Toyota President Akio Toyoda is a true car enthusiast, and being the boss of the world’s largest automaker has its perks.
One of those advantages is owning your own collection of cars based on current production models, but with enough performance improvements to make them more appealing.
Among his many vehicles is the Toyota Century GRMN SUV, launched last year after the brand shifted away from its traditional luxury sedans and toward a new high-riding model.
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GRMN Century Prototype
Speaking to current Toyota Century owners, Mr Toyoda said he wanted to “create a GRMN that many people around the world can drive”, with prospective plans to sell it in Japan and China.
Unlike the standard Century, which is aimed at traditional luxury SUV customers, the GRMN version features more carbon fiber exterior trim and black 22-inch wheels, giving the car a more aggressive look.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many details about Toyoda-san’s Century GRMN, although the model’s standard specifications give us a good idea of what we can expect.
The Century SUV is powered by a 3.5-litre V6 engine combined with two electric motors – one for the front axle and one for the rear axle – to produce up to 303kW of power, driving all four wheels through a continuously variable transmission.
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Regular Century (left) with GRMN prototype
It’s unlikely that the old Century Sedan will lend its V8 hybrid engine to GRMN, as the two models use completely different platforms.
Similar to other powerful GRMN variants like the upcoming Supra GRMN, the Century is expected to get a power boost as well as suspension tweaks for improved handling.
Until Toyota puts the Century GRMN into actual production, we can only guess at what it will feature, although it’s highly unlikely we’ll see it in the brand’s Australian showrooms as the model has never been officially sold here.
That didn’t stop third-party importers from bringing previous Century generations to market, with the most popular choice being the V12-powered version from the late 1990s to the mid-2010s.
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