I Just Bought A $20,000 Japanese Rolls-Royce - The V12 Toyota Century

The 2004 Toyota Century V12 ($28,000 CAD, ~$22,000 USD converted) is special for many reasons. It has the only V12 in a series production car from Japan, and has some of the best paint on any car ever - seven layers of it! Also, up until recently the V12 Century was only ever driven outside of Japan by high-ranking diplomats and ambassadors.

But for James this car is now even more special. He has purchased it from Eclection Auto in Vaughan and is currently using it as a companion to his own beloved Miata. It has quiet and comfortable wool trimmed seats, a buttery smooth ride that could make even a certain British manufacturer blush, and loads of early 2000’s Japanese tech. But let’s see what made James fall in love with this Toyota Century and hear what Thomas has to say about the purchase. We hope you enjoy the episode. Thanks for watching! SUBSCRIBE!

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Post-production by Karston Chong and Thomas Holland
Sound by Harrison Dickson and Karston Chong

#ToyotaCentury #V12 #JDM

[fitfogey]

The best part of this is you can tell how happy Thomas is for James. True friends show enthusiasm when their friend is happy.

[egawat]

Toyota Century’s fail safe is amazing. Even if one bank of the V12 dies, it can still run with the other V bank. A chauffeur-driven car for VIP is not allowed to get stuck.

[tfrogginhfroggin]

License tag suggestion: "IMPORTED" as a double meaning for James.

[iceklontje]

Ever since seeing this review of the Toyota Century, I've been obsessed with this car. You guys perfectly showcased the elegance of this car. The luxuriousness of it, while it is still being subtle in many ways. This video made me want a Century of my own. I didn't have a driving license however, but this car combined with this review was the reason to finally get one. And so the journey began...

I started taking driving lessons in the summer of 2023. Passed the exam first-try in December.
Next step, finding a seller. This car is not sold where I live, and thus had to look in Japan for one. And so, since passing for the license, I have been looking at and bidding on auctions in Japan daily. Last weekend I finally won a bid at one of the Japanese auctions, and a Century is now being shipped to the EU!

The Century I bought is very similarly specced as the one in this review. Black exterior. Wool interior. Fender wing mirrors. Shifter on the steering column. Even the granny lace curtains are included.



I'm very very excited to have it delivered soon and to use it as a daily.
Thanks Throttle House for this review and exposing me to this beautiful car (and making me get a driving license) 🔥

[albonfilms]

It shouldn't surprise anyone that James has absolutely impeccable taste, but goddamn, this is the grail! I'm finding the next ticket out to Canada!!!

[nickminett]

James! a stunning car, you can get a plug in replacement for a lexus and it will translate all of the navigation and let you add region appropriate maps (and radio). You'll keep all functionality but be able to read it. My mate did it on his, and it changed the game

[uzmafarooqui]

Fun fact: The V12 in this car “1GZ-FE” is the same one which was used by Legendary tuner Kazuhiko Nagata aka Smokey Nagata in his V12 supra but in that it got the “Top Secret” (his tuning shop) treatment and it got fitted with twin HKS GT2540 turbos and two HKS ECUs (because technology wasn’t that advanced at that time and single ECU wasn’t enough to perform that many inputs and outputs) with in house custom made pistons and other engine parts built by “Top Secret” itself specifically for that car and all of this treatment turned that engine from making modest 280 hp to staggering 839HP and 1010NM of torque (it may not sound much now but these were numbers were unprecedented in that era) and he fitted this engine into his Supra and flew to Nardo, Italy at the famous Nardo ring test track to do a top speed run and he managed to 224mph.

Thank you for reading all the way down :), like this so more and more people can know about this fact.

[choblastr]

I legit couldn't care less about cars. I don't know why I clicked on it or decided to scroll to the middle of the video. But the guy who bought the car is so proud of it and so happy with it, it's almost infectious. It's nice seeing people have a childlike hapiness for something they got.

[JJPalma-lxyn]

I watched a special on the Toyota Century once and one of the reasons for the wool interior is that it is silent when you move over it and move around versus leather which makes noise. Plus the softness and longevity of the wool was superior to leather wearing out.

Cool car!

[tylerbohn]

License Plate - “IM JAMES”

Absolutely fantastic content as usual! Having just bought a new WRX, I now feel like I’ve made a mistake and should have went with a luxury Toyota from the early 2000s, haha.

[theboywhowantstochange]

This car is a dream
1. v12
2. JDM
3. Sedan
4. A taste of luxury

[TylerUng]

This is so cool. Feels so fitting for James to have such a beautiful and unique car. Truly for a collector/car-enthusiast!

[davedaihatsu]

19:37
Fun fact: those wing mirrors comes in handy when driving through the many narrow streets of Japan as they are situated far ahead and within the vehicle's width for the driver to be able to see the sides of the car, a normal side mirror would have been scraped as it protrudes out. Incidentally, such wing mirrors can also be found on all Japanese taxis.

[bbuny]

I’m a Honda guy, and I also love Lexus

But I gotta admit the Toyota Century has always been a car I really wanted, as well as the VW Phaeton

[Mireaze]

The Toyota Century is a dream car of mine. I'm so jealous.
(Also if you could somehow squeeze Supra XXL onto the numberplate that would be hilarious)

[mkzai]

I actually want one. I like its simplicity and it is definitely very reliable too.

[lionheart]

This V12 engine uses two sets of ECU to individually control the 6 in-line cylinders on each side, so that when there is a problem with one side, the other side can still drive the vehicle. The quality is very reliable.

[leob_v]

You can just see how happy James is with his car throughout the video - he's literally grinning most of the time :) Very happy for you, James!

[ChrisN]

"Despite all the sports car temptations that come with our job, he's driven the same Miata for 5 years."

I felt that.

[armcchargues]

Funny, I felt the same way about my LS430 the first time I drove it. It now has 170K miles on it and is still absolutely silent and the rear window shade still works. It is also an amazing car.