title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: Upon entering the farmhouse, the young woman notices scratches on the door leading to the basement. At dinner with Jake's parents, she (whose occupation and name change throughout) shows them photographs of her landscape paintings and explains how she met Jake at a trivia night in a bar, with narrative inconsistencies. Later, she notices a picture of Jake as a child, but becomes confused after initially recognizing the child as herself. She receives a call from a friend with a female name, and a mysterious male voice explains that there is "one question to answer". Over the course of the night, Jake's parents transform into their younger and older selves, though nobody on screen comments on this. When the young woman takes a nightgown down to the basement to wash, she discovers several janitor uniforms in the washing machine and finds posters for Ralph Albert Blakelock exhibitions that have images of paintings seemingly identical to her own. She also receives another call from the same mysterious voice.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: On the drive home, Jake refers to several events that evening which the young woman does not remember and then claims she drank a lot of wine. Word association leads to an extended critical discussion of John Cassavetes' "A Woman Under the Influence". Even though snow is falling, the couple stops at Tulsey Town, a drive-through ice cream stand, whose employees are students at the janitor's school. When the young woman is leaving, an employee with a rash says they are scared for her.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: Jake and the young woman cannot finish their sugary desserts, so he stops at his high school to throw the ice-cream cups away. After a heated argument in the parking lot about the lyrics of "Baby, It's Cold Outside", they share a kiss. Suddenly, Jake notices the janitor watching them from inside the school and decides to confront him, leaving the young woman alone in the car. Eventually, she decides to look for Jake inside the school. She meets the janitor and asks him where Jake is, but she cannot remember what Jake looks like. She tells the janitor that nothing happened between Jake and her on the night they met, instead claiming Jake made her uncomfortable by staring at her.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: The young woman discovers Jake at the end of a hall. They watch as people dressed like themselves and the janitor engage in a ballet, which ends when the janitor's dancer kills Jake's dancer with a knife.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: Having finished his shift, the janitor enters his car, but does not start the motor. He experiences hallucinations of Jake's parents arguing and animated Tulsey Town commercials. The janitor then takes off his clothes and walks back inside the school, led by the hallucination of a maggot-infested pig who tells him that "someone has to be the pig infested with maggots", that "everything is the same, when you look close enough", and that he should get dressed.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: On an auditorium stage, an old Jake receives a Nobel Prize and sings "Lonely Room" from "Oklahoma!" to an audience of people from his life, all of them in theatrical old-age makeup, who give him a standing ovation when he is done.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: In the final shot, the couple's car is not visible in the school parking lot, while the janitor's truck is covered in snow. Towards the end of the credits, scraping sounds and the engine of an approaching vehicle are heard.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: It was announced in January 2018 that Charlie Kaufman was adapting Iain Reid's novel for Netflix, as well as directing. In December, Brie Larson and Jesse Plemons were cast in the film. In March 2019, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette and David Thewlis joined the cast, with Buckley replacing Larson.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: Principal photography began on March 13, 2019, in Fishkill, New York, and was completed on April 29. As of November 7, the film was in post-production.


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that of critic reviews are positive, with an average rating of ; the critics' consensus for the film reads: "Aided by stellar performances from Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" finds writer-director Charlie Kaufman grappling with the human condition as only he can." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on reviews from 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: Karen Han of "Polygon" wrote: "The lack of clear answers and structure can be frustrating, but the strange way the story is told enhances just how real the exchanges between characters feel. The frustration that Lucy feels with Jake, that Jake feels with his mother, that his parents feel for each other, are all uncomfortably tangible, especially as tensions rise. The film's 134-minute runtime is a long time to sit with that feeling, but Kaufman’s big divergence from the novel he's adapting is in lending its ending a more buoyant note." In his review, Brian Tallerico of "RogerEbert.com" gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, calling it "a movie that is undeniably complex in terms of symbolism and a more surreal final act than most people will be expecting". He also praised the cinematography, saying that the film's atmosphere is "amplified by a tight 4:3 aspect ratio courtesy of Łukasz Żal ("Cold War") that forces the viewer to pay more attention to what's in frame." "The Observer"s Wendy Ide wrote: "This is not cinema that leaves you feeling good about things. Nor does it tread a familiar path. But "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is one of the most daringly unexpected films of the year, a sinewy, unsettling psychological horror, saturated with a squirming dream logic that tips over into the domain of nightmares."


title: I'm Thinking of Ending Things

text: In a more mixed review, Adam Graham of "The Detroit News" gave the film a C, calling Plemons's and Buckley's performances excellent, but lamenting the plot, writing: ""I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is an unsolvable riddle where the only answer is mankind's hopelessness, and we've been down this road before." For "TIME", Stephanie Zacharek wrote: "For every moment of raw, affecting insight there are zillions of milliseconds of Kaufman's proving what a tortured smartie he is. "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" must have been arduous to make, and it's excruciatingly tedious to watch."


title: Graham McTavish

text: Graham McTavish (born 4 January 1961) is a Scottish actor and author. He is known for his roles as Dwalin in "The Hobbit" film trilogy, Vlad Dracula Țepeș in the Netflix animated franchise "Castlevania", Loki in various Marvel animated projects, William Munny, the Saint of Killers in the AMC series "Preacher", and as Dougal MacKenzie and William Buccleigh MacKenzie in the Starz series "Outlander." He is also known for his roles in the video game franchise "Uncharted" as the main antagonist Zoran Lazarević in "" and Charlie Cutter in "".


title: Graham McTavish

text: In 2020, McTavish and "Outlander" co-star Sam Heughan co-wrote "Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other", which hit No. 1 on the "New York Times"' Best Seller Lists for hardcover nonfiction and for combined print and e-book nonfiction.


title: Graham McTavish

text: McTavish was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He is the son of Alec and Ellen McTavish. The family, especially his father, was politically active, and political discourse was common in their household. His family left Glasgow when McTavish was a child, and throughout his adult life, he has lived in places such as Canada, the United States, and England before settling in New Zealand. During school, McTavish and a friend would write and perform comedy sketches, which led to his drama teacher asking him to step in to cover a role in Sheridan's "The Rivals" after the principal actor became ill. He went on to attend Queen Mary University of London, earning a degree in English literature. This degree course allowed him to perform in three Shakespeare plays per year while at school, and led to McTavish earning his Equity card after performing in a play by Samuel Beckett.


title: Graham McTavish

text: Early in his career, McTavish did theatre work with the repertory theatres of London's West End and at the Dundee Rep with colleagues that included Jimmy Logan and Robert Robertson.


title: Graham McTavish

text: McTavish's first professional role, in 1986, was in episode two of Walt Disney's mini-series "Return to Treasure Island". He next featured in 1988's "Freedom Fighter" (aka "Wall of Tyranny"), which was broadcast on ITV and starred Tony Danza as a man who helped those living in East Berlin cross the Berlin Wall. Popular fantasy-adventure series "", which centered on an immortal man tasked with fighting evil, saw McTavish in the series four episode "Judgment Day" in 1996 and TV movie "Merlin" saw him co-star as Rengal in 1998. Between 1998 and 1999, he went on to appear in several episodic television series including a three-part episode of ITV's Glasgow based crime drama "Taggart", BBC One medical drama "Casualty", BBC Two's sci-fi sitcom "Red Dwarf", and ITV's police drama "Heartbeat".


title: Graham McTavish

text: In 2000, McTavish guest-starred in ITV's mini-series "The Stretch", a two-part crime drama centering on crime boss Terry Green and his wife Sam. The next year guest-starred on a series two episode of BBC One's long-running medical drama "Doctors". In 2002, he had guest spots on BBC One's comedy "Celeb", ITV's crime drama "Rose & Maloney", and ABC's fantasy mini-series "Dinotopia". The following year he featured in an episode of ITV's mystery drama "Rosemary & Thyme", three episodes of ITV's gangster drama "Family", and two episodes of BBC's mini-series "" (aka "Charles II: The Power and the Passion"). BBC's crime drama "Murphy's Law" (2004), a serial revolving around an undercover police officer in London, saw McTavish guest-star in the series two episode "Bent Moon on the Rise", followed by a turn as Captain James Stagg in BBC's made for TV Film "D-Day 6 June 1944".


title: Graham McTavish

text: McTavish returned to the crime drama "Taggart" in 2005's episode "Mind Over Matter" and to medical drama "Casualty" in the series nineteen episode "Baby Love". That same year he was cast in two separate series based upon events from the rise of the Roman Empire. First was a five episode role as General Rapax in ABC's mini-series "Empire," which chronicled Octavius, who would become Emperor Augustus. Second was a two-episode stint as Urbo in HBO's Golden Globe nominated series "Rome". He went on to a recurring role in ITV's police procedural drama "The Bill". McTavish finished out the year by starring in two made for TV movies, "Good Girl, Bad Girl", the story of a set of twins who tangle with a drug dealer, and "Sharpe's Challenge", a drama surrounding a British Soldier (Sean Bean) during the Napoleonic Wars.


title: Graham McTavish

text: 2007 saw McTavish feature in numerous episodic television productions. He portrayed The Dark Spirit in a three episode guest appearance on CBS's web series "Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side," which explored the world through the ghost's perspective. The series is a spin-off of their supernatural series "Ghost Whisperer". From there he had guest appearances in BBC One's dramas "Jekyll" and "New Tricks", ITV's medical drama "The Royal", CBS's FBI centered drama "Numb3rs", police procedural "NCIS", and family drama "Cane". The next year he landed the role of Ferguson in the fourth season of Fox's popular drama "Prison Break". In the fourth season of ABC's hit science fiction series "Lost," McTavish guest starred as Desmond's drill sergeant. He also appeared in ABC's supernatural thriller "Pushing Daisies" and CBS's crime drama "". In 2009, McTavish returned to CBS for a guest starring role, opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt, in the supernatural drama "Ghost Whisperer".


