When we die, please take us to rest in this incredible Toyota Century hearse

Well, this is probably the last thing we’d expect to crop up on US auction site Cars & Bids. Any Toyota Century coming up for sale outside of its home market is a rare occurrence, but just look at this one…

Taken it all in yet? Of course you haven’t – that would literally take until your own dying day, but we’ll try and explain what’s going on anyway.

It’s a hearse. That much is obvious. And it has been converted using a 1996 Toyota Century as the base – a car that is the absolute pinnacle of luxury in Japan. The impossibly ornate coffin section (sorry, we couldn’t think of a more discreet way to put that) is temple- or shrine-like in design, with these types of conversions known as miyagata hearses.

We’re told that it was recently imported to the US and is now registered in Virginia, with the odometer showing around 33,000 intensely slow and careful miles.

The Century itself is a first-generation car in the later VG40 spec. It uses a 4.0-litre V8 that drives the rear wheels through a four-speed auto with around 190 honourable horsepower.

Inside you get a grey cloth interior, wooden trim, electric seats, air con and a brilliantly retro digital dash, while the miyagata modifications include a PA system and (rather importantly) a reversing camera that hides in the elaborate decoration.

Almost eerily, at the time of writing the listing has reached $6,666. What a way to go…

Images: Cars & Bids