Crown gem of the roads 

On a Friday night, somewhere in Gulshan at around 11:50 pm, a black luxury sedan was eagerly waiting at the signal for the red light to turn green.

A passerby walking on the side-walk stopped and glanced around towards the sedan. Seeing his reflection on the sleek-looking vehicle, he started straightening his hair. After finishing, he walked away. 

He was about to cross the road when he gave one last glance towards the sedan and gave a huge smile of appreciation.    

With the traffic light turning green, the engine of the sedan roared and the car pounced into Dhaka's night life.

Produced by Toyota in Japan since 1955, the Toyota Crown is a line of mid-full sized luxury sedans primarily for the Japanese market, but sold in other select Asian markets. 

The vehicle has served as the crown jewel sedan from Toyota throughout its existence, and was the first Toyota vehicle to be exported to the United States in 1958. 

The vehicles traditional competitors in the international market are Nissan Cedric, Gloria, Fuga and the Honda Legend, along with the defunct Mazda Luce, Isuzu Bellel and Mitsubishi Debonair with its Bangladesh rivals being the new Honda Accord, Mercedes C-Class and the Toyota Mark X.

With multiple variations available in the market, the vehicle is currently available in Royal Saloon and Crown Athlete variants in Bangladesh. It is currently the longest running nameplate of any passenger car in Toyota's history.

Exterior

The vehicle has a 2850mm wheelbase and is 4870mm in length and 1470mm in height. The vehicle has a straight-line style from its sides accompanied with 18inch wheels with black sputter deposition, equipped with limited editions.

Interior

What the vehicle lacks in driving dynamics, it makes up for in comfort. It offers a relaxed old school luxury.  

The Crown offers all trim options including both front and rear electric adjustable seats, lumbar support, voice recognition, cruise control, parking sensors, reverse camera, multi function steering wheel, dual climate control and second row AC. The seats are not too hard or too soft, and offer enough legroom. The gear lever should have had a boot style like the current Mark X to emphasise the Athelet's sportiness.

Engine

The Crown is available with a choice of three engines; a 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder petrol with 245 horsepower, a 2.5-liter four cylinder gasoline hybrid with 184 HP, and a 3.5-liter V6 gasoline hybrid with 300 HP.

Performance

Crown Athlete is a 2.5 liter hybrid car with 250 horsepower engine. Having said that, most owners do not drive it like a sports car. A crown is a luxury sedan and it should be driven like a luxury on wheels, providing class and comfort; both at the same time. 

The  vehicles in the Crown series are complete and comfortable options for daily driving, and are surprisingly well stacked up against  its competititors. The years of research and development by Toyota delivers a well refined car that's sure to put a smile on faces every time a driver take the wheel. 

The prime reason for Crown being a fan favourite is not because of street racers but rather because owners highly value its design. While BMW, Audi and Mercedes are slowly becoming popular in our markets, car parts of these vehicles are still har to get by, thus giving the Crown series an edge to its nearest competitors. The automobile is a hybrid car which emphasises importance on fuel efficiency while achieving brisk driving along the way. 

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Specs

Power- 184HP, 166LB-FT

Weight- 3858 LBS

Trunk- Spacious enough to fit overnight bags and backpacks for four

Engine- 105kW motor 

Price- Reconditions can be purchased around TK65 lakhs while the brand new ones will cost around TK1 crore 30 lakhs