title: Graham McTavish

text: McTavish portrayed Russian foreign minister Mikhail Novakovich in a seven episode stint on Fox's hit series "24" in 2010"." He went on to appear in an episode of Fox's action comedy series "The Good Guys," which revolves around two detectives stuck solving small crimes. In September 2013, it was announced that he had been cast as Dougal MacKenzie, war chief of the MacKenzie clan, in Starz's time-travel drama series "Outlander". The series is an adaption of the bestselling novels by author Diana Gabaldon and premiered on 9 August 2014 to positive reviews from both critics and television audiences. McTavish would reprise the role throughout seasons one and two. In 2016, McTavish landed the recurring role of William Munny, the Saint of Killers in AMC's drama "Preacher", which is based upon Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's comic book series of the same name. 2018 saw McTavish feature in the recurring role of Andrew MacGregor in USA Network's science fiction series "Colony", which explores earth after an alien attack. Season four of the Netflix drama "Lucifer", with McTavish in the recurring role of Father Kinley, debuted in 2019. The series was based upon Neil Gaiman's Lucifer character from The Sandman comics.


title: Graham McTavish

text: MacTavish returned to "Outlander" in 2020, in a surprise appearance as William Buccleigh MacKenzie, the son of Dougal MacKenzie and Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek). Later that year, he and "Outlander" co-star Sam Heughan announced that STARZ had ordered eight episodes of their travel documentary "Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip With Sam and Graham," which premiered in February 2021. It was announced in March 2021 that McTavish had joined the cast of Netflix's fantasy drama "The Witcher", based upon author Andrzej Sapkowski's book series, as master spy and Redanian Intelligence head Sigismund Dijkstra.


title: Graham McTavish

text: "For Queen and Country" (1988), a social drama from director Martin Stellman, featured McTavish opposite Denzel Washington in his first professional film role. The next year he had a small part in Terry Jones' mythological comedy "Erik the Viking", which was written and performed in the style of a Monty Python film. Working once again with Jones, McTavish portrayed a drunken weasel in 1996's "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride", an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's children's classic "The Wind in the Willows". He went on to star in director Jeremy Freeston's 1997 adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth", opposite Jason Connery. McTavish performed in two documentaries on Shakespearean works in 1997. The first was Cromwell Productions' "King Lear: A Critical Guide", where he portrayed Albany. Second was "Julius Caesar: A Critical Guide", where he portrayed Brutus. He continued with Shakespeare in 1999 by portraying the Duke of Albany in "King Lear", opposite Brian Blessed.


title: Graham McTavish

text: McTavish's next feature film was 2002's "Ali G Indahouse," where he portrayed a customs officer, followed by 2003's "Dot the i", where he portrayed a detective opposite Tom Hardy. He went on to portray a submarine captain in director Jan de Bont's "". The next year he was featured in Buena Vista Pictures' action adventure film "King Arthur". In 2008, McTavish starred opposite Sylvester Stallone in "Rambo", the fourth film in the franchise based upon David Morrell's 1972 novel "First Blood". His next film, director Richard Wellings-Thomas' comedy "Sisterhood", saw McTavish in the role of Martin. 2009 saw several film roles for McTavish, including prison drama "," independent horror film "Penance," Jason Connery's thriller "Pandemic," and the dramatic comedy "Middle Men", opposite Luke Wilson.


title: Graham McTavish

text: In 2010, McTavish had a supporting role in Disney's "Secretariat", based upon the true story of Penny Chenery and the racehorse who would win the first American Triple Crown in twenty-five years. He would go on to feature in "The Wicker Tree" (2011), Robin Hardy's sequel to his 1973 film "The Wicker Man," and Sony Pictures' action film "Colombiana", opposite Zoe Saldana. Between 2012 and 2014, he portrayed the dwarf Dwalin in director Peter Jackson's Empire Award-winning "The Hobbit" trilogy. McTavish completed 2014 with a supporting role in the action adventure film "Plastic", opposite Ed Speleers, and director Jonathan King's independent sci-fi thriller "REALITi". The next year he portrayed Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew)'s boxing trainer Tommy Holiday in "Creed," the seventh film in the "Rocky" franchise.


title: Graham McTavish

text: Disney's "The Finest Hours", based upon the true story of a daring Coast Guard rescue in 1952, saw McTavish co-star opposite Chris Pine and Eric Bana in 2016. He then appeared, as himself, in director Yaniv Rokah's documentary "Queen Mimi", which recounted the life of a homeless woman in Santa Monica, California. In 2017, McTavish starred in director Niall Johnson's western thriller "The Stolen", followed by a cameo as King Atlan in the DC Comics/Warner Brothers film "Aquaman". Director Adam Sigal's independent film "Sargasso" saw McTavish in a starring role in early 2019. Later that same year, it was announced that McTavish would star, opposite Anne Heche, in Specter Pictures' upcoming horror thriller "Chasing Nightmares".


title: Graham McTavish

text: McTavish is currently working on his directoral debut, titled "This Guest of Summer", which was partially funded through IndieGoGo, a crowd funding platform. Besides directing, he will also star in the film alongside fellow "Outlander" alumni Stephen Walters and Duncan Lacroix and fellow "Hobbit" alumni Dean O'Gorman and Adam Brown.


title: Graham McTavish

text: McTavish's first voice work was in the recurring role of Sebastian Shaw in Nicktoons' 2009 animated Marvel Comics series "Wolverine and the X-Men". McTavish continued in the Marvel Universe by portraying the villain Loki in the direct-to-video animated feature "Hulk Versus" and Disney XD's animated series "". In 2010, he portrayed the lead role of Dante in "", opposite Mark Hamill. The direct-to-video feature was a companion piece to Electronic Arts' video game "Dante's Inferno", which was based upon Dante Alighieri's fourteenth century epic poem "Divine Comedy".


title: Graham McTavish

text: 2011 saw McTavish feature in director Mike Disa's direct-to-video sci-fi animated feature "" in the role of Captain Caleb Campbell. From there, between 2015 and 2017, he had a recurring voice role in Nickelodeon's animated series "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and a guest spot in an episode of "" (2016). McTavish would go on to feature in Cartoon Network's animated series "," in the dual roles of Titus and Vernon, while he appeared as the voice of Fergus McDuck, father of Scrooge McDuck, in the 2017 "DuckTales" animated series episode "The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck!" McTavish currently stars as Dracula in Netflix's animated series "Castlevania", an adaptation of Konami's Gothic horror video game series.


title: Graham McTavish

text: Guerrilla Games' action game " (2006)", a sequel to its popular game "Killzone", was McTavish's first professional voice role in video games. He would go on, in 2009, to portray Commander Lucius in Epic Games' "Shadow Complex," Crimson in Tecmo Koei's "Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2," Arl Eamon Guerrin in BioWare's "," Archer in Activision's "," and Wilcox in Electronic Arts' "The Saboteur". McTavish also provided both the voice and motion capture work for the main antagonist Zoran Lazarević in action-adventure game "." The next year he provided the voice of the main protagonist Dante Alighieri in "Dante's Inferno," Khan in "Metro 2033," the Decepticon Thundercracker in "," and Viktor Barisov in Activision's "Singularity."""


title: Graham McTavish

text: In 2011, McTavish provided the voices of antagonist Joseph Bertrand III in "Infamous 2," an imperial guardsman in "", a ClawHammer soldier in "," Caddoc in "," and Ivan Stagleishov in "". McTavish also provided both the voice and motion capture work for Charlie Cutter in "". He would reprise this role in 2016's "" after voicing Sebastian Malory/Sir Percival in 2015's third-person action-adventure game "."


title: Graham McTavish

text: In 2020, McTavish and fellow "Outlander" actor Sam Heughan published a book entitled "Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other," which was inspired by their work on the upcoming STARZ docu-series "Men in Kilts". The book reached the #1 spot on the "New York Times"' Best Seller Lists for hardcover nonfiction and for combined print and e-book nonfiction, and also hit No. 1 on the "Publishers Weekly" Bestseller List for hardcover nonfiction, among other lists.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded as the greatest boxer of all time, pound-for-pound.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson was a dominant amateur, but his exact amateur record is not known. It is usually listed as 85–0 with 69 knockouts, 40 in the first round. However it has been reported he lost to Billy Graham and Patsy Pesca as a teenager under his given name, Walker Smith Jr. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 128–1–2 with 84 knockouts. From 1943 to 1951 Robinson went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak, the third-longest in professional boxing history. Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in the latter year. He retired in 1952, only to come back two-and-a-half years later and regain the middleweight title in 1955.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: He then became the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times (a feat he accomplished by defeating Carmen Basilio in 1958 to regain the middleweight championship). Robinson was named "fighter of the year" twice: first for his performances in 1942, then nine years and over 90 fights later, for his efforts in 1951. Historian Bert Sugar ranked Robinson as the greatest fighter of all time and in 2002, Robinson was also ranked number one on "The Ring" magazine's list of "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years". As of November 2021, BoxRec ranks Robinson as the greatest boxer, pound-for-pound, of all time. He was named the best boxer of all time, pound for pound, by the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) in both of its all-time ratings, in 2006 and 2019.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Renowned for his classy and flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, Robinson is credited with being the originator of the modern sports "". After his boxing career ended, Robinson attempted a career as an entertainer, but it was not successful. He struggled financially until his death in 1989. In 2006, he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. in Ailey, Georgia, to Walker Smith Sr. and Leila Hurst. Robinson was the youngest of three children; his eldest sister Marie was born in 1917, and his other sister Evelyn in 1919. His father was a cotton, peanut, and corn farmer in Georgia, who moved the family to Detroit where he initially found work in construction. According to Robinson, Smith Sr. later worked two jobs to support his family—cement mixer and sewer worker. "He had to get up at six in the morning and he'd get home close to midnight. Six days a week. The only day I really saw him was Sunday... I always wanted to be with him more."


