Here’s one for you high-end Toyota fans (is that an oxymoron, high-end Toyota?).. This is a 1978 Toyota Crown 2600 Super Saloon and it’s on eBay with heavy bidding and a current bid price of just over £9,000 ($11,064) and there are still five days left on the auction! Whoa! This luxury Toyota is in Swaffham, Norfolk, United Kingdom.
This car is in amazing condition for being older than probably half of the Barn Finds fan base! This was pretty much the top-o-the-heap for Toyota in the 1970s and the Super Saloon trim level was just one below the top level of Royal Saloon, as far as models went for the Toyota Crown for the fifth-generation cars. 1978 models received four-wheel disc brakes and rear anti-lock brakes, a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive, and speed-sensitive steering.
This is a two-owner car with 51,900 original miles on it and the present owner has had it since 1996. It has won numerous awards at car shows and is rust-free, according to the seller. The photos show a car that looks like it just quietly and luxuriously rolled off of the production line. This car has been repainted in its original color/colour, unfortunately. Or, fortunately? For such an original car, it would have been nice to leave it all original. The seller says that the paint was dull so he had it painted in 1998.
This is the only interior photo but I wish they would have included one of the rear seating compartment. The Royal Saloon was stretched a bit in length over the Super Saloon and that would have been the model that you’d probably be driven around in if you lived in the markets where this car was sold. But, the Super Saloon had enough legroom in the back seating compartment for most folks this side of Yao Ming. This interior looks like it’s absolutely perfect right down to not having any wear on the pedals. 1978 was the last year for this generation Crown and they also made a “B pillar hardtop”, where the side windows were frameless but there was still a B pillar so it wasn’t a true hardtop, a 2-door coupe, and a 4-door wagon.
This is Toyota’s 4M, 2.6L inline-six with around 110 hp. This would be an easy engine to detail to showroom condition, although I don’t know where I’d start, it already looks factory-fresh! I know that these cars aren’t for everyone but they’re so interesting to me, and hopefully to a few other folks, at least here in the US where we didn’t get these big Toyotas.
Pretty much the same roofline as the US market ’78 Cressida.
It does, doesn’t it? I remember the 1st gen Toyota Cressida. I was too young at the time to drive a car. But I’ve always found the 1st generation Cressida the best looking car Toyota offered.
I had a Royal Saloon when I lived in Japan in the 80’s. When folks stateside asked about what it was, I said a Lincoln Town Car with slanted eyes. It was a great car. I loved it and hated to let it go when I returned to the states in ’89
it’s a shame you couldn’t have it imported to the States.
Was this a Japan only car, or was it exported to some countries other than the US ? RHD only? I’ll bet these drive like a dream.
Uh, look at the UK plates and answer your own question.
Other RHD countries got these cars as well, NZ, Australia etc.
They were quite expensive, the quality and features were far superior to anything else available, including equivalent Euros.
The Crown was, and still is the top of the range saloon, they still make older styles in Japan used for taxis, the current taxis being based on the mid 90’s model.
A cressida in a better dress?
Lovely looking Crown.
I looked at a Crown wagon in the US, used, in the early 80’s. It was solid, drove well, price under $1000, had been brought in by an Army guy in the 70’s, but friends warned me away due to the difficulty of getting parts for it, since it was not imported by dealers, and although the 6 was in some Toyota vehicles that were imported, and there were parts, it was not going to be any good as a family’s first car since it would sit waiting for parts like my Jaguar. The guys who are so young they don’t remember a time without the internet cannot imagine how hard it was to source parts for an unusual used car back then. Bought a Ford Ranch Wagon, with the 302 instead for $900 and drove it and drove it and drove it.
Hi, Scotty.
I was working in Twickenham from 1995 to 2004, and there was a Toyota Crown parked on the right side of Twickenham Green on a regular basis. It made me drool at the mouth. It was such a beautiful car, and very impressive. A very classy car, that you just felt you wanted to jump in and have a drive in it. However, not being a thief I had to leave it alone. It would have been nice to own one for a bit.
Vince.
I owned one of this model in Auckland New Zealand in 1983. We had to sell due to our transfer to Papua New Guinea. My wife still wishes we had it. It was so comfortable to drive and the ride was beautiful. The model I had was a manual. A car dealer paid me more than I originally paid, 2 years earlier
Lovely looking car. I’ve heard of the Toyota Crown, but for some reason, they never sold well here in the USA. It’s a damn shame. Anyone who loves Toyota Corollas, Coronas or Celicas, but want something a little more upscale, might’ve enjoyed this car.