vinyl.
Lower specified models were equipped with the R-series four-cylinder engines.
The previous approach of manufacturing Crown vehicles for commercial use, called the Masterline, was discontinued with this generation.
Masterline pickups were produced by the former Central Motor Co., Ltd. until December 1970.
When the 1967 S50 series Crown was introduced to Japan, television commercials used Japanese actor Satoshi Yamamura, who among his many roles on stage, movie, and television, portrayed Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in the 1970s movie Tora! Tora! Tora!
Yamamura would serve as the Crown spokesman for 16 years, introducing subsequent new generations of Crown products until 1983.
The Crown range now included the 4-door station wagon, pick-up (rare), double cab pick-up (very rare) and the new two-door hardtop "personal luxury car".
In 1969 the Crown received a facelift for the headlight, grill and trim arrangement.
The Crown S used the two-litre 'six', but due to sportier tuning it produced more power than the larger 2M, 125 PS (92 kW) at 5,800 rpm versus 115 PS (85 kW) at 5,200 rpm.
The commercial versions were fitted with the six-cylinder "M" engine (M-C) produce 105 PS (77 kW), while the four-cylinder 5R had to make do with 93 PS (68 kW).
This generation was the only one to use a double-hinged tailgate, as the next generation converted to an overhead-lifting hatchback door.
Crown's that were equipped with the 2,253 cc 2M engine were no longer classified as compact cars under Japanese vehicle size classification regulations, even though the length and width were still in compliance.
Toyota offered the larger engine so that buyers who were traditionally served by the Crown could now choose the all-new Corona Mark II in 1968.
This allowed Toyota to reposition the Crown as the top level privately available luxury sedan, with much nicer interior treatments, more spacious accommodations.
This was the last generation for the pick-up versions of the Crown, as load carrying was ceded to the new Toyota Hilux in February 1971.
Australian market models were assembled in Australia by Australian Motor Industries.
This generation was imported fully assembled into New Zealand from 1968 to 1971.
Notable features on the wagon were:
7 or 8-passenger seating (2 on front buckets or 3 on a bench seat, 3 on a rear bench seat and 2 on a fold up cargo seat),
a powered rear window, a side swing tailgate.
Launched in Feb 1971, the 4M 2600 engine was introduced with this generation, as was the luxurious Super Saloon trim level, followed by the Super Deluxe and Deluxe.
The top of the line Royal Saloon was first introduced in the face-lifted Crown from 1973, adding luxury features from the Century limousine.
The 2.0-liter 5R inline-four engine and the 2.0-liter M six-cylinder engine were also available.
As for the previous generation, the M-C engine (in Japanese specifications) has 105 PS (77 kW; 104 bhp), while the 5R's output increased somewhat to 98 PS (72 kW; 97 bhp).
In some markets the previous 2.3 litre "2M" six remained available, in sedan or "utility wagon" forms.
The Utility Wagon was a version halfway between commercial and passenger car, and had chassis codes MS67V until the early 1973 facelift when it was replaced by the MS68V with the 2.6 engine.
The Sedan and Wagon (Custom) are coded RS60/MS60/MS64/MS65 and MS62/MS63, while the Van was coded MS66V with the two liter "six".
The Hardtop Coupé is MS70 (2.0-liter), or MS75 (2.6-liter).
The Japanese market Crown Custom (Wagon) was classified as a seven-seater.
This generation was the first Crown marketed as a Toyota in Japan, as previous models were marketed as Toyopets.
Also, in Japan, this model was known as the "blue whale" or "kujira" Crown.
In 1973, Japanese television commercials introduced Japanese actress Sayuri Yoshinaga as a co-spokeswoman, joining Satoshi Yamamura, and together they appeared in commercials until 1983.
While the domestic market Hardtop has rectangular halogen headlights, all export models come with twin round headlights.
This model achieved few sales in the US, possibly due to its styling with flush bumpers, called "spindle-shaped in period marketing.)
Only the first two years were imported to the USA, where it was the last Crown to be sold.
The Corona Mark II, replaced the Crown in North America.
