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Toyota has produced bespoke roofless versions of its premium domestic market SUVs, the full-size Century and smaller Crown, with Japan's 2024 sumo champion the designated rider.
The striking white Century one-off was revealed at the recent launch of the 2024 Grand Sumo Tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan, with sumo legends Shibatayama and Miyagino joining Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda for its unveiling.
With heavyweight sumo wrestlers often tipping the scales beyond 250kg, the Century's standard 3.5-litre V6 PHEV 'eFour' AWD powertrain will be using every one of its 303kW to transport this year's champion on his victory lap.
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Like its Century sibling, the smaller Crown Open is a one-off four-door designed to transport 'heavyweight' VIPs, revealed via a video published on the Japanese brand's Toyota Times online digest.
Created to celebrate the centenary of Sumo in 2025, it was developed in-house, with the car's form a product of design chief Simon Humphreys and his team.
In the video, Humphreys notes retention of the car's four side doors, with no unsightly B- or C-pillar bumps to upset its upper body lines, as well as the fact that a convertible's occupants become part of the design brief, making them a unique styling challenge.
In this case the Crown's 2.4-litre turbo-petrol engine and twin electric motors, producing a combined 257kW) will be doing the heavy lifting.
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