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: His parents separated, and he moved with his mother to the New York City neighborhood of Harlem at the age of 12. Robinson originally aspired to be a doctor, but after dropping out of DeWitt Clinton High School (in the Bronx) in ninth grade, he switched his goal to boxing.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: When he was 14, he attempted to enter his first boxing tournament, but was told he first needed an AAU membership card—which he could not legally procure until he was 16. He circumvented the AAU's age requirement by using an ID card from a youth named Ray Robinson, who had quit boxing. So, Walker began his amateur fighting career under that name—and it stuck. Later, when a lady in the audience at a fight in Watertown, New York, said he was "sweet as sugar," the name "Sugar Ray Robinson" was born.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson idolized Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis as a youth, and actually had lived on the same block as Louis in Detroit when Robinson was 11 and Louis was 17. Outside the ring, Robinson got into trouble frequently as a youth, and was involved with a street gang. He married at 16. The couple had one son, Ronnie, and divorced when Robinson was 19.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: He reportedly finished his amateur career with an 85–0 record with 69 knockouts – 40 coming in the first round, though this has been disputed. He won the New York Golden Gloves featherweight championship in 1939 (defeating Louis Valentine on points in 3 rounds), and the New York Golden Gloves lightweight championship in 1940 (defeating Andy Nonella by KO in 2).


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson made his professional debut on October 4, 1940, winning by a second-round stoppage over Joe Echevarria. Robinson fought five more times in 1940, winning all, four by knockout. In 1941, he defeated world champion Sammy Angott, future champion Marty Servo, and former champion Fritzie Zivic. The Robinson-Angott fight was held above the lightweight limit, since Angott did not want to risk losing his lightweight title. The Zivic bout, held at the Madison Square Garden, drew a crowd of 20,551—one of the largest in the arena to that date. Robinson won the first five rounds, according to Joseph C. Nichols of "The New York Times", before Zivic came back to land several punches to Robinson's head in the sixth and seventh. Robinson controlled the next two, and had Zivic hurt in the ninth. After a close tenth round, Robinson was announced as the winner on all three scorecards.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson knocked out Zivic in the tenth round in a January 1942 rematch, only the second time Zivic had been counted out in more than 150 fights. Robinson knocked him down in the ninth and tenth rounds before the referee stopped the fight. Zivic and his corner protested the stoppage; James P. Dawson of "The New York Times" stated "[t]hey were criticizing a humane act. The battle had been a slaughter, for want of a more delicate word." Robinson then won four consecutive bouts by knockout, before defeating Servo in a controversial split decision in their May rematch. After winning three more fights, Robinson faced Jake LaMotta, who would become one of his more prominent rivals, for the first time in October. He defeated LaMotta by a unanimous decision, although he failed to get Jake down. Robinson weighed compared to 157.5 for LaMotta, but he was able to control the fight from the outside for the entire bout, and actually landed the harder punches during the fight. Robinson then won four more fights, including two against Izzy Jannazzo, from October 19 to December 14. For his performances, Robinson was named "Fighter of the Year". He finished 1942 with a total of 14 wins and no losses.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson built a record of 40–0 before losing for the first time to LaMotta in a 10-round re-match. LaMotta, who had a weight advantage over Robinson, knocked Robinson out of the ring in the eighth round, and won the fight by decision. The fight took place in Robinson's former home town of Detroit, and attracted a record crowd. After being controlled by Robinson in the early rounds LaMotta came back to take control in the later. After winning the third LaMotta fight less than three weeks later, Robinson then defeated his childhood idol: former champion Henry Armstrong, whom he only fought because the older man was in need of money. Robinson later stated that he carried the aged former champion.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: On February 27, 1943, Robinson was inducted into the United States Army, where he was again referred to as Walker Smith. Robinson had a 15-month military career. Robinson served with Joe Louis, and the pair went on tours with the Special Services division where they performed exhibition bouts in front of U.S. Army troops. Robinson got into trouble several times while in the military. He argued with superiors who he felt were discriminatory against him, and refused to fight exhibitions when he was told African American soldiers were not allowed to watch them. In late March 1944 Robinson was stationed at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, waiting to ship out to Europe, where he was scheduled to perform more exhibition matches. But on March 29, Robinson disappeared from his barracks. When he woke up on April 5 in Fort Jay Hospital on Governor's Island, he had missed his sailing for Europe and was under suspicion of deserting. He himself reported falling down the stairs in his barracks on the 29th, but said that he had complete amnesia, and he could not remember any events from that moment until the 5th. According to his file, a stranger had found him in the street on April 1 and helped him to a hospital. In his examination report, a doctor at Fort Jay concluded that Robinson's version of events was sincere. He was examined by military authorities, who claimed he suffered from a mental deficiency. Robinson was granted an honorable discharge on June 3, 1944. He later wrote that unfair press coverage of the incident had "branded" him as a "deserter". Robinson maintained his close friendship with Louis from their time in military service, and the two went into business together after the war. They planned to start a liquor distribution business in New York City, but were denied a license due to their race.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Besides the loss in the LaMotta rematch, the only other mark on Robinson's record during this period was a 10-round draw against José Basora in 1945.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: By 1946, Robinson had fought 75 fights to a 73–1–1 record, and beaten every top contender in the welterweight division. However, he refused to cooperate with the Mafia, which controlled much of boxing at the time, and was denied a chance to fight for the welterweight championship. Robinson was finally given a chance to win a title against Tommy Bell on December 20, 1946. Robinson had already beaten Bell once by decision in 1945. The two fought for the title vacated by Servo, who had himself lost twice to Robinson in non-title bouts. In the fight, Robinson, who only a month before had been involved in a 10-round brawl with Artie Levine, was knocked down by Bell. The fight was called a "war", but Robinson was able to pull out a close 15-round decision, winning the vacant World Welterweight title.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In 1948 Robinson fought five times, but only one bout was a title defense. Among the fighters he defeated in those non-title bouts was future world champion Kid Gavilán in a close, controversial 10-round fight. Gavilán hurt Robinson several times in the fight, but Robinson controlled the final rounds with a series of jabs and left hooks. In 1949, he boxed 16 times, but again only defended his title once. In that title fight, a rematch with Gavilán, Robinson again won by decision. The first half of the bout was very close, but Robinson took control in the second half. Gavilán would have to wait two more years to begin his own historic reign as welterweight champion. The only boxer to match Robinson that year was Henry Brimm, who fought him to a 10-round draw in Buffalo.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson fought 19 times in 1950. He successfully defended his welterweight title for the last time against Charley Fusari. Robinson won a lopsided 15-round decision, knocking Fusari down once. Robinson donated all but $1 of his purse for the Fusari fight to cancer research. In 1950 Robinson fought George Costner, who had also taken to calling himself "Sugar" and stated in the weeks leading up to the fight that he was the rightful possessor of the name. "We better touch gloves, because this is the only round", Robinson said as the fighters were introduced at the center of the ring. "Your name ain't Sugar, mine is." Robinson then knocked Costner out in 2 minutes and 49 seconds.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In June 1947, after four non-title bouts, Robinson was scheduled to defend his title for the first time in a bout against Jimmy Doyle. Robinson initially backed out of the fight because he had a dream that he was going to kill Doyle. A priest and a minister convinced him to fight. His dream was proven to be true. On June 25, 1947, Robinson dominated Doyle and scored a decisive knockout in the eighth round that knocked Doyle unconscious and resulted in Doyle's death later that night. Robinson said that the impact of Doyle's death was "very trying".


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: After Doyle's death, criminal charges were threatened against Robinson in Cleveland, up to and including murder, though none actually materialized. After learning of Doyle's intentions of using the bout's money to buy his mother a house, Robinson gave Doyle's mother the money from his next four bouts so she could purchase herself a home, fulfilling her son's intention.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: It is stated in his autobiography that one of the main considerations for his move up to middleweight was the increasing difficulty he was having in making the welterweight weight limit. However, the move up would also prove beneficial financially, as the division then contained some of the biggest names in boxing. Vying for the Pennsylvania state middleweight title in 1950, Robinson defeated Robert Villemain. Later that year, in defense of that crown, he defeated Jose Basora, with whom he had previously drawn. Robinson's 50-second, first-round knockout of Basora set a record that would stand for 38 years. In October 1950, Robinson knocked out Bobo Olson a future middleweight title holder.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: On February 14, 1951, Robinson and LaMotta met for the sixth time. The fight would become known as "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre". Robinson won the undisputed World Middleweight title with a 13th round technical knockout. Robinson outboxed LaMotta for the first 10 rounds, then unleashed a series of savage combinations on LaMotta for three rounds, finally stopping the champion for the first time in their legendary six-bout series—and dealing LaMotta his first legitimate knockout loss in 95 professional bouts. LaMotta had lost by knockout to Billy Fox earlier in his career. However, that fight was later ruled to have been fixed and LaMotta was sanctioned for letting Fox win. That bout, and some of the other bouts in the six-fight Robinson-LaMotta rivalry, was depicted in the Martin Scorsese film "Raging Bull". "I fought Sugar Ray so often, I almost got diabetes", LaMotta later said. Robinson won five of his six bouts with LaMotta.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: After winning his second world title, he embarked on a European tour which took him all over the Continent. Robinson traveled with his flamingo-pink Cadillac, which caused quite a stir in Paris, and an entourage of 13 people, some included "just for laughs". He was a hero in France due to his recent defeat of LaMotta—the French hated LaMotta for defeating Marcel Cerdan in 1949 and taking his championship belt (Cerdan died in a plane crash en route to a rematch with LaMotta). Robinson met President of France Vincent Auriol at a ceremony attended by France's social upper crust. During his fight in Berlin against Gerhard Hecht, Robinson was disqualified when he knocked his opponent out with a punch to the kidney: a punch legal in the US, but not Europe. The fight was later declared a no-contest. In London, Robinson lost the world middleweight title to British boxer Randolph Turpin in a sensational bout. Three months later in a rematch in front of 60,000 fans at the Polo Grounds, he knocked Turpin out in ten rounds to recover the title. In that bout Robinson was leading on the cards but was cut by Turpin. With the fight in jeopardy, Robinson let loose on Turpin, knocking him down, then getting him to the ropes and unleashing a series of punches that caused the referee to stop the bout. Following Robinson's victory, residents of Harlem danced in the streets. In 1951, Robinson was named "Ring Magazine's" "Fighter of the Year" for the second time.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In 1952 he fought a rematch with Olson, winning by a decision. He next defeated former champion Rocky Graziano by a third-round knockout, then challenged World Light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim. In the Yankee Stadium bout with Maxim, Robinson built a lead on all three judges' scorecards, but the temperature in the ring took its toll. The referee, Ruby Goldstein, was the first victim of the heat, and had to be replaced by referee Ray Miller. The fast-moving Robinson was the heat's next victim – at the end of round 13, he collapsed and failed to answer the bell for the next round, suffering the only knockout of his career.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: On June 25, 1952, after the Maxim bout, Robinson gave up his title and retired with a record of 131–3–1–1. He began a career in show business, singing and tap dancing. After about three years, the decline of his businesses and the lack of success in his performing career made him decide to return to boxing. He resumed training in 1954.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In 1955 Robinson returned to the ring. Although he had been inactive for two and a half years, his work as a dancer kept him in peak physical condition: in his autobiography, Robinson states that in the weeks leading up to his debut for a dancing engagement in France, he ran five miles every morning, and then danced for five hours each night. Robinson even stated that the training he did in his attempts to establish a career as a dancer were harder than any he undertook during his boxing career. He won five fights in 1955, before losing a decision to Ralph 'Tiger' Jones. He bounced back, however, and defeated Rocky Castellani by a split decision, then challenged Bobo Olson for the world middleweight title. He won the middleweight championship for the third time with a second-round knockout—his third victory over Olson. After his comeback performance in 1955, Robinson expected to be named fighter of the year. However, the title went to welterweight Carmen Basilio. Basilio's handlers had lobbied heavily for it on the basis that he had never won the award, and Robinson later described this as the biggest disappointment of his professional career. "I haven't forgotten it to this day, and I never will", Robinson wrote in his autobiography. Robinson and Olson fought for the last time in 1956, and Robinson closed the four-fight series with a fourth-round knockout.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In 1957 Robinson lost his title to Gene Fullmer. Fullmer used his aggressive, forward moving style to control Robinson, and knocked him down in the fight. Robinson, however, noticed that Fullmer was vulnerable to the left hook. Fullmer headed into their May rematch as a 3–1 favorite. In the first two rounds Robinson followed Fullmer around the ring, however in the third round he changed tactics and made Fullmer come to him. At the start of the fourth round Robinson came out on the attack and stunned Fullmer, and when Fullmer returned with his own punches, Robinson traded with him, as opposed to clinching as he had done in their earlier fight. The fight was fairly even after four rounds. But in the fifth, Robinson was able to win the title back for a fourth time by knocking out Fullmer with a lightning fast, powerful left hook. Boxing critics have referred to the left-hook which knocked out Fullmer as "the perfect punch". It marked the first time in 44 career fights that Fullmer had been knocked out, and when someone asked Robinson after the fight how far the left hook had travelled, Robinson replied: "I can't say. But he got the message."


