While the Toyota Crown crossover sedan may seem like a weird Avalon replacement, it seems to be working. Toyota sold 7,685 of them across America last quarter, an impressive feat in an age when the full-sized sedan is an endangered species. However, to some, the Crown is an odd in-betweener, offering a strange blend of crossover utility vehicle and traditional sedan traits. Well, Toyota’s decided to lean all the way into the vibe with the a limited-run version of the Crown that’s lifted and rocking a set of all-terrain tires. You wanted weird? Toyota’s got it, but only in its home country.
The sedan that Americans know as the current Toyota Crown is sold as the Toyota Crown Crossover in Japan, and Toyota’s leaning into that suffix with a limited-run, jacked-up, soft-roady JDM trim called the Landscape. Not only is that a great name for a car that might only really see the occasional fire road as far as trails go, it’s a trim name so solid, you can’t help but wonder why no other manufacturer has scooped it up already.
The centerpiece of the Crown Landscape is a set of 245/60R18 all-terrain tires wrapped around chunky alloys that fit surprisingly well with the car’s polarizing design. Additional clearance is provided by a one-inch lift, while Urban Khaki paint and a collection of exterior parts finish off the package. I’m talking about matte black fender flares with likely fake exposed fasteners, bright red mud flaps, a hitch receiver, low-mount rear fog lamps, and even the option of a safari-style roof basket. Toyota’s got the parking lot-flexing overland-lite look down to a science, and applying it to a sedan is a rather bold step. However, despite the apparent insanity of a sedan for light trails, the Crown Landscape has some precedent.
While popular automotive culture likes to remember the AMC Eagle as a four-wheel-drive station wagon or liftback coupe, AMC also made a traditional sedan variant that just happened to be way up in the air. Subaru also indulged in this concept with the Legacy Sport Utility Sedan, or SUS for short. Think Outback with less back, and you’ve pretty much nailed it. On a more recent note, Volvo ventured into jacked-up sedan territory with the S60 Cross Country, a gloriously insane limited-run model that’s sure to be a car show hit in 20 years.
If anything, the Toyota Crown Landscape suggests that Toyota just didn’t go far enough with the regular Crown we get in North America. A raised two-tone sedan with a few crossover-like styling touches is rather odd, but once you throw a set of chunky tires on it, it becomes awesome. The trick is crossing the divide between oddity and insanity, honing in on a more singular vision.
Anyway, Toyota, if you’re listening, can you please bring the Crown Landscape bits to North America, even through the accessory catalog? We can supply our own tires if that lets you sidestep EPA homologation of an entirely new trim level, just let a handful of North American lunatics build their own lifted hybrid sedans. Sure, you might only sell a few dozen kits, but do it for the culture.
(Photo credits: Toyota)
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The Crown will be much more comfortable and more reliable than the AMC Eagle.
Had a housemate that had one in the early 00, was passed on by the grandma. It was babied but still rode rough.. cooling system / HVAC kept misbehaving. I guess one great thing about iron engines is it can take a lot of heat and beating before cracking / warping especially in the hands of busy university students.
It was gone a few years later when my housemate’s stepson totaled it. It was a front side impact, it could be worse.. but it folded like a tin can just because it was hit at the right spot.
Malaise era cars are still crappy cars.. less if you are not the one driving it.
I guess they are aiming for the market above the Outback (and hybrid).. since Toyota owns 20% of Subaru.
I’m still having trouble not thinking of the Crown as a top-end luxury brand. A crossover with plastic cladding doesn’t seem very premium to me; why wouldn’t this be in the Toyota/Lexus lineup? Because of the emphasis on electrification (and resulting EV styling)? I was really hoping for something special from the Crown brand.
Would, if you delete the roof rack.
Not in reference to the Landscape in particular, but this is not a good looking vehicle to me (I’m all for lifted sedans and wagons though).
The front is okay not great; it’s like the Hyundai Kona EV, but a little worse. The back looks like a robot butthole that’s both squinting and squinching at the same time somehow. Like the Accord Crosstour or those horrible BMW “GT” hunchbacks. Not at bad as either of those, I just also wouldn’t be surprised if it plurped a discharged battery out from under the license plate on your nice new garage floor, that’s all.
