Shaping the Next 100 Years from Japan–Akio Toyoda Tells the Century Story

Chairman Toyoda

The Century’s development was overseen by Kenya Nakamura, Toyota’s first chief engineer.

“To be like no other.” This spirit guided Nakamura in every aspect of the Century, from its development to production and sales.

That development began in 1963. It was 30 years after Toyota started making cars, and only 18 years after the war.

How could Toyota, with no tradition or prestige, hope to create a world-class vehicle, the pinnacle of luxury cars?” Such reactions were hardly a surprise.

Despite that, Nakamura was not deterred.

“Tradition will naturally follow. Let’s create a new kind of luxury car unlike anything before. The Achilles’ heel of today’s luxury cars is that nothing innovative can be done.”

With that, Nakamura boldly pursued fresh ideas and breakthrough technologies.

At the same time, he adopted elements of Japanese culture and tradition, including Edo metal engraving on the phoenix emblem and Nishijin-ori brocade for the seat fabric.

To create something that was “To be like no other,” Nakamura focused on fusing cutting-edge technology with Japanese culture and tradition.

From that original model, the Century became Shoichiro’s beloved car for life, one he continued to ride in through the second and third generations.

And to each new generation of engineers, he continued to offer suggestions for improvement. Whether it was better straight-line stability on the highway or making sure the car could handle a stiff crosswind. Day after day, he continued giving instructions for improvements from the back seat.

Shoichiro only went to such lengths for the Century. Why was that?

Why did Nakamura take on the challenge of developing the Century―a project many at the time called “reckless”?

Please allow me to share my own interpretation from here.