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Later that year, he lost his title to Basilio in a rugged 15 round fight in front of 38,000 at Yankee Stadium, but regained it for a record fifth time when he beat Basilio in the rematch. Robinson struggled to make weight, and had to go without food for nearly 20 hours leading up to the bout. He badly damaged Basilio's eye early in the fight, and by the seventh round it was swollen shut. The two judges gave the fight to Robinson by wide margins: 72–64 and 71–64. The referee scored the fight for Basilio 69–64, and was booed loudly by the crowd of 19,000 when his decision was announced. The first fight won the "Fight of the Year" award from "The Ring" magazine for 1957 and the second fight won the "Fight of the Year" award for 1958.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson knocked out Bob Young in the second round in Boston in his only fight in 1959. A year later, he defended his title against Paul Pender. Robinson entered the fight as a 5–1 favorite, but lost a split decision in front of 10,608 at Boston Garden. The day before the fight Pender commented that he planned to start slowly, before coming on late. He did just that and outlasted the aging Robinson, who, despite opening a cut over Pender's eye in the eighth round, was largely ineffective in the later rounds. An attempt to regain the crown for an unheard of sixth time proved beyond Robinson. Despite Robinson's efforts, Pender won by decision in that rematch. On December 3 of that year, Robinson and Fullmer fought a 15-round draw for the WBA middleweight title, which Fullmer retained. In 1961, Robinson and Fullmer fought for a fourth time, with Fullmer retaining the WBA middleweight title by a unanimous decision. The fight would be Robinson's last title bout.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson spent the rest of the 1960s fighting 10-round contests. In October 1961 Robinson defeated future world champion Denny Moyer by a unanimous decision. A 12–5 favorite, the 41-year-old Robinson defeated the 22-year-old Moyer by staying on the outside, rather than engaging him. In their rematch four months later, Moyer defeated Robinson on points, as he pressed the action and made Robinson back up throughout the fight. Moyer won 7–3 on all three judges scorecards. Robinson lost twice more in 1962, before winning six consecutive fights against mostly lesser opposition. In February 1963 Robinson lost by a unanimous decision to former world champion and fellow Hall of Famer Joey Giardello. Giardello knocked Robinson down in the fourth round, and the 43-year-old took until the count of nine to rise to his feet. Robinson was also nearly knocked down in the sixth round, but was saved by the bell. He rallied in the seventh and eight rounds, before struggling in the final two. He then embarked on an 18-month boxing tour of Europe.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson's second no-contest bout came in September 1965 in Norfolk, Virginia in a match with an opponent who turned out to be an impostor. Boxer Neil Morrison, at the time a fugitive and accused robber, signed up for the fight as Bill Henderson, a capable club fighter. The fight was a fiasco, with Morrison being knocked down twice in the first round and once in the second before the disgusted referee, who said "Henderson put up no fight", walked out of the ring. Robinson was initially given a TKO in 1:20 of the second round after the "obviously frightened" Morrison laid himself down on the canvas. Robinson fought for the final time in November 1965. He lost by a unanimous decision to Joey Archer. Famed sports author Pete Hamill mentioned that one of the saddest experiences of his life was watching Robinson lose to Archer. He was even knocked down and Hamill pointed out that Archer had no knockout punch at all; Archer admitted afterward that it was only the second time he had knocked an opponent down in his career. The crowd of 9,023 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh gave Robinson several standing ovations, even while he was being thoroughly outperformed by Archer.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: On November 11, 1965, Robinson announced his retirement from boxing, saying: "I hate to go too long campaigning for another chance." Robinson retired from boxing with a record of 173–19–6 (2 no contests) with 109 knockouts in 200 professional bouts, ranking him among the all-time leaders in knockouts.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In his autobiography, Robinson states that by 1965 he was broke, having spent all of the $4 million in earnings he made inside and out of the ring during his career. A month after his last fight, Robinson was honored with a Sugar Ray Robinson Night on December 10, 1965, in New York's Madison Square Garden. During the ceremony, he was honored with a massive trophy. However, there was not a piece of furniture in his small Manhattan apartment with legs strong enough to support it. Robinson was elected to the "Ring Magazine" boxing Hall of Fame in 1967, two years after he retired and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. In the late 1960s he acted in some television shows, like "". An episode of "Land of the Giants" called "Giants and All That Jazz" had Sugar as a washed up boxer opening a nightclub. He also appeared in a few films including the Frank Sinatra cop movie "The Detective" (1968), the cult classic "Candy" (1968), and the thriller "The Todd Killings" (1971) as a police officer. In 1969, he founded the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation for the inner-city Los Angeles area. The foundation does not sponsor a boxing program. He was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus that was treated with insulin.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In Robinson's last years he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He died in Los Angeles on April 12, 1989, at the age of 67. Robinson is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson married Marjorie Joseph in 1938; the marriage was annulled the same year. Their son, Ronnie Smith, was born in 1939. Robinson met his second wife Edna Mae Holly, a noted dancer who performed at the Cotton Club and toured Europe with Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. According to Robinson, he met her at a local pool he frequented after his boxing workouts. In an attempt to get her attention he pushed her into the pool one day, and said it was an accident. After this attempt was met with disdain, he appeared at the nightclub she danced at and introduced himself. Soon the couple were dating and they married in 1944. They had one son, Ray Robinson Jr. (born 1949) before their acrimonious divorce in 1962. She appeared on the first cover of "Jet" magazine in 1951.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In December 1959, Barbara Johnson (aka Barbara Trevigne) of South Ozone Park, a singer and dancer, brought a paternity suit in New York against the former champ, claiming Sugar Ray Robinson was the father of her son Paul born in 1953. On May 18, 1963, "Jet" reported that the court had ruled in Robinson's favor. Robinson is quoted exulting at the win saying "Justice triumphed."


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: In 1965, Robinson married Millie Wiggins Bruce and the couple settled in Los Angeles. When Robinson was sick with his various ailments, his son accused the elder Robinson's wife of keeping him under the influence of medication to manipulate him. According to Ray Robinson Jr., when Robinson Sr's mother died, he could not attend his mother's funeral because Millie was drugging and controlling him. However, Robinson had been hospitalized the day before his mother's death due to agitation which caused his blood pressure to rise. Robinson Jr. and Edna Mae also said they were kept away from Robinson by Millie during the last years of his life.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson was a Freemason, a membership shared with a number of other athletes, including fellow boxer Jack Dempsey.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson was the modern definition of a boxer puncher. He was able to fight almost any style: he could come out one round brawling, the next counterpunching, and the next fighting on the outside flicking his jab. Robinson would use his formless style to exploit his opponents' weaknesses. He also possessed great speed and precision. He fought in a very conventional way with a firm jab, but threw hooks and uppercuts in flurries in an unconventional way. He possessed tremendous versatility—according to boxing analyst Bert Sugar, "Robinson could deliver a knockout blow going backward." Robinson was efficient with both hands, and he displayed a variety of effective punches—according to a "Time" article in 1951, "Robinson's repertoire, thrown with equal speed and power by either hand, includes every standard punch from a bolo to a hook—and a few he makes up on the spur of the moment." Robinson commented that once a fighter has trained to a certain level, their techniques and responses become almost reflexive. "You don't think. It's all instinct. If you stop to think, you're gone."


