Toyota has decided it will take on the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley with the Toyota Century Coupe concept it unveiled last year. The high-riding luxo-barge would serve as a statement piece and to take on the segment’s best, it will need a warrior’s heart like the rest, which means a new V12 engine. The
The Century nameplate is not a new one to the brand. It has adorned the big T’s most luxurious yet understated sedan since 1967 but the times, they are a changing, and now the model is set to be spun off into its own standalone flagship brand.
A recent report by Japanese title Magazine X claims that only will the coupe enter production, it will roll out of the factory with a hybrid V12, to feed the insatiable appetite for power of the rich.
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This would not be the first V12 in the century though. Its predecessor, the second-generation model from 1997 to 2017, rolled with the Toyota 1GZ-FE 5.0-liter V12. The third-generation switched to a hybrid V8. Infamous Japanese tuner Smokey Nagata of Top Secret even stuffed one into a JZA80 Toyota Supra and slapped on two turbos to make around 1,000 PS.
Toyota may have taken notice because the proposed V12 for the new Century Coupe could be a 6.0-litre twin turbocharged unit with hybrid assistance to make a combined 800 PS.
The same report claims that the new V12 is still under development and could be mated to an automatic transmission with an all-wheel drive layout. Granted, Toyota are probably not in a rush to roll the Century Coupe out quickly so expect it to maybe debut in 2027 or 2028.
If it does make it to production, the Century Coupe will join the Century SUV. However, the latter is powered by a plug-in hybrid setup with a 3.5-litre V6.
Currently, only Rolls-Royce makes a V12 in the elite segment with even Bentley discontinuing its dozen-cylinder engine in 2024. Apart from the duo, Aston Martin remains one of the dwindling holdouts for the V12 engine.