I really like the Crown but they really need to include more color options.
I have a neighbor across the street and down about 4 houses that has a Crown. It has the 21″ wheels and it looks wrong. These 18″ ones here on the offroad version are MUCH better proportioned.
All the fun of a Lambo Steratto at 1/20th of the price.
Except this might actually be used by someone as a car.
Can they hurry up and make these one color please? I actually like the Crown, but I’d like to be able to buy it in a color other than black. It looks terrible with that black patch on the door and piano black rear end.
The Crown Signia seems to fix that problem, so maybe that will be the way to go.
Hello to manufacturing cost-cutting foisted off on you as “edgy design”
You’re welcome.
So sweet. That looks like a blast. Factory Battlecar!
Definitely a massive win by a landscape.
Oh, hell yeah. The AMC Eagle callback is exactly why this makes perfect sense to me.
I love it. The whole target of this silly thing (the normal US market Crown) seems to be older folks who still want a sedan, but who also prefer a higher ride height to make getting in and out easier. I have a soft spot for lifted sedans and dig the Crosstrek treatment on this.
Similar square spoke wheels to the Crosstrek? Check. Stupid “khaki” name for a color decidedly not khaki? Check. (No hate, I drive a manual “cool gray khaki” Crosstrek which is…blue). Though my understanding on this is that while khaki means earth toned (specifically a tan or beige color) in English and its originating language, it’s association with the military eventually meant that in Japan khaki came to refer more to military colors generally and most often an olive drab. So “urban khaki” fits in Japanese since this is a sort of grayish sage green.
GIVE US THE CROWN SPORT HOT HATCH YOU COWARDS
YES! In Nitro Magma Burnt Mango Orange Fission Metallic too
This pushed the Crown sedan from “confused lifted sedan thing” to “delightfully quirky” in my opinion. I wish the trunk was a hatch though.
That’s a really good point. If you’re going to lift the sedan and put oversized tires on it, might as well go all-in.
Every time I see a Crown out in the wild I go through the same thought process: not bad looking until I get to the trunk. The weird opening is just so awkward looking. This one painted another color just makes it worse. They should paint the trunk red and change the name to the Baboon.
With the Woodland Edition on a couple other Toyotas including the Sienna, it wouldn’t be that out of place here on this or the upcoming Signia.
Dammit. All we Americans get is the Toyota Crown Portrait
geez.
I loled
Safari everything!!!!!!
This would be great if we had few paved roads, I suppose.
But we do.
Exposed fasteners? Yes.
Fake exposed fasteners? No, please, no.
You perhaps don’t recall the exposed Allen Head/Torx Screw trend for dashboard design in the 80’s
It as awful.
I don’t and that’s fair. Do you have any examples? I was born in ’88, so while I’ve been in a number of 80’s cars, I can’t claim to know any where I remember a lot of exposed fasteners.
For this instance of exposed fasteners, I would imagine you’d want something that looks robust. Obviously if the fasteners make everything look like it’s being held together by drywall screws, that’s not great.
The ’80s GM F-bodies are what come to mind for me – molded-in plastic bolts in the plastic gauge bezels IIRC. So designed to look like old-school individual gauges rather than the single assembly it was.
Also Mid 80s GM Trucks, Ford Mustang, Pontiac Phoenix and Grand Prix…
What this really needs is a lift kit and some knobby tires.
I know just the guys to do something like this.
Prius Off Road
I don’t like the Crown. But this, this seems proper. Like a Toyota competitor to the Outback.
Car and Driver apparently decided to revisit the Subaru Legacy SUS sedan when the Crown came out.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a40616699/1999-subaru-legacy-sus-limited-worlds-first-sport-utility-sedan/
I’ve seen a couple of these around, and they look a bit awkward. This version, though… not bad! Lose the roof rack. That’s too much, in my opinion.
I’ve been running across more and more Crowns, and damn if they’re not quite cool-looking.
This package would sell like gangbusters here, and at least for us, make us think of some Bishop-ian alt reality AMC Eagle.
DO IT YOU COWARDS