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson has been ranked as the greatest boxer of all time by sportswriters, fellow boxers, and trainers. The phrase "pound for pound" was created by sportswriters for him during his career as a way to compare boxers irrespective of weight. Hall of Fame fighters Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Roberto Durán and Sugar Ray Leonard have ranked Robinson as the greatest pound-for-pound boxer in history. In 1997, "The Ring" ranked him as the best pound-for-pound fighter in history, and in 1999 he was named "welterweight of the century", "middleweight of the century", and overall "fighter of the century" by the Associated Press. In 2007 ESPN.com featured the piece "50 Greatest Boxers of All Time", in which it named Robinson the top boxer in history. In 2003, "The Ring" ranked him number 11 in the list of all-time greatest punchers. Robinson was also ranked as the number 1 welterweight and the number 1 pound-for-pound boxer of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization. He was inducted into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame at its inception in 1992.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: Robinson was one of the first African Americans to establish himself as a star outside sports. He was an integral part of the New York social scene in the 1940s and 1950s. His glamorous restaurant, Sugar Ray's, hosted stars including Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, Nat King Cole, Joe Louis, and Lena Horne. Robinson was known as a flamboyant personality outside the ring. He combined striking good looks with charisma and a flair for the dramatic. He drove a flamingo-pink Cadillac and was an accomplished singer and dancer, who once pursued a career in the entertainment industry.


title: Sugar Ray Robinson

text: According to ESPN's Ron Flatter: "He was the pioneer of boxing's bigger-than-life entourages, including a secretary, barber, masseur, voice coach, a coterie of trainers, beautiful women, a dwarf mascot and lifelong manager George Gainford." When Robinson first traveled to Paris, a steward referred to his companions as his ""entourage"". Although Robinson said he did not like the word's literal definition of "attendants", since he felt they were his friends, he liked the word itself and began to use it in regular conversation when referring to them. In 1962, in an effort to persuade Robinson to return to Paris—where he was still a national hero—the French promised to bring over his masseur, his hairdresser, a man who would whistle while he trained, and his trademark Cadillac. This larger-than-life persona made him the idol of millions of African American youths in the 1950s. Robinson inspired several other fighters who took the nickname "Sugar" in homage to him: Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Shane Mosley, and MMA fighter "Suga" Rashad Evans.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The is an automobile which has been produced by Toyota in Japan since 1955. It is primarily a line of mid-size luxury cars that is marketed as an upmarket offering in the Toyota lineup.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Introduced in 1955 as the Toyopet Crown, it has served as the mainstream sedan from Toyota in the Japanese market throughout its existence and holds the distinction of being the longest-running passenger-car nameplate affixed to any Toyota model, along with being the first Toyota vehicle to be exported to the United States in 1958. Its traditional competitors in Japan and Asia have been the Nissan Cedric/Gloria/Fuga and the Honda Legend, along with the defunct Mazda Luce, Isuzu Bellel and Mitsubishi Debonair.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Formerly only available at Toyota Store dealers in Japan, the Crown has been popular for government usage, whether as a police car or for transporting government officials. It has also been popular with Japanese companies as company cars along with use as a taxicab. While a base Crown was available for many years aimed at the taxicab market, the increasing opulence and price of the Crown line led to the creation of the Comfort in 1995 as a more affordable alternative. Outside Japan, the larger Lexus LS took over the role of Toyota's flagship sedan in 1989 in the company's global lineup.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In North America, the first through fourth generations were offered from 1958 through 1972, being replaced by the Corona Mark II. The Crown nameplate returned to the North American market in 2022, when the sixteenth-generation model was released. The Crown has also been partially succeeded in export markets by its closely related sibling, the Lexus GS, which since its debut in 1991 as the Toyota Aristo has always shared the Crown's platform and powertrain options. Later models of the GS and Crown have taken on a very strong aesthetic kinship through shared design cues.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In 2022, Toyota unveiled four different Crown models to replace the fifteenth-generation model. The first model that is available is the Crossover-type Crown, which is also marketed in North America as the sole Crown model. The remaining three models: Sedan, Sport, and Estate, will be released later.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown's history and reputation has given it prominence in the Toyota lineup, as it is one of the few current Toyota models to carry its own unique insignia for the model line with the current Crown having a stylized crown emblem on the grille and steering wheel along with inspiring the names of its smaller progenitors. The Corona, introduced as a smaller companion to the Crown means "crown" in Latin and was initially exported as the "Tiara", while the Corolla took its name from the "corolla" ("small crown") in Latin. The Camry's name is derived from the Japanese phrase meaning "little crown" and the Scepter took its name from the "sceptre", an accessory to a crown. The Avalon (the Crown's North American counterpart), while not named after a crown, is named after a mythical island from the legends of King Arthur.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Toyota's "Discover Crown Spirit Project" is a program in which Japanese Toyota dealers fully restore instances of every generation of the Crown to show that even the oldest Crown still works.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown was first exported to the United States from 1958 to 1972 as the first model Toyota exported to the country. In 1960, Toyota temporarily suspended exports to the region as the Crown was not capable of speeds needed on American freeways, before introducing an improved model. The Crown was also exported to Canada from 1964 to 1972, and Mexico from 1959 to 1964.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Exports to Europe began in 1964 with the first cars going to Finland. Other European countries which saw early imports of the Crown included the Netherlands and Belgium. The United Kingdom was another European market until the early 1980s. Australia was another important export market for the Crown – to the extent that it was manufactured there from the mid-1960s until the late 1980s using many local components.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The island nations of Aruba and Curaçao in the Southern Caribbean also imported the Crown starting from the second generation (S40) in 1965 in Curaçao up until importation of the tenth generation (S150). It was discontinued in 1998 due to the high price and low demand combined with the introduction of the Lexus GS series.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In 2019, a small number of fifteenth-generation Crowns were exported to Indonesia for use as an official vehicle by cabinet ministers and other government officials.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The sixteenth-generation Crown that was introduced in 2022 will be exported to about 40 countries with an expected annual sales volume of around 200,000 units.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown was introduced in 1955 in Japan to meet the demands of public transportation. The Crown was intended for private purchase, while the Master served in a commercial form as a taxi, both with the same 1.5 L Type R engine used on their previous car, the Toyopet Super. The front doors open conventionally, and the rear doors are "suicide doors", a feature also utilized on the Toyota AA, Toyota's first car. Small engine displacements were used to keep the vehicle affordable, as the Japanese government began to impose an annual road tax to help develop and maintain a national transportation infrastructure in 1950. The appearance of the Crown shows some similarities with the European Ford Versailles and Simca Vedette. The Toyota Patrol was a police car version of the 1955 Crown.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown was much more popular than the Master due to the more compliant suspension of the Crown, and while the Master was intended for taxi service, the Crown was more accepted by the market over the Master, and more Crowns were sold into taxi service than the Master. The Crown was designed to replace the Super but Toyota was not sure if its independent front coil suspension and its suicide type rear doors were too radical for the taxi market to bear. So the Super was updated, renamed the Master and sold in tandem to the Crown, at "Toyota Store" locations. When sales of the Crown proved worthwhile, the Master was discontinued in November 1956 after being in production for only one year, and production facilities for the Master were transferred to the Crown. While the Master was discontinued the commercial vehicle based thereon, the Masterline, continued to be offered (utilities, wagons and vans) until 1959. A six-door wagon known as the Airport Limousine was shown as a concept car at the 1961 Tokyo Motor Show. It did not go into production.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In December 1955, the Crown Deluxe (RSD) was introduced, a posher model equipped with a radio and heater as standard. The initial RS model received a cosmetic update in 1958 to become the RS20, now with hooded headlights and a single-piece front windshield. In October 1959, Japan's first diesel-engine passenger car, the Crown Diesel, was introduced. Its C-series engine only had . In October 1960, the 1.5 L R engine was complemented by the larger 1.9 L (1,896 cc) 3R engine for a model called the RS30, originally only available in the Deluxe version. The 1900 was also available with the new two-speed Toyoglide automatic transmission. In April 1961, a Crown Standard 1900 was added.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Its coil and double wishbone independent front suspension was a departure from the leaf sprung beam axle front suspension used on most previous models but was similar to the independent front suspension used on the 1947 Toyopet SA. The live axle rear suspension was similar to that used on most of the previous models (unlike the trailing arm rear suspension used on the SA). Taxi versions were produced and beginning in March 1959 commercial versions of the vehicle were also available, as an estate wagon and a three- or six-seat coupe utility. These took over the "Toyopet Masterline" name in the Japanese domestic market, but usually received "Crown" badges in the export. The "Crown" name was previously in use by the Imperial limousine manufactured by Chrysler in the early 1950s.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In 1958, it introduced a ball joint suspension. Production of the double-cab Masterline pickup (RR19) started in April 1957 by the former Central Motors.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In August 1957, three Toyota delegates with the intent to establish a sales company in the United States introduced a white and black Crown and Crown Deluxe at a public relations event attended by dealers and the media. Both models were constructed with 50% thicker steel than the average American car at the time and the black Deluxe model was nicely appointed with lots of chrome and luxurious items like a radio, heater and whitewall tires which prompted the press to liken it to a "baby Cadillac". This promising initial showing along with the strong reputation of the Crown in Japan gave Toyota the confidence to pursue exports to the United States despite known high-speed performance issues. As a publicity stunt to demonstrate the car's reliability, Toyota staged a campaign common to American automakers: a coast-to-coast endurance run from Los Angeles to New York. The Toyopet was barely able to limp into Las Vegas before the project had to be called off.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Toyota's first export to the United States began with 30 Crown Deluxes in June 1958 after establishing Toyota Motor Sales USA the previous October, the first directly managed retail dealer (Hollywood Toyota) the previous February, U.S. wholesale and import companies, and a parts warehouse in Long Beach. Toyota also signs up 45 dealers to sell cars in its initial year, growing to 70 dealers by 1960 and 90 by 1962. In the effort to obtain certification from the California Highway Patrol for the sale of the Crown in California, Toyota shipped the cars without headlights and installed General Electric sourced sealed beam units upon arrival which met the required standard for brightness.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Since the car was designed for the muddy, slow, unpaved Japanese roads, it failed the mass urban landscape of the US because of its inability to keep up with traffic on the faster interstate highways, along with stability, noise and vibration concerns. The car was also very rigid and heavy for its size at 2700 pounds. "Motor Trend" reported "The Toyopet is so rigid that jacking up one wheel at the rear bumper quickly lifted the other rear wheel". They also observed an average of 23.5 mpg combined city/highway for 407 miles. To remedy the performance issues along with the resulting breakage of parts from being overly stressed, Toyota introduced the newer RS22L and the RS32L series Crown with the larger 3R engine and other improvements for high-speed driving in July 1960.


