Japan has such national pride in the Toyota brand that many wealthy vehicle owners still want to be seen in a Toyota. So, for decades, Toyota has offered luxury sedans such as the Crown and Century for the JDM market. In 2000, it capitalized on this nostalgia with the hand-built Origin limited edition. Now, one of just 1,000 is for sale on Cars and Bids.

By 2000, one of the top-trim Toyota sedans was the midsize Progrès. But Toyota decided to build a limited edition on the same chassis showcasing the opposite of progress: heritage. The Origin has a grille that might belong on a late 1950s luxury car. It’s got a wraparound rear window and rear-slanted C-pillars that could fit on an early 1960s luxury car. The tall tail lights remind me of mid-century Mercedes sedans. It even has little fender flares above the wheel arches, a bit like the first-gen Plymouth Valiant. All in all, it’s completely unique.

There are still some Y2K-era features. Its headlights don’t look especially retro, and neither do its wheels. Finally, its wheelbase is that of a midsize sedan. The rear-hinged rear doors are a nod to its destiny as a car you get chauffeured around in.

The Toyota ‘Origin’ is a rare find

Toyota planned to hand-build 1,000 of these. It ended up making 1,073, so they must have been popular. It has a four-speed automatic, 3.0-liter I6, and swagger for days.

The example on Cars and Bids has a beige leather interior and is painted “Origin Blue Mica,” which I’d say appears slate in some lights. It’s a RHD currently registered in Canada with 99,000 miles.

I love to see that while the retro vehicle craze was sweeping other continents (this is the era of the new Mini Cooper, new Beetle, PT Cruiser, and eventually the Mustang), the richest car buyers in Japan wanted their own take on the trend. Toyota delivered—but only in Japan. So whoever buys this example in North America will probably have the only one at any car meet they attend.