Japan · First generation · featured as the 1957 U.S.-bound RS export car

Toyopet Crown RS

The sturdy Japanese sedan that began Toyota's U.S. adventure—and showed how much there was still to learn.

Everyday icons

Exterior · rear three-quarter · Photo shows Representative · same RS model and first-generation body. The museum car is labeled 1955 and Japanese-market. It shows the same original RS model and generation, but it is not one of the 1957 U.S.-bound cars.
1955 Toyopet Crown Model RS representative · Mytho88 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Auction-based estimated value

Research pending

A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.

Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.

A place in vehicle history

More than a set of wheels.

Toyota launched the RS Crown in Japan in January 1955 and renamed it Crown Standard that December. This page follows the original RS cars Toyota sent to the United States in 1957, not a later Crown generation. Two examples left Yokohama on August 25, and one then completed a 927-mile Los Angeles-to-Richmond test trip. It reached the finish, but heat and highway-speed problems taught Toyota that an American-market car needed more development.

Look a little closer.

Toyota's first American test Crown crossed deserts and mountains on a five-day road trip before the brand had a U.S. dealer network.

Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.

Why 1957 is the featured year

The Crown RS itself debuted in Japan in 1955. Joyride uses 1957 here because these are the original RS cars Toyota shipped to the United States that year, rather than pretending a new Crown generation launched in 1957.

Source: Toyota USA · A tale of two Toyopets ↗

A useful failure

The 927-mile test car averaged about 30 mpg at a steady 55 mph, but it also overheated and suffered other trouble. Toyota treated the journey as engineering homework and later designed cars more closely around American conditions.

Source: Toyota USA · A tale of two Toyopets ↗

Where these facts come from

Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed September 29, 2026.

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