title: Toyota Crown

text: For 1958, Toyota introduced the Crown in sedan form only (Standard and Deluxe) with a base price of . Options included $94 AM radio and $75 whitewall tires. By comparison, an optioned up Crown was $32 more than the base Chevy Del Ray and $10 more than the Rambler Rebel V8 sedan. Total sales for the initial year were 287. For 1959, sales were again limited to only sedan models and despite a price boost to $2,329 for the Deluxe model, sales more than tripled to 967 units. For 1960, Toyota added a wagon body style ($2,111 for the two-door, $2,211 for the four-door) but in the midst of Detroit's Big Three compact cars (Ford Falcon, Chevy Corvair and Plymouth Valiant), sales fell to 659 units. For 1961, the Crown was being sold with the newer 3R engine and alongside the new smaller Tiara model with the Crown's outgoing 1.5L engine. Only the Custom sedan and wagon were offered ($1,795 and $2,080 respectively). Total sales for 1961 reached only 225 units, trailing off to 74 for 1962, and finally 28 for 1963. Total sales for the Toyopet Crown RS series in the United States is 2,240.


title: Toyota Crown

text: By the end of 1960, Toyota Motor Sales USA had accumulated 1.42 million dollars in losses from lackluster sales of the Crown. To prevent any further loss, all passenger car imports were suspended and new management structures were established to refocus all sales efforts on the Toyota Land Cruiser with profitability expected from selling 50 to 60 per month until the development of a new car suitable for the US market.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In November 2000, Toyota released the Origin, a retro version of the RS series Crown to celebrate 100 million vehicles having been built in Japan.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Due to the introduction of the Corona, the dramatically restyled and enlarged Series S40 was launched in 1962, and saw the introduction of the Custom model. According to the Japanese Wikipedia article for the Crown, the styling was said to be influenced by the recently introduced Ford Falcon in 1960. The front grille approach has a similar appearance to the 1960 Imperial Crown (Chrysler), which speaks to Toyota's aspirations that the Crown be a large, comfortable sedan. The station wagon body style carried over from the previous generation Masterline, but with more attention to the luxurious approach used on the Crown.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Headlights were integrated within the boundaries of the greatly enlarged grille, providing a clean, modern appearance. A 2-speed automatic transmission was introduced, called Toyoglide, with a column shift. A bigger and better car than the previous S30 series, it initially had four-cylinder R-series engines before the addition of the "M" six-cylinder engine in 1965. Deluxe and Super Deluxe models were available with added features. The ladder frame chassis of the previous generation was replaced with an X-frame to achieve a lower centre of gravity. The sedan and wagon were known simply as the Crown while the commercial vehicles (coupe utility, double cab coupe utility (pick ups), and van) were known as the Masterline. There was also a limited run of the sedan known as the Toyota Crown S (MS41S) which featured twin SU style carburettors on the 2.0L M in-line-six engine, sportier camshaft, sports instrumentation, sports suspension, four-speed floor shift, bucket seats, 14 inch wheels, disc brakes on the front and larger drum brakes in the rear.


title: Toyota Crown

text: This Crown became the first Toyota to be exported to Europe, after the head of Denmark's Erla Auto Import A/S saw it at the Tokyo Motor Show. They brought in 190 of these subsequent to a May 1963 agreement. In Canada, it was introduced in November 1964 as one of the first Toyota models available in the country alongside the UP10 Publica. In the US, the MS41L sedan was available in the US for PoE while the MS46LG station wagon was available for PoE. Some optional features include an automatic transmission for and a radio for .


title: Toyota Crown

text: A two-door Crown Convertible was displayed at the 1963 Tokyo Motor Show, based on the Crown 1900 sedan. It was not put into production.


title: Toyota Crown

text: This Crown generation was the first to be assembled in Australia, from CKD kits, by AMI in Port Melbourne, with significant local content. AMI, which assembled numerous brands including Triumph and, for a short time, Mercedes-Benz, was to become the basis of Toyota's current Australian manufacturing operation.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The longer, wider and more upmarket Crown Eight was introduced in 1964 for the Japanese market, powered by a 2.6 L V8 engine. However, it had a different model designation, G10 (VG10 when fitted by 2.6 L "V" engine). The car was first introduced at the 1963 Tokyo Motor Show and introduced for sale on April 20, 1964, nine days before Emperor Showa's birthday and the beginning of Golden Week in Japan.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown Eight was developed and assembled by Toyota's subcontracting company Kanto Auto Works. Toyota delegated the production because the Crown Eight had many different components compared to the Crown, which could have hindered mass-production operations at the Motomachi plant as the Crown Eight's production volume was approximately 1,000 cars per year.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown Eight was designed primarily to replace full-sized American automobiles that were commonly used by major corporations. The Crown Eight represents the first Japanese mass-produced vehicle with an 8-cylinder engine. The main rivals at the time were the Prince Gloria Super, Mitsubishi Debonair, and Nissan Cedric Special, all equipped with a six-cylinder engine. It was the first Crown to exceed vehicle size classification regulations in length, width and engine displacement capacity. The width at compares to the Century at , and as such no Crown before or since, including the Crown Majesta, has matched the width dimension of the Crown Eight until the year 2008 for Crown and 2009 for Majesta.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown Eight was considered as a possible submission for use by the Japanese Imperial Household Agency as a car to be used by senior members of the Imperial House of Japan, but it lost out to the Nissan Prince Royal. The Crown Eight was replaced in 1967 by the first Century with the model code VG20. Approx 3,800 Crown Eights were produced. Some of the items that were exclusive to the Crown Eight were climate control, automatic headlamps, electrically powered windows, electric cruise control, a three-speed "Toyoglide" automatic transmission, and electromagnetic door latches, which were also installed on the Crown Eight successor, the Century.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Launched in 1967, the mechanicals were much the same as the previous generation, but additional equipment was included. The X-frame chassis of the S40 series was now dropped in favour of a perimeter frame that improved collision protection for passengers; this chassis design would remain in use until 1999 when the S130-series wagons were superseded by the unibody S170-series Estates. Higher specification models used the 2.0-liter M engine or the 2.3-liter 2M engine shared with the Toyota 2000GT sports coupe. A premium level Super Saloon joined the Super Deluxe model, and was available with the 2M engine including twin carburettors, electric windows, rear seat radio controls, air conditioning and luxury fabric on the seating including the Crown logo embossed into the vinyl. Lower specified models were equipped with the R-series four-cylinder engines. Crown vehicles meant for commercial use had received the Masterline nameplate until the introduction of this generation; they were now badged "Crown" as well. However, this generation was the last to be offered in an entire line of commercials - from the next generation on, the only commercial-use model available was the Crown Van, whose bodywork was also used for the Wagon models. Crown Double-Cab pickups were produced by the former Central Motor Co., Ltd. until December 1970.


title: Toyota Crown

text: When the 1967 S50 series Crown was introduced to Japan, television commercials used Japanese actor Satoshi Yamamura, who among his many roles on stage, movie, and television, portrayed Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in the 1970s movie "Tora! Tora! Tora!" Yamamura would serve as the Crown spokesman for 16 years, introducing subsequent new generations of Crown products until 1983.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown range now included the four-door station wagon, pick-up (rare), double cab pick-up (very rare) and the new two-door hardtop "personal luxury car". In September 1968 the option of power steering was added. In 1969 the Crown received a facelift for the headlight, grill and trim arrangement. The Crown S used the two-liter 'six', but due to sportier tuning it produced more power than the larger 2M, at 5,800 rpm versus at 5,200 rpm. The commercial versions were fitted with the six-cylinder "M" engine (M-C) produce , while the four-cylinder 5R had to make do with . This generation was the only one to use a double-hinged tailgate, as the next generation converted to an overhead-lifting hatchback door.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Crowns that were equipped with the 2,253 cc 2M engine were no longer classified as compact cars under Japanese vehicle size classification regulations, even though the length and width were still in compliance. Toyota offered the larger engine so that buyers who were traditionally served by the Crown could now choose the all-new Corona Mark II in 1968. This allowed Toyota to reposition the Crown as the top level privately available luxury sedan, with much nicer interior treatments, more spacious accommodations. This was the last generation for the pick-up versions of the Crown, as load carrying was ceded to the new Toyota Hilux in February 1971.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Australian market models were assembled in Australia by Australian Motor Industries. This generation was imported fully assembled into New Zealand from 1968 to 1971.


title: Toyota Crown

text: This generation was still sold in the United States; 1970 was the most successful year for the nameplate in the US with 6,528 being sold.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Launched in February 1971, the 4M 2600 engine was introduced with this generation, as was the luxurious Super Saloon trim level, followed by the Super Deluxe and Deluxe. The top-of-the-line Royal Saloon was first introduced in the facelifted Crown from 1973, adding luxury features from the Century limousine. The 2.0-liter 5R inline-four engine and the 2.0-liter M six-cylinder engine were also available. As for the previous generation, the M-C engine (in Japanese specifications) has , while the 5R's output increased somewhat to . In some markets the previous 2.3-liter "2M" six remained available, in sedan or "utility wagon" forms. The Utility Wagon was a version halfway between commercial and passenger car, and had chassis codes MS67V until the early 1973 facelift when it was replaced by the MS68V with the 2.6 engine.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Previous generations of the Crown had been marketed under the Toyopet name but the fourth-generation model was the first version to be officially known worldwide as the Toyota Crown.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Sedan and Wagon (Custom) are coded RS60/MS60/MS64/MS65 and MS62/MS63, while the Van was coded MS66V with the two liter "six". The Hardtop Coupé is MS70 (2.0-liter), or MS75 (2.6-liter). The Japanese market Crown Custom (Wagon) was classified as a seven-seater. This generation was the first Crown marketed as a Toyota in Japan, as previous models were marketed as Toyopets. Also, in Japan, this model was known as the "whale" or "kujira" Crown.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In 1973, Japanese television commercials introduced Japanese actress Sayuri Yoshinaga as a co-spokeswoman, joining Satoshi Yamamura, and together they appeared in commercials until 1983.


