Remember when Toyota built a V-12? It wasn't so long ago. Production of the 1GZ-FE engine wrapped in 2017 after 20 continuous years, coinciding with the end of the second-generation Toyota Century. The 1GZ was conceived in the 1990s, the same decade Toyota launched its first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle, setting the company’s future in motion.
In short, Toyota persevered with a honkin’ V-12 long after its enthusiast offerings like the MR2 and Mark IV Supra had vanished in favor of the Prius, long after the company’s transition to the volume purveyor of mpg pragmatism. By all rights, this V-12 shouldn’t have been a footnote on Toyota’s march toward efficiency.
But before we get into that, let’s review the basics.
The 1GZ-FE is a 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V-12. As of 2024, it remains the only production 12-cylinder ever built by a mainstream Japanese automaker. Built solely for the stately Century sedan, the 1GZ was rated at 276 horsepower, honoring the horsepower-limiting “gentlemen's agreement” among Japanese automakers of the era. Those 276 horses inched up to 295 hp for the handful of Centuries exported abroad. Curiously, those exports had a slightly lower peak torque of 340 pound-feet versus 355 in Japan, though all V-12s were rated at 355 lb-ft after 2010.
To enrich this telling of the 1GZ’s story, Motor1 reached out to legendary cutaway artist Jim Hatch for a sweet-as-sushi hand-drawn rendering of this special engine. Despite a 20-year production run, this legendary V-12 has seldom been depicted in such a grandiose way. Frankly, that blows our collective minds, because it’s an engineering masterpiece. Thanks to Hatch’s extraordinary talent and eye for detail, we get a taste of what makes this 12-lunger different from the rest.
Cylinder Bore and Combustion Chamber
The aforementioned power figures aren't nearly as important as how that grunt is distributed across the 1GZ’s powerband. Toyota benchmarked V-12 engines from BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, which emphasized power at higher RPM for performance applications. A peek inside the 1GZ shows it has a rather long stroke—nearly matching the cylinder bore at 81 millimeters. This is a low-revving V-12 despite the big 48-valve double overhead-cam heads. Maximum torque hits at 4,000 RPM, but most of the power is available just above idle. According to 1GZ documents filed with Japan’s Society of Automotive Engineers, that's primarily what Toyota wanted.
And since we’re talking about 1990s-era Toyota, of course fuel efficiency was a factor. The 1GZ has slant-squish combustion chambers, featuring narrow regions at the edges of the chamber for gases to flow as the piston compresses the air-fuel mixture. A hemispherical arc in the head provides the slant, which generates more turbulence for a better mixture while directing it toward the spark plug. It’s a design well-suited for four-valve heads, resulting in a cleaner, faster, and more efficient burn that benefits both fuel economy and power.
Individual Intakes and Throttle Bodies
Destined for duty in the stately Century, this engine had to run smooth—exceedingly smooth. That was the driving force behind dual ECUs controlling individual throttle bodies and intake manifolds for each cylinder bank. Engineers ditched throttle cables in favor of a drive-by-wire design, leaving the ECU to open or close the taps while micromanaging ignition, timing, and a host of other functions for each bank. In addition to providing smoother idling and power application, this also aided in fuel efficiency.
Owing to the V-12’s primary mission of shuttling VIPs safely in the Century, the engine could run on one cylinder bank if something happened to the other. The systems were truly independent entities in that regard, fed by individual fuel pumps that could keep the V-12 running as a six-cylinder if absolutely necessary.
VVT-i Cams
Toyota’s variable valve timing system debuted a few years prior to the 1GZ’s arrival. But no other engine in Toyota’s fleet had 48 valves to contend with. It was implemented here to further manage engine vibration, notably at idle with the slightest hint of lump dialed out. It also boosted fuel efficiency, especially at higher RPM.
Aluminum Construction
Aluminum was used wherever possible to save weight, but the structure also contributes to the strength and low vibration characteristics of the 60-degree engine block. The result is a remarkably strong 5.0-liter V-12 that was considerably smoother and more powerful than the 4.0-liter V-8 it replaced.
It was also 13 percent more efficient on average compared to the previous Century’s V-8, but that’s not the impressive bit. At higher RPM, the 1GZ-FE was 30 percent better on gas while making way more horsepower. For the record, it also outclassed American V-8 sedans when it launched in 1997, both in power and efficiency. As for other V-12s, nothing else could match the 1GZ for low and mid-range torque.
