1996 Toyota Crown, Royal Saloon JZS157

The car is a non-smoker, in clean condition, and was verified by our team before listing. This Crown came to us through a trade-in from a customer who upgraded to a 1999 Crown Majesta he bought from us. When someone who knows these cars decides to move up within the Crown family rather than leave it, the car they traded in is worth paying attention to. The JZS155 is the S150 generation Crown, built from 1995 to 1999. It was the first Crown built on a unibody platform, a significant departure from the body-on-frame construction that preceded it. It was also the first Toyota to debut the VVT-i variable valve timing system, introduced here before it spread across the rest of the lineup. The hardtop body style means frameless windows all around, a detail that gives the car a cleaner, more formal look than the pillar-equipped sedans that followed. The engine is the 2JZ-GE, Toyota’s naturally aspirated 3.0L DOHC inline-six producing 220 PS at 5,600 rpm and 294 Nm at 4,000 rpm, through rear-wheel drive and a 4-speed automatic. It is one of the smoothest inline-sixes ever fitted to a production sedan. The 2JZ-GE is well-known in enthusiast circles as the non-turbo foundation that shares its block architecture with the legendary 2JZ-GTE, and it is regarded as one of the most durable and refined engines Toyota ever produced. The car is white over grey wool interior and presents in clean condition throughout. It has been deeply detailed. Non-smoker history. Equipment includes OEM remote start, electric rear curtains, rear passenger audio control panel, passenger seat controls from the rear, glass headlights, swing vents, OEM multimedia, and driver and passenger airbags. New tires are being installed. Oil has been freshly changed. Mileage: 92,460 miles (148,630 km). Fuel economy: approximately 18 MPG city / 25 MPG highway / 21 MPG combined based on real-world 2JZ-GE data. Interesting Facts The JZS155 was the first Toyota Crown ever built on a unibody platform. Every Crown before it used body-on-frame construction. The switch to unibody reduced weight, improved handling, and allowed Toyota to refine the ride quality in a way the older architecture could not. Toyota debuted the VVT-i variable valve timing system on the JZS155 Crown in 1995, before it appeared on any other Toyota model. For a technology that would eventually define Toyota’s engine lineup for decades, it is a meaningful footnote that it started here, in a flagship Japanese domestic sedan. The 2JZ-GE shares its block, head, and basic architecture with the turbocharged 2JZ-GTE, the engine used in the Toyota Supra RZ and widely considered one of the strongest production inline-sixes ever built. The GE variant is naturally aspirated but inherits the same foundation and the same exceptional durability. The S150 Crown hardtop uses frameless windows, a design feature that gives the door glass a cleaner appearance but requires tighter tolerances in manufacturing to seal properly. Toyota maintained this design through the JZS155 generation despite the added complexity. The Toyota Crown has never been officially sold in the United States. This example qualifies for legal import under the federal 25-year exemption rule. Key Features 1995 Toyota Crown Royal Saloon Chassis JZS155 / JZS155-0017961 2JZ-GE 3.0L naturally aspirated inline-six 220 PS / 294 Nm 4-speed automatic transmission Rear-wheel drive 92,460 miles (148,630 km) White exterior Grey wool interior OEM remote start Electric rear curtains Passenger seat controls from rear Rear audio control panel Glass headlights Swing vents OEM multimedia Driver and passenger airbags New tires Fresh oil change Non-smoker Deep detail performed About Us We’ve been working with Japanese vehicles for over 25 years. Long before opening our location in the United States, our team was importing and servicing these vehicles in Europe when many of them were still new. Because of that experience, we know these platforms extremely well. Every model has its own weak points, and we inspect and address them before the vehicle is offered for sale. All vehicles are serviced at our facility in Japan before shipping. Fluids, belts, filters, batteries, and common failure points are inspected and replaced when necessary. Unlike many dealerships, we actually drive our vehicles. They don’t sit in a parking lot. Our trucks and cars are used regularly so we can verify reliability before they reach their new owner. When you buy from us, you’re getting a vehicle that is fully prepared and ready to drive from day one. JP-TRADE is our first location in the United States, supported by a team of more than 40 people across Europe, Japan, Korea, China, and the U.S. If you made it this far, here is a little bonus for you. Why did Toyota debut VVT-i on a Crown instead of a sports car? When Toyota introduced variable valve timing to their production lineup in 1995, they put it in the Crown, not the Supra or the Celica. That choice was deliberate. The Crown was Toyota’s highest-volume flagship sedan, the car that senior management drove and that dealers sold in the largest numbers. Debuting a new engine technology there rather than on a low-volume sports car meant more real-world validation, faster production refinement, and broader public exposure. It was the same logic Toyota used when they introduced the first Japanese luxury car in the Celsior, which later became the Lexus LS. Start where the stakes are highest and the volume is greatest, not where the enthusiasts are watching. The result was that VVT-i arrived already proven by the time it reached the Supra and everything else in the lineup.