The trunk could be opened remotely by turning the ignition key to the far left, and a button on the floor caused the radio to engage the signal seeking feature.
A separate signal seeking feature was installed for rear seat passengers, installed behind the front seat facing the rear seat compartment.
The 60-series Crown underwent a facelift in January 1973.
Australian models were assembled in Australia by AMI.
It was available in New Zealand fully imported from 1971 to 1973, with local assembly beginning at Steels Motor Assemblies, who also built the Corona, not long before the mid-life facelift, improving availability.
Steels subsequently became Toyota NZ's Christchurch CKD assembly plant.
Launched in 1974 in Japan, export began from 1975.
It was offered as four-door sedan, two-door hardtop coupe, four-door hardtop sedan, wagon, and van.
Engines are 2.0 and 2.6-liter gasoline.
The 2.2-liter diesel was introduced in October 1977.
Trim levels are Standard, Deluxe, Super Saloon, and Royal Saloon.
The Royal Saloon came in a longer bodylength, coupled with the 2.6L engine while lower trim levels were in the shorter bodystyle and 2.0 L engines.
Export models used the same body whether the two-litre 5R four-cylinder or the 2.6-litre 4M inline-six.
In Europe, these models claimed 87 and 112 PS (64 and 82 kW) respectively.
Minor change was given in 1978.
This version of the Crown saw the introduction of disc brakes at both the front and rear axles with anti-lock brakes, speed sensitive power steering, and a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive.
Originally, sedans and wagons had S80-series chassis numbers, while the two- and four-door hardtops received the S90-series chassis numbers.
After 1976 and concurrent with the introduction of new stricter emissions regulations, all Japanese market Crowns used S100-series chassis numbers.
Export models continued to use the previous codes.
Initially available with the "old style" 4M engine with rounded valve cover, later models switched to the new 4M engine with rectangular valve cover.
This generation also saw the introduction of fuel injection on both the 2.6-liter 4M and the 2.0-liter M engines, coupled with Toyota's TTC-C technology, adding a catalytic converter to the exhaust system.
The emissions controlling technology badge helped identify which vehicles had reduced emissions tax liability.
Select models also were available with four-wheel disc brakes and twin piston calipers on the front brakes.
Launched in 1979, this model had the engine upgraded from the 2.6 L to 2.8 L 5M-EU model.
The 2-liter M was still on offer along with a turbocharged version—the M-TEU.
The carburated 5M engine was also available in certain markets.
In this series the model designation referred to the engine size — MS110 (2-liter), MS111 (2.6-liter), MS112 (2.8-liter).
This was the last generation to install a four-cylinder, gasoline-powered engine.
This model was the first generation Crown to be sold in Germany, beginning in 1980.
The fuel injected 2.8 developed 145 PS (107 kW) in European trim, while the 2.2 diesel offered 66 PS (49 kW) and a choice of five-speed manual or an automatic (not in the Station Wagon).
European sales started out at a respectable level, but with prices increasing at an alarming rate due to the appreciation of the yen, sales had dropped drastically by 1982.
Early models have twin rectangular headlights, while facelift models come with bigger monoblock headlights.
Domestic market Royal Saloons use the large rectangular headlights.
Lower grades Van and Taxi models adopted round headlights.
Royal Saloon features longer bumpers and bigger engines, which were placed in a larger road tax classification according to Japanese Government dimension regulations.
The first Crown Turbo was launched in October 1980 for Japanese market only.
Offering the 2.0 L engines was for buyers who didn't want to pay the large car tax, while offering better fuel economy than the larger engines.
The turbo also provided a benefit in increasing fuel efficiency while reducing tailpipe emissions as Japanese consumers pay a tax on the amount of regulated substances being sent into the atmosphere from a Japanese law passed in the 1970s.
In some export markets, such as Southeast Asia, the larger six-cylinder engines came fitted with carburettors.
In those specs, the 2.6 offered 110 PS (81 kW) SAE net while the 2.8 claimed 128 PS (94 kW) DIN or 120 SAE net.
Sales in Indonesia were low and this generation was not replaced there in 1984, when the 120-series Crown appeared.
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