JAA
JAEN
Black 1955 Toyopet Crown RS on display at the Toyota Automobile Museum, door open.

Toyopet CrownRS

V0008

MAKER
TOYOTA
YEARS
1955–1962
CODE
RS / RS20 / RS30
TYPE
SEDAN / VINTAGE
ORIGIN
JAPAN
Photo: 先従隗始 / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons

01 — Overview

Introduced in January 1955 with rear-hinged rear doors and independent front suspension, the Crown is described as postwar Japan's first luxury sedan of purely domestic design. As the Toyopet Crown it also went on sale in the United States in July 1958.

02 — Historical context

Historicalcontext.

  1. 01

    The Crown was introduced in January 1955 and used rear-hinged ('suicide') rear doors.

    Source: Toyota Crown — Wikipedia (English)
  2. 02

    JA Wikipedia describes it as the first luxury sedan of purely domestic design in postwar Japan.

    Source: トヨペット・クラウン (初代) — ウィキペディア日本語版
  3. 03

    It used a coil-sprung double-wishbone independent front suspension.

    Source: Toyota Crown — Wikipedia (English)
  4. 04

    The Crown Diesel of October 1959 is described as Japan's first diesel-engined passenger car.

    Source: Toyota Crown — Wikipedia (English)
  5. 05

    A police car version, the Toyota Patrol, used the B six-cylinder engine from the Toyota BX truck.

    Source: Toyota Crown — Wikipedia (English)

03 — Engineering

Technicalspecifications.

Manufacturer
Toyota
Chassis / model codes
RS / RS20 / RS30 / CS20
Production
1955-01 – 1962-09
Body styles
4-door sedan
Layout
Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine
RInline-4 (OHV) · 1,453 cc · naturally aspirated48 PS @ 4,000 rpmNote: RS launch model (Jan 1955), per JA Wikipedia specification table
3RInline-4 (OHV) · 1,897 cc · naturally aspirated80 PS @ 4,600 rpmNote: RS30 (from 1961), per JA Wikipedia
CInline-4 diesel (OHV) · 1,491 cc · naturally aspirated40 PS @ 4,000 rpmNote: CS20 Crown Diesel (from October 1959)
Transmission
3-speed manual / 2-speed automatic (Toyoglide)
Length × width × height
4,285 × — × — mm
Wheelbase
2,530 mm
People
Kenya Nakamura (chief engineer)

Figures follow the sources listed below. Values vary by market, variant and year; anything we could not verify is omitted. Power is shown in the unit the source used (PS / hp / kW).

04 — Gallery

Black 1955 Toyopet Crown RS on display at the Toyota Automobile Museum, door open.
先従隗始 / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons

05 — On film

Onfilm.

DocumentaryOfficial channel

【トヨタ偉人伝】初代主査・中村健也　日本初の純国産乗用車をつくった男　継承される技術と熱意｜トヨタイムズニュース

A profile of Kenya Nakamura, chief engineer of the first Toyota Crown, Japan's first fully domestically developed passenger car, with archive interviews and testimony.

Source: トヨタイムズ · YouTube

06 — Related

Relatedmachines.

07 — Sources

  1. 01Toyota CrownWikipedia · reference · accessed 2026-09-26
  2. 02トヨペット・クラウン (初代)Wikipedia · reference · accessed 2026-09-26

08 — Photo credits

  • Black 1955 Toyopet Crown RS on display at the Toyota Automobile Museum, door open.

    Toyopet Crown (first generation)

    Black 1955 Toyopet Crown RS on display at the Toyota Automobile Museum, door open.

    By先従隗始

    CC0 · Wikimedia Commons