Opis
1968 Toyota Crown MS55 Saloon
This car is the original Toyota Crown brought to the UK in 1968 by Toyota GB to test the market here for a larger saloon following on from their success with the Corona. This car went straight on to Toyota’s press fleet and was loaned out for appraisal by various journalists and articles appeared in contemporary road tests in the news and in the motoring press. Following the reviews produced Toyota then began importing Toyota Crowns (in various updated models) from 1969 onwards up to the mid 1980s
The car is in very nice condition. A quality paint job has been well looked after, no dents, dings or scrapes. The chromework is good all round. Wheels are powder coated in their original colour and have the original wheel trims all present. The car is driven regularly and there are no reliability issues at all. The car is smooth and quiet, gear-changes are smooth. The interior is very clean with supple vinyl upholstery in black. The original carpets are good, but the carpet over the transmission tunnel is a little faded from the sun (it is not as bad as it looks in the photographs) – perhaps the new owner would like to get them dyed, or maintain them as they are.
The car was bought by my Father in 1997 from the Toyota dealership in Hull, where the car had been the centrepiece for their showroom reportedly for about twenty years. Dad was a Toyota Crown enthusiast and at one time had six, he was interviewed and appeared in a national newspaper as “The Crown Prince of Chorley”. Space at the dealership in Hull (Dixons Toyota) was at a premium and the car had to be moved on. Dad brought the car to Chorley on a trailer and proceeded to get the car back on the road. Purchased in March 1997, after a period of planning and collecting parts the car was prepared for an MOT in September 1997. Not much was required, servicing, brakes (reconditioning the brake servo booster, pads etc.), a replacement exhaust, four new tyres and some time with a polishing cloth, the body having survived very well in the showroom environment. The car was ready for the 1998 classic car show season and was shown at the NEC November show of 1998 on the Toyota Enthusiasts Club stand.
The car has a very smooth Toyota 2M six cylinder engine couple to a three speed Toyoglide automatic gearbox. The steering remains as original with no power assistance, Dad’s choice to preserve the original status of the car. Steering systems from later series Crowns with power assistance can be modified to fit.
On-going repairs and improvements include auto gearbox service ad adjustment, brakes maintenance and replacement, radiator re-cored, original wheels were powder-coated in March 2015 and are still immaculate, full stainless exhaust system (March 2023). One major amount of work was in 2012 when Dad mistook the throttle and brake pedal and he shunted three cars. The repairs were carried out at the local Jaguar and Rolls Royce specialist bodyshop in town, a very good replacement bonnet was sourced from Japan and the car returned to the road immaculate once more after two months in the body shop.
Dad showed the car regularly in the UK. He took it to many local classic car shows in Cheshire, Cumbria and North Wales. The car’s first big show was the NEC in November 1998, followed by several more remote shows, The London Classic Car Show and a Toyota show in County Donegal. The car has always kept in a garage and used regularly through the year the car remains reliable after about 16, 000 miles of use between 1997 and 2026.
The car has its interesting history, is in good running condition, regularly used and has excellent bodywork and interior. This is a car you can enjoy using and know that it is the original one for the UK. Please get in contact to view and drive the car.
This extremely rare car has its interesting history, is in good running condition, is regularly used and has excellent bodywork and interior. This is a car you can enjoy using and know that it is the original one for the UK. Please get in contact to view and drive the car. People will stop and talk to you whenever you get out of the car.