title: Toyota Crown

text: While the domestic market Hardtop has rectangular halogen headlights, all export models come with twin round headlights. This model achieved few sales in the US due to its high price when compared to competing domestic models, and possibly its styling with flush bumpers, called "spindle-shaped" in period marketing. Only the first two years were imported to North America, where it was the last Crown to be sold until 2022. The Corona Mark II replaced the Crown in North America.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The trunk could be opened remotely by turning the ignition key to the far left, and a button on the floor caused the radio to engage the signal seeking feature. A separate signal seeking feature was installed for rear seat passengers, installed behind the front seat facing the rear seat compartment. The 60-series Crown underwent a facelift in January 1973.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Australian models were assembled in Australia by AMI. It was available in New Zealand fully imported from 1971 to 1973, with local assembly beginning at Steels Motor Assemblies, who also built the Corona, not long before the mid-life facelift, improving availability. Steels subsequently became Toyota NZ's Christchurch CKD assembly plant.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Launched in 1974 in Japan, export began from 1975. It was offered as four-door sedan, two-door hardtop coupe, four-door hardtop sedan, wagon, and van. Engines are 2.0- and 2.6-liter gasoline. The 2.2-liter diesel was introduced in October 1977. Trim levels are Standard, Deluxe, Super Saloon, and Royal Saloon.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Royal Saloon came in a longer body length, coupled with the 2.6L engine while lower trim levels were in the shorter body style and 2.0 L engines. Export models used the same body whether the two-liter 5R four-cylinder or the 2.6-liter 4M inline-six. In Europe, these models claimed respectively.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Minor change was given in 1978. This version of the Crown saw the introduction of disc brakes at both the front and rear axles with anti-lock brakes, speed sensitive power steering, and a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive. Originally, sedans and wagons had S80-series chassis numbers, while the two- and four-door hardtops received the S90-series chassis numbers. After 1976 and concurrent with the introduction of new stricter emissions regulations, all Japanese market Crowns used S100-series chassis numbers. Export models continued to use the previous codes.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Initially available with the "old style" 4M engine with rounded valve cover, later models switched to the new 4M engine with rectangular valve cover. This generation also saw the introduction of fuel injection on both the 2.6-liter 4M and the 2.0-liter M engines, coupled with Toyota's TTC-C technology, adding a catalytic converter to the exhaust system. The emissions controlling technology badge helped identify which vehicles had reduced emissions tax liability. Select models also were available with four-wheel disc brakes and twin piston calipers on the front brakes. The models installed with the diesel engine was exclusive to "Toyota Diesel Store" locations.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Hardtop Sedan model has a front chrome grill and square headlights, but was no longer considered a true hardtop, due to the inclusion of a "B" pillar. The styling differences between the hardtop and sedan four-door models was that the side windows on the hardtop were frameless, and the rear window was sloped more than the formal appearing sedan. This series Crown in the Royal Saloon trim package exceeded length regulations of 4.7 m set forth by Japanese regulations by 65 mm, but Toyota continued to offer a 2.0 L engine in a shorter vehicle for buyers who were looking for better fuel economy over the larger six-cylinder engines, and reduced road tax liability.


title: Toyota Crown

text: New Zealand models were assembled in New Zealand but on an SKD basis - which meant it had more Japanese content (such as glass) than earlier CKD versions. It was the last Crown built in New Zealand and was replaced in 1979 by the Cressida (Mark II), which was available with a four-cylinder engine. The oil crises of 1973/4 and 1979/80 had led the government to impose a 60 percent sales tax on larger engines, and the Crown could no longer be priced to suit its market. This generation Crown was imported fully built-up to Australia, and only available with the largest 2.6-liter six-cylinder engine. It was never a strong seller in Australia, offering less performance and roadholding than the domestic competitors from Ford and Holden.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Launched in 1979, this model had the engine upgraded from the 2.6 L to 2.8 L 5M-EU model. The 2-liter M was still on offer along with a turbocharged version – the M-TEU. The carburated 5M engine was also available in certain markets. In this series the model designation referred to the engine size – MS110 (2-liter), MS111 (2.6-liter), MS112 (2.8-liter). This was the last generation to install a four-cylinder, gasoline-powered engine. This model was the first generation Crown to be sold in Germany, beginning in 1980. The fuel injected 2.8 developed in European trim, while the 2.2 diesel offered and a choice of five-speed manual or an automatic (not in the Station Wagon). European sales started out at a respectable level, but with prices increasing at an alarming rate due to the appreciation of the yen, sales had dropped drastically by 1982.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Early models have twin rectangular headlights, while facelift models come with bigger monoblock headlights. Domestic market Royal Saloons use the large rectangular headlights. Lower grades Van and Taxi models adopted round headlights. Royal Saloon features longer bumpers and bigger engines, which were placed in a larger road tax classification according to Japanese government dimension regulations. The first Crown Turbo was launched in October 1980 for Japanese market only. Offering the 2.0 L engines was for buyers who didn't want to pay the large car tax, while offering better fuel economy than the larger engines. The turbo also provided a benefit in increasing fuel efficiency while reducing tailpipe emissions as Japanese consumers pay a tax on the amount of regulated substances being sent into the atmosphere from a Japanese law passed in the 1970s.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In some export markets, such as Southeast Asia, the larger six-cylinder engines came fitted with carburettors. In those specs, the 2.6 offered SAE net while the 2.8 claimed DIN or 120 SAE net. Sales in Indonesia were low and this generation was not replaced there in 1984, when the 120-series Crown appeared.


title: Toyota Crown

text: This generation is the last for the two-door hardtop coupé bodystyle, which was replaced by the Soarer. Reflecting a popular styling appearance during the 1970s, the coupé was fitted with a padded vinyl roof and "opera windows" for a luxurious appearance. Some of the options that became available were an Electronic compass, glass moon roof, power drivers seat, cruise control, electronic stereo tuner, and two-tone paint. Automatic climate control also appeared on this vehicle with separate controls installed for rear seat passengers as well as a rear-mounted mini fridge cooled by the separate rear seat air conditioning unit. The 2.4-liter turbo diesel appeared in August 1982.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Launched in 1983, this model used all three versions of the 5M 2.8L engine: the carburetted 5M version, the single overhead cam (SOHC) multi-point fuel-injected 5M-E version, and the double overhead cam (DOHC) 5M-GE. Other engines included the 1G-GE 2.0L DOHC, M-TE 2.0L single overhead cam (SOHC) Turbo, M-E 2.0L SOHC, 2L-TE 2.4L SOHC Turbo Diesel Ceramics Power or 2.4L SOHC Diesel Ceramics Power engines. All 2.0 L engines were installed with T-VIS (Toyota Variable Induction System). In September 1985, a supercharged version of the 2-liter G-series six replaced the turbocharged M-series.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Base versions use the new 2-liter 1G-E engine which replaced the old 2-liter version of the M series. The Japanese market "van" version of the station wagon (the GS126V as well as the GS136V in the following series) used its own unique variant of this motor which took advantage of laxer emissions standards for commercial vehicles (the 1G-EJ). In Japan, taxi and commercial versions were also available with an LPG-powered four-cylinder engine (the 3Y) which was even offered with a three-speed, column-shifted manual. A gasoline-fueled version of this engine was available in some European and "general" export markets.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The lower-grade models were available with Toyota's F292 live axle rear suspension while the rest introduced 4-wheel independent suspension branded as PEGASUS (Precision Engineered Geometrically Advanced Suspension) on the Crown for the first time, with TEMS installed on the Royal Saloon sedan and hardtops, coupled with Toyota's ECT electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission, and 4ESC anti-lock brakes.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The S120 was available in Hardtop sedan (frameless door glass), sedan and wagon versions but in two different exterior dimensions for length and width, with the Royal Saloon hardtop and sedan only offered in the larger body.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The top-trim package was called the Royal Saloon, followed by Super Saloon Extra, Super Select for hardtop bodystyles, followed by the Royal Saloon sedan, Super Saloon Extra sedan, and the wagon came only as Super Saloon Extra.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Super Saloon Extra and Royal Saloon versions were packed with features such as dual-zone climate control, AM/FM cassette stereo with six acoustically matched speakers, combined with a separate rear cassette stereo with headphones, with dashboard-installed integrated CD player, and separate A/C and stereo control buttons installed in the rear armrest, parcel shelf mounted refrigerator, automatic headlights, reading lamps for all outboard seating positions, electrically adjusted tilt and telescoping steering column combined with a steering wheel and seat memory feature, glovebox mounted courtesy mirror among many things, while the slightly lower trim package Super Select was more modestly equipped.


title: Toyota Crown

text: One distinctive styling feature of this generation was the use of a clear panel with patterned backing for the C-pillar trim on the sedans. For the Japanese market only, Toyota made the Twincam 12-valve 3.0-liter 6M-GE available on the Royal Saloon for the mid-cycle update. This engine is a popular swap for 5M-GE powered Supras and Cressidas of the same period.


title: Toyota Crown

text: This was the last generation Crown to be commonly available in European markets. The fuel injected 2.8-liter engine in European trim produces at 5600 rpm and had identical specifications to the Supra sold there at the time. Swiss buyers, however, had to make do with the single-cam "5M-E" engine due to their particular emissions restrictions.


