It seems the buzz and speculation a few days back about the possibility of an SUV being birthed from the Toyota Crown nameplate was right on the money. If all goes as planned, it’ll be shown at the L.A. Auto Show later this month.
Details are scarcer than hen’s teeth but that won’t stop us from making a few educated guesses about what is in the product pipe at Toyota. For starters, it is logical to think this Crown SUV (crossover, but okay) will utilize the basic bones of the Crown sedan; after all, amortizing a platform’s development costs is an automotive accountant’s biggest prize.
The four-door is available only with a hybrid powertrain, though it shows up for work in two different flavors: 236 combined net horsepower when utilizing a 2.5-liter four-banger or 340 horses when the hybrid guts are paired with a 2.4-liter turbocharged mill. Both variants make 400 lb-ft of torque. Both have all-wheel drive, though the turbo gets a six-speed automatic while the naturally aspirated Crown makes do with a continuously variable transmission.
Being marketed as an SUV, expect the machine we will see on November 14th to have far more than the sedan’s 5.8 inches of ground clearance. It’s unlikely the extra height will come solely from a new tire selection since the Crown sedan can be had with 19s or 21s, though we won’t rule out a taller sidewall than the 55s and 45s, respectively. Fiddling with suspension gubbins is a safer bet. The Crown sedan weighs anywhere between 4,000 and 4,300 pounds; expect that to rise thanks to the simple laws of physics.
Styling remains a question mark, though the teaser shot above gives a better peek at the SUV’s taillamps. They are not vastly dissimilar to the sedan’s lights, with a spear of red heckblende-ing clear across the vehicle’s rump. However, there is extra illumination below the red line, likely reverse and signal lights in no particular order. It is sufficiently different from other crossovers in Toyota’s current lineup: Grand Highlander, Corolla Cross, et al. We openly wonder if the Crown SUV will be available with the same bonkers two-tone paint schemes that are offered on its sedan brother.
Toyota plans to show the vehicle on November 14th, one week from today.
[Image: Toyota]
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