The range was primarily available in Japan and some other Asian countries, originally designed to serve as a taxi. The Crown is Toyota's oldest sedan still in production. It is outranked only by the Century and the Majesta in social status. The Crown is used by many Japanese companies as the company Limousine. Exports to Europe began in 1964 with the first cars going to Finland. Other European cou
ntries which saw imports of the Crown included the Netherlands and Belgium. The United Kingdom was another market until the early 1980s. It was also exported to Canada for a few years—1965–68. In many markets the Crown had become very expensive and was replaced by the Cressida when that model became available for export in 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. Most models are distinguishable by a unique "Crown" badge on the front grille, in place of the normal stylized 'T', but the normal Toyota badge is usually used on the rear. The Crown has existed in some form since after the war and Toyota uses the "Crown" name as inspiration for their primary sedans, the Corolla which is Latin for "small crown", the Camry a phonetic transcription of the Japanese word kanmuri that means crown, and the Corona which is Spanish for crown.
