Toyota Crown Modellista Edition to be unveiled at Tokyo Auto Salon 2018

The 15th generation of the Toyota Crown is definitely on the way after the Japanese carmaker unveiled the Toyota Crown Concept at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show in October. But while customers wait for the next generation of the luxurious sedan for its eventual arrival in the summer of 2018, Toyota’s design arm Modellista is taking the Crown to another event in Tokyo that focuses on performance and custom dress-up parts as well as customized technologies.

While the Toyota Crown already stands for luxury in Japan, Modellista is taking opulence to another level. As an in-house design arm of Toyota, Modellista has favorable access to the carmaker’s vehicles, allowing it to craft aftermarket parts like body kits, custom grilles and other cosmetic effects. Furthermore, this access allows Modellista to offer Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) limited-edition models, just like the new Toyota Crown Modellista. Other offerings of the custom shop include the Toyota Camry Modellista, Toyota 86 Modellista Concept Version and Toyota Prius Modellista.

Toyota’s in-house design arm is set to unveil the Toyota Crown Modellista at the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, starting January 12, 2018. The three-day event (January 12-14) will be host to a whole lot of customized cars, most of which are JDMs. For those are wondering, the Toyota Crown Modellista is a JDM model, which means it is only available – as well as legal -- in Japan.

The Toyota Crown Modellista that will be shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2018 is derived from the next-generation Toyota Crown, or from one of its near-production models with the recent Tokyo Crown Concept as the precursor. Thus, it is expected that as soon as the next-gen Crown becomes available in the summer of 2018 (third quarter), the Toyota Modellista or its custom elements will also be up for grabs by then.

Unlike TRD that focuses on performance, Modellista focuses on aesthetics. Thus, the new Toyota Crown Modellista doesn’t have any upgrade in terms of performance. But Modellista clients wouldn’t mind that, as they know what the arm basically offers.

Tweaks made on the Crown Modellista include a new spoiler lip, a front bumper with more metallic accents, larger wheels in new design shod in more aggressive tires, larger side skirts, extra metallic trim on the mirror caps and beefier side skirts. A chrome-finished trim is also found between the front fenders and the front doors, making them look like fake air vents. On the rear, the Toyota Crown Modellista still features four exhaust pipes, but they are square-like in shape, instead of round. Some silver trim is also found on the extremities of the rear bumper.