And yes, it almost didn’t happen. In a 2003 interview, veteran Toyota engineer Yoshiro Kanehara said the V-12 prototype was developed for the second-gen Century without the approval of Shoichiro Toyoda, Toyota’s president at the time. Toyoda was “furious” over the idea of spending money on a niche engine for a low-production luxury vehicle, Kanehara said, and turned it down. A tweaked version of the Lexus V-8 was considered for the Century, but Kanehara believed the V-12 would not only be the best engine for the job, it would also show the world what Toyota was capable of. Toyoda relented to a follow-up proposal for the V-12.
Driving The 1GZ-FE
Kanehara thought the engine was exceptional, and its stats are impressive. But does Japan’s only V-12 live up to the hype?
I visited Myron Vernis, owner of a V-12 Toyota Century and co-author of A Quiet Greatness – Japan's Most Astonishing Automobiles For the Collector and Enthusiast. His mind-melting, eclectic collection includes such vehicles as a Mazda Cosmo, a Porsche 914 truck (yes, truck), and dozens of other obscure rides. His Century formerly escorted Japan's minister of finance. With approximately 155,000 kilometers on the digital odometer, this example is in astonishingly good, original condition.
Vernis fired up the V-12. When heard from the front of the car, it’s as if the starter didn’t spin at all. You hear only a very pleasant electric thrum lasting barely a second before the V-12 wakes to life. When that happens, there’s no initial roar from the exhaust or cooling fans, no visible movement of the engine. Once running, the 1GZ settles to a nearly imperceptible idle.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, it’s damn tough to tell the engine is running. My only indication is a faint monotone akin to low-pitched white noise. The digital instrument cluster has no tachometer, and there’s zero vibration felt through the floor, seat, or steering wheel. Even with a prod at the throttle, there’s a fractional increase in sound, but nothing else. I feel not a hint of engine vibration in the steering wheel.
With Vernis watching from the garage, I ease onto the street as if Japan’s finance minister was frowning at me from the back seat. I’d just driven six hours in a new Miata for this visit and the size difference—not to mention the Century being right-hand drive—required a mental reboot. A complete lack of driver feedback didn’t help, but this isn’t a driver’s car. The Century’s body motions are subdued and amply cushioned. The steering feels numb and effortless. And there’s very little sound by which to judge your engine speed.
It’s not entirely unlike an Eighties Cadillac, but without the floating, pendulous feeling. In other words, it’s the perfect vehicle for shuffling VIPs around town.
As for the V-12, it deserves its reputation as a supremely smooth operator. Making a sharp left turn, I gently apply the drive-by-wire gas pedal and the big Century oozes forward without hesitation. I lift a few seconds later at what I think is around 30 mph, only to see 65 on the digital speedometer. Oh yeah, kilometers, I think to myself. Still, that’s about 10 mph faster than I thought I was traveling. The Century isn’t fast but it is so isolated from noise and vibration that it’s tough to judge the car’s speed.
And the V-12’s low-end push is no joke. I hang a right onto another quiet, straight street and delve deeper into the go-pedal from around 20 mph. I expect some extra noise from the engine, maybe. Instead, a pedal prod produces a pair of squealing Toyos. Sorry, Mister Finance Minister.
Back at the Vernis garage, I open the Toyota’s hood to snap engine photos. Instead, a plastic wall greets my camera. We already know Toyota spared no expense in creating the 1GZ-FE, devoting a sizable chunk of the engine’s development budget to vanquish noise and vibration. Plastic covers in the engine bay hide even a visual hint of the motor, save a peak at its intake tubes. The rest of the 1GZ is burrowed in deep, uniquely devoted to civility, not showmanship.
That’s the irony about this whole V-12 saga. Toyota brass didn’t want the 1GZ-FE, but only the Japanese could build an engine like it. By laying every ounce of their engineering devotion upon the altar of refinement, Toyota built perhaps the smoothest-running engine of all time. Rather than play the same tune as every other legendary Japanese engine—your 2Js, SR20s, and RBs—the 1GZ sets itself apart.
Even compared to nearly every other V-12 on the planet, from Ferrari to Mercedes to McLaren, the only Japanese production V-12 ever built is not a screamer or burly or even present at all, but rather a quiet porter of the highest order, ferrying its passengers with dignity and a whisper. The 1GZ is good. Really good. And worthy of being celebrated as one of the greatest Japanese engines of all time.
