Toyota’s replacement for the long running Avalon, the Crown, might have thrown some people off. It’s a near-luxury full-size sedan with crossover-like styling that’s nearly as tall as a Mazda CX-30. None of that is turning away buyers, as just over 7,600 Crowns have been sold so far this year. While the Crown is pretty “normal” here in the U.S., Toyota is embracing the sedan’s ride height in its home market with a new off-road-focused special edition called the Crown Landscape.
The Crown nameplate has been around for years, first appearing in 1955. In Japan the current Crown is part of a family of vehicles that includes a regular sedan just called Crown, a sporty crossover called Crown Sport, the Crown Estate that we’re getting as the Crown Signia, and the Crown Crossover, which is the sedan-y model that’s already on sale here.
This new Crown Landscape model is all about exploring the outdoors and going off the beaten path. It’s finished in a nice two-tone paint scheme of black and a green color called Urban Khaki. As for the rough and ready stuff, the Landscape gets nearly an inch more ground clearance over the standard Crown, 18-inch wheels with all-terrain tires, fender moldings painted in Gori Gori Black paint, and red mud flaps. In case you want to haul more, there’s an optional dealer-installed roof rack and a standard tow hitch that gives the Landscape the ability to tow just over 1,600 pounds.
Inside the interior is all black, which may be a bit drab for some. The only telling sign that you’re in a Crown Landscape is a “Landscape” laser engraving on the passenger side of the dash.
Are there any plans to bring this over to the U.S.? Your guess is as good as mine. I reached out to Toyota and asked them whether or not the Crown Landscape was in the cards for the North American market and was told they don’t comment on future product plans — essentially neither yes nor no. As for Japanese buyers interested in the Crown Landscape, they’ll have to part with 6,850,000 yen, which at current exchanges rates is just over $45,000.
