A luxury-laden Toyota Century crossover became a sumo parade vehicle in Japan.
The vehicle was unveiled at a ceremony dedicated to the Grand Sumo Tournament. It was created by a team of tuners unaffiliated with Toyota and is not envisioned for mass production: topless SUVs aren’t popular in Japan.
The roof has been removed in what seems to be a permanent, irreversible way. A large bench seat mounted higher up and farther to the back of the cabin has replaced the standard rear seats. The idea was to use the car during traditional festive parades, elevating the sumo fighters above the crowd so that their fans would see them better. The floor was additionally reinforced to compensate for the lack of roof.
The original Century SUV is 5.2 meters long and comes with sliding doors, as well as two individual seats in the back row. It is a hybrid vehicle that relies on two electric motors to assist the main 3.5-liter V6. It can cover up to 69 km (43 miles) without firing up the main engine, but we’d imagine the heavy cabriolet being less mobile than that.
