Toyota Presents the 2023 Crown Sedan – Yes, a Sedan

We've seen the return of many nameplates across the industry in recent years. But amid the Broncos, Wagoneers, Integras and others, if there’s one that few would have bet on seeing rise from the dead, Toyota's Crown might have been it.

Part of the reason for that, of course, is that younger gamblers likely wouldn't even remember it. The name originated in 1955 with the Toyopet Crown, Toyota's first mass-market car. That model appeared on the Canadian market in 1965, but by 1972, the name had disappeared from the map in North America.

Cut to a half-century later, and lo and behold, it's back. That Toyota decided to retrieve the name from a back shelf is surprise number one.

Surprise number two? The future Crown is not an SUV as such, but rather a sort of high-sitting sedan. The model is tall, and it does offer all-wheel drive, but it's definitely closer to a car than an SUV. Ironically, back in 2008, Toyota presented the first generation of the Venza and pitched it as being a reinvention of the automobile, when in fact it was offering us a utility vehicle. In our view, the new Crown fits that description more than that Venza did.

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