title: Toyota Crown

text: For general export markets such as Southeast Asia and the GCC countries, the carburetted "5M" engine was also available. This version produces at 5000 rpm and was even available with a four-speed manual transmission. For the even more frugal buyer, the carburetted OHV "3Y" engine with at 4600 rpm was also on offer.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Launched in 1987. Body style: sedan, hardtop and wagon, including a van model for commercial uses. This model used the 7M-GE 3000 cc DOHC, 1G-GZE 2000 cc DOHC supercharger, 1G-GE 2000 cc DOHC, 1G-E 2000 cc, 2L-THE 2400 cc SOHC Turbo Diesel Hi-Power (automatics), 2L-TE 2400 cc SOHC Turbo Diesel (with manual transmission) or 2L 2400 cc SOHC naturally aspirated diesel engine. The 4.0-liter 1UZ-FE, the same engine as in Lexus LS400, later became available in the Royal Saloon G, which became the Toyota Crown Majesta with the next generation Crown. The air suspension-equipped Royal Saloon G was also available with the 3-liter inline-six engines. Due to the different suspension, the Royal Saloon G carries a different model code (MS137 versus MS135 for the coil sprung models). The better equipped models receive an independent semi-trailing arm rear suspension, while the simpler versions (including all wagons and vans) have live rear axles located by trailing links. These versions receive different chassis numbers (GS130 versus GS131, for instance).


title: Toyota Crown

text: Although a totally different chassis and body, the S130 shares styling cues with the X80 Cressida. In 1989, the top level Royal Saloon G introduced world's first CD-ROM-based automotive navigation system, with color CRT display. Also, TRC traction control and electronically controlled shock absorbers called TEMS (shared with the first generation Toyota Soarer) were adopted. This Crown was sold only in Japan, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and select Asian markets. Some export markets received the older 2.8 liter SOHC inline-six, either carburetted or fuel injected. For general countries, only with left-hand drive and a four-speed manual transmission, the 2.2-liter inline-four 4Y engine was also available.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In September 1988, a narrow-angle twin-cam version of the two-liter inline-six engine (the 1G-FE) replaced the two-valve 1G-E in most applications, although the lower cost model continued to be available in commercial models until September 1989. In August 1989, the Crown received a light facelift, with more aerodynamic design front and rear, incorporating new bumpers. This was also when the 4-liter V8-engined Royal Saloon G was introduced, using the same engine which was to appear in the Lexus LS400 within a month. The LPG-powered M engine was replaced with the more powerful 1G-GP version at the same time, while the four-cylinder 3Y engine received fuel injection.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In August 1990, a version of the supercharged 2.0 model fitted with the bigger body of the 3.0 was added to the lineup (GS131H). This car was placed in a much higher tax bracket than the narrower-bodied versions. Such cars have different license plates than more compact cars and are therefore considered prestigious, if expensive. This was also when the new 2.5-liter 1JZ-GE engine was introduced as the 2500 Royal Saloon, available as a Sedan, Hardtop, or Wagon, replacing the earlier 2-liter Royal Saloon model. A few LPG-powered models were also available for commercial uses, using two-liter engines with either four or six cylinders. In October 1991, a large-bodied variant of the turbodiesel sedan was presented.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Station wagons were considered separate from the commercial van models in Japan. They were originally equipped with the 2-liter 1G-FE six, or as a supercharged "Royal Saloon" wagon. The 2.4 turbodiesel was also available. As of August 1990, the 2.5-liter 1JZ-FE was also made available in the station wagon lineup.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In August 1991, when the Crown hardtop was redesigned and became the S140 series, the Crown sedan and wagon and van were also restyled but retained the S130 model code. At this point the 1JZ-GE and 2JZ-GE engines replaced the M-series in-line-six engines for the Crown lineup, as well as some of the supercharged G-series models. The Standard Sedan for Taxi and base model Wagon feature round headlights and chrome bumpers. The taxi is powered by 2.4-liter diesel engine matched to 4-speed column-mounted manual transmission. In Hong Kong and Singapore, the Crown Sedan with the diesel engine was the most common vehicle used as taxis.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The Crown Royal Saloon, meanwhile, was an exclusive car. In October 1991, the supercharged model was discontinued. In December 1995, the sales of sedan model was stopped for the Japanese market. In September 1996, the 1JZ-GE 2.5-liter engine received VVT-i, which led to the power jumping from . The sales of the wagon and van were stopped in December 1999.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In 1993, Great Wall made unlicensed clones of the S130 under the name CC1020S. Great Wall also made a station wagon variant, known as CC6470, and a crew cab version which was known as CC1020S. A version with stretched station wagon bodywork set on the BJ212 "Jeep" chassis was also offered.


title: Toyota Crown

text: This generation marked the return of the Crown to Indonesia in 1989, where it had not been sold regularly since 1984 when it was replaced by GX71 Cressida. This car was assembled locally by Toyota Astra Motor. It was originally sold with the two-liter "1G-FE" inline-six engine (GS131). Two trim levels were available, 2.0i Super Saloon with 5-speed manual transmission and 2.0i Royal Saloon with 4-speed automatic transmission. It received major facelift in 1992 and continued to be built after 1995 when the sedan was replaced in Japan. Also in 1995, The 2.0 was replaced with a "2JZ-GE" 3-liter engine. Unique for Indonesia, the Crown 3.0 Super Saloon trim was combined with a 5-speed manual transmission, while the more expensive 3.0 Royal Saloon was available with a 4-speed automatic transmission. The production of S130 Crown in Indonesia was stopped in 2000.


title: Toyota Crown

text: While the S130 Crown was officially sold by Toyota in China, there was also a rebadged S130 Crown sold as Saibeijian Crown by Datong Saibeijian Auto Works at the same time. This brand also rebadged numerous cars such as Toyota Previa, Honda Accord, Nissan Sunny and Honda Odyssey.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In the early 1980s, the numbers of imported cars in China increased dramatically, despite the high import tax. China's consumer spending was getting out of the control and created a severe trade deficit. Customs duties on imported goods were raised in March 1985 and a new "regulatory tax" was added a few months later. By the fall of 1985, a two-year moratorium on nearly all vehicle imports was imposed. While limiting imports, China also tried to increase local production by boosting the various existing joint-venture passenger car production agreements, as well as adding new ones. But the unclear definition of "car production in China" at that time, inspired the local entrepreneurs to use this loophole.


title: Toyota Crown

text: These rebadged cars were actually fully imported cars from Japan and then were shipped to Hong Kong but without tires, mirrors and door handles to be classified as "car parts" and avoiding 60-80% import tax. The remaining parts were also shipped from Japan to Hong Kong and was assembled as a full car at Guangdong. But to be able to sell these cars, this Guangdong-based company need a government approved local automobile brand. The company then made a business deal with Shanxi-based small bus manufacturer, Datong Saibeijian Auto Works, to use their licensed brand for selling these cars and one of them was the Saibeijian Crown.


title: Toyota Crown

text: This was barely concealed smuggling. This made both the real joint ventures that invested so much money and the Chinese government that lost their income from the import tax unhappy. This led the government arresting more than 200 government, customs and law enforcement officials on the southern Guangdong area around Zhanjiang on September 8, 1998. This affair was known as "9898 smuggling case", the largest mainland smuggling racket of the last 50 years. The state's lost revenue was estimated around ¥30 billion from the illegal import of thousands of tonnes of crude oil, steel, cars and other manufactured goods.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Launched in 1991, this model of Toyota Crown departed from the traditional styling of previous models, and introduced the new Royal Touring trim level. The new hardtop model carried the S140 chassis designation, while the refreshed Crown sedan and wagon still kept the S130 chassis from the previous generation Crown. Unlike its predecessors, this model was produced exclusively in right-hand drive and consequently was not exported to markets with right-hand traffic. Engine options used in the hardtop model were the 2JZ-GE 3000cc DOHC, 1JZ-GE 2500cc DOHC, and the 2L-THE diesel 2400cc SOHC engine. The 1G-FE 2000cc DOHC engine was carried over from the eighth generation for use in the sedan and wagon models. Transmission options were an optional five speed transmission dubbed "5ECT-i" used with the 2JZ-GE, a four speed "ECT-i" transmission used with the 2JZ-GE, and a four speed "ECT" transmission for the 1JZ-GE, 2L-THE, and 1G-FE equipped vehicles.


title: Toyota Crown

text: For the ninth-generation Crown, the Super Edition trim level was removed, and the Super Saloon trim became the entry-level trim. A new trim level was introduced, called Royal Touring, meant to be a mid-tier model with the option of both the 2JZ-GE and 1JZ-GE. The trim levels for the S140 hardtop are Super Select, Super Saloon Extra, Royal Touring, Royal Saloon, and Royal Saloon G. The Royal Saloon G trim kept all of the luxurious options of the previous generation including a fully digital gauge cluster, GPS navigation, and more safety equipment than other trim levels. As with the previous generation, the air suspension-equipped Royal Saloon G has a different model code (JZS145 versus JZS143 for the coil sprung model).


title: Toyota Crown

text: Styling was largely changed from the S130 generation. The design had shifted to a more curved front and rear end, and removed the Crown badges from the C-pillars which had been on previous models. A brand new taillight design was introduced, which was a curved, wrap-around design. The front end styling was influenced from the UCF10 Toyota Celsior which was released two years prior to the S140 Crown hardtop. Because of the new rear-end styling moving away from the traditional separate, squared taillights, the design was negatively received. This caused sales and popularity to be much lower than its rivals, the Nissan Cedric and Gloria, as well as the previous generation Crown.


title: Toyota Crown

text: In January 1993, a special-edition model was released, called the Prestige Saloon series for the Royal Saloon G and the Royal Saloon trims, and the Owners Prestige series for the Royal Touring trim. This special model included new chrome door handles and an all-chrome grill.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Later in 1993, a facelift model was released. The rear design went back to that of the S130 type Crown which was more favorably received. Other changes included restoring the Crown emblems to the C-pillars, a further revised front grill, front bumper, and rear bumper. This newly revised Crown was well received over the previous styling, and was able to win back some sales for the ninth-generation Crown.


title: Toyota Crown

text: Even after the facelift styling in late 1993, the ninth-generation Crown was labeled a failure in Japan compared to other generations and its rivals. Because of the lower sales volume, car recycling for tax incentive in Japan, and the export of used examples to other countries, the ninth-generation Crown has become difficult to find within Japan.


title: Toyota Crown

text: The 150-series Crown, launched in 1995, had boxier styling than the previous generation and was built as a sedan and hardtop (frameless door window) only. This was the first Crown to not be built using body-on-frame construction, adopting the unibody construction introduced with the 140-series Majesta. The wagon retained the old S130 chassis until 1999.