Toyota turns luxury car seat into a $3,100 office chair with a seatbelt

The big picture: Automakers know a thing or two about seats people spend hours in, but Toyota appears to have realized that expertise doesn't have to stay in the vehicle. The company has released an office chair that costs about as much as a used 90s Corolla – and yes, it really is a car seat on wheels.

Called the Crown Seat Desk Chair, it essentially repurposes the front power seat from Toyota's Crown luxury sedan for desk use. You get the full set of features from the car seat as well including heating and cooling with three levels – and even the seatbelt buckle, which has been converted into a USB-C port for charging your phone. The buckle does look a little unusual sticking out like that, but how many office chairs offer that kind of functionality?

You also get powered recline and lumbar support. A built-in rechargeable battery handles the electrical functions, meaning the chair doesn't need to be tethered to a wall outlet.

The whole thing does look rather over the top with its bulky build, which makes the wheels underneath seem almost timid by comparison – but that can have its own charm.

The Crown is built by Toyota Boshoku. If you haven't heard of them, they're the part of Toyota responsible for the interiors of the company's vehicles – seats, door trims, and the like. But since bolting a car seat onto something meant to roll around an office isn't really their area of expertise, they brought in Japanese office furniture maker Itoki to handle that side. Itoki designed the base, the height adjustment mechanism, and the armrests. You can find full details about the chair in the brochure.

Pricing starts at ¥495,000, or roughly $3,100 at current exchange rates. That is well above most premium gaming chairs, but exclusivity is part of the appeal here, as Toyota is only making 70 of them. They are sold through The Crown, the company's premium domestic retail network in Japan, as part of The Crown Collection.

Orders opened on April 23, and if demand exceeds supply, buyers will be selected by lottery. Of course, you would need to live in Japan to participate, making this one of those guilty pleasures most people can't realistically buy.