All the Toyota Crown Needed Was Some Mud Flaps and a Roof Rack

The Safari car fad that took over in the last few years shows little sign of going away. Automakers have been turning everything from sports cars to run-of-the-mill crossovers into off-road versions of their former selves to varying degrees of success. Toyota is now joining the likes of Porsche and Lamborghini in turning one of its on-road models into an off-road vehicle with the new Toyota Crown Landscape, which will only be available in Japan as far as we currently know, but it's still fun to look at.

And OK, sure. Comparing the new Crown Landscape with the 911 Dakar and Huracán Sterrato is quite a stretch, and it would be more apt to compare the Crown Landscape with something in Honda's TrailSport lineup or Subaru's Wilderness stable. But I can't help but hold the Toyota Crown in high regard because it's such a strange and confusing car in mostly good ways. It's a rather large crossover masquerading as a sedan that can either be a thrifty or sporty car depending on trim.

Drivers in Japan can now add "off-roady" to the list of the car's possible characteristics thanks to the Crown Crossover RS Landscape, which seems to toughen up the appearance of the Toyota with mudguards and a roof rack, among other things. The changes go slightly beyond cosmetic ones, however, since the Crown Landscape has been given a mild suspension lift of 25mm, or one inch, and it comes with all-terrain tires wrapped over custom 18-inch aluminum wheels. The new wheels are much smaller than the U.S.-spec Crown Platinum's 21-inch wheels, but they provide this off-road version a generous and proper amount of sidewall.

The Crown Landscape also gets new fender moldings, which are painted by hand in what Toyota calls a Gori Gori Black finish. Meanwhile, the car itself comes in Urban Khaki paint with black accents. The color looks more like green to me, but whatever. Together with the red mud flaps, Toyota claims the fenders give this Crown greater presence while protecting the body from errant pebbles and splashes while going off-road. The functional changes also include a tow hitch and new fog lights at the rear. The Crown Landscape can tow up to 750 kilograms, or 1,653 pounds, and it's powered exclusively by the 2.4-liter hybrid powertrain, which gives the Crown AWD.