The Toyota Century Coupe could be the next big thing in the world of luxury sports coupes, but it doesn’t wear a luxury badge. Could that be a problem?
Toyota just showed off something unexpected at their Japan preview event. The Century Coupe is a sleek two-door luxury car with suicide doors, a bold metallic orange finish, and an intricate hexagonal grille that catches light beautifully. This isn’t your typical Toyota. With hints of a V12 engine under the hood and styling that borrows from both the Crown and Jaguar’s latest concepts, the Century Coupe signals that Toyota’s most exclusive nameplate is becoming its own brand.
Toyota brings the Century Coupe to the Japan Mobility Show 2025
The profile is short and aggressive, with each door splitting in half for easier rear seat access. What really stands out is how production-ready this concept looks compared to the other vehicles Toyota teased. If you’ve been waiting for a more accessible alternative to Rolls-Royce or the new Jaguar direction, this Century Coupe might be worth watching when it debuts at the Japan Mobility Show later this month.
Is the Toyota Century Coupe really a Rolls-Royce alternative?
Most Toyota luxury vehicles come under the Lexus brand, but the Century has been a different story for many years. Despite not seeing the Century in America, it has been a standard of the Toyota lineup as an executive-size sedan for several generations. Now, the Century could arrive and be built from the luxury coupe concept that was teased by Toyota earlier this month. The Century appeared with a bit of confusion, because a supercar was expected, but it could be a new ultra-luxury brand that shows how far Toyota can go to be in every market. Still, the new Century lineup might not be ready to challenge Rolls-Royce or Jaguar just yet.
One of One Concept shows off
The new Toyota Century Coupe isn’t your traditional sports coupe at all. Instead, it’s a Century SUV with a coupe body style. The suicide-door coupe leaves room for passengers to enter the rear without the need for four traditional doors for the rear of the vehicle. These small side doors slide to provide ingress and egress to and from the rear of the vehicle. The concept name isn’t Century, but it will be part of the Century lineup, and it looks to be close to production-ready. The One of One Concept will likely gain a different name if it does make its way to the production line soon.
Rear windows are so last year
Earlier this year, Polestar showed off a new vehicle without a rear window, and now Toyota is doing the same. This new Toyota Century Coupe SUV concept doesn’t have a rear window, but that shouldn’t bother anyone too much. In a world in which driving is becoming more of a technological adventure than ever before, the use of a rearview camera mirror instead of a rear window is becoming more common. This seems to be a transition in the automotive world, giving drivers a clear view of what’s going on behind vehicles using a camera feed.
Those doors tell a story for the Toyota Century Coupe
If you remember the Hyundai Veloster, you will think of the oddball three-door setup on that vehicle. The driver’s side door of the Century Coupe SUV is traditional, with regular hinge points and no extra door, but there’s a different story on the other side. The passenger side has a large door that opens forward, while a small rear door moves rearward, sliding away to reveal the extra space needed to get in and out of the vehicle more easily. It appears there could be a step bar that extends downward, giving you a step up for passengers to get into this new SUV.
Offset seating for the front
Another interesting feature of the new One of One Concept vehicle is offset front seating positions. The driver sits in a traditional position, but it appears the passenger is offset and sitting a bit rearward of the driver. This could mean a rear passenger has limited legroom, but at least the front passenger has a ton of room to stretch out.
We should learn more about the new Toyota Century Coupe SUV at the Japan Mobility Show. Will this new concept vehicle propel Toyota into the ultra-luxury class to compete with Rolls-Royce? That is yet to be seen, but it certainly could be an interesting vehicle and a great new choice for the future of driving.