<PAGE>

       AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON JULY 11, 1997
                                        Registration No. 333-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                                Washington, D.C. 20549

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                       FORM S-8
                                REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                        UNDER
                              THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                               20TH CENTURY INDUSTRIES
                (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                 CALIFORNIA                               95-1935264
       (State or other jurisdiction of                 (I.R.S. employer
        incorporation or organization)                identification no.)

            6301 Owensmouth Avenue
         Woodland Hills, California
   (Address of principal executive offices)

                  20TH CENTURY INDUSTRIES 1995 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                               (Full title of the Plan)

                                 William L. Mellick
                        President and Chief Executive Officer
                               20th Century Industries
                                6301 Owensmouth Avenue
                           Woodland Hills, California 91367
                       (Name and address of agent for service)

                                    (818) 704-3700
            (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

                           CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                     Proposed      Proposed
   Title of                           maximum       maximum
  securities         Amount          offering      aggregate      Amount of
    to be            to be             price        offering     registration
  registered       registered        per share       price           fee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Common Stock       3,000,000        $ 21.75(1)   $ 65,250,000(1)  $ 19,772.73
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1) Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(h) and Rule 457(c) solely for the
    purposes of calculating the registration fee and based on the average of
    the high and low prices of the Common Stock of the Company on the New York
    Stock Exchange on July 10, 1997.


<PAGE>

                                       PART II

                  INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT


    This Registration Statement is being filed for the purpose of registering 
additional shares of common stock, no par value per share, of 20th Century 
Industries, a California corporation, for issuance under the 20th Century 
Industries 1995 Stock Option Plan.  Pursuant to General Instruction E of Form 
S-8, the Registrant hereby incorporates by reference the contents (including 
the Exhibits other than Exhibit 24.0, "Consent of Independent Accountants") 
of the Form S-8 filed by the Registrant on July 25, 1995, File No. 33- , except
as to Item 3 of each of said Registration Statement.

ITEM 3.  INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

    The following documents of 20th Century Industries, a California
corporation, (the "Company") previously filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") are hereby incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement:

    (i) The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 1996;

    (ii) The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
March 31, 1997; and

   (iii) The description of the Company's Common Stock, no par value, set forth
under the heading "Description of Registrant's Securities to be Registered" in
the Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A, dated July 22, 1991, together
with any amendment or report filed with the Commission for the purposes of
updating such description.

    All documents subsequently filed by the company or the Plan pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates
that all securities offered hereunder have been sold or which deregisters all
securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement and to be part hereof from the date of
filing of such documents.  Any statement contained in a document incorporated 
or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be 
modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the 
extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed 
document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein 
modifies or supersedes such statement.  Any such statement so modified or 
superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to 
constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

<PAGE>

                                      SIGNATURES

    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Woodland Hills, State of California on this 11th day
of July, 1997

                                  20TH CENTURY INDUSTRIES


                                  By:/s/ WILLIAM L. MELLICK
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                        William L. Mellick
                                        President and Chief Executive Officer
                                        (Principal Executive Officer)


                                  POWER OF ATTORNEY

    Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints William
L. Mellick, Robert B. Tschudy and John R. Bollington his true and lawful
attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, with full power of substitution
and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all
capacities to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments)
to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto,
and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone,
full powers and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing
requisite and necessary to be done in and about the foregoing, as fully to all
intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and
confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, or his
substitute or substitutes may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.


Signature                         Title                         Date
---------                         -----                         ----


/s/ JOHN B. DE NAULT         Chairman of the                 May 20, 1997
-------------------------    Board of Directors
John B. De Nault


                             Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
William H. Braddock


/s/ STANLEY M. BURKE         Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Stanley M. Burke

<PAGE>


/s/ JOHN B. DE NAULT, III    Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
John B. De Nault, III


/s/ R. SCOTT FOSTER, M.D.    Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
R. Scott Foster, M.D.


/s/ RACHFORD HARRIS          Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Rachford Harris


/s/ WILLIAM L. MELLICK       Director,
-------------------------    President and
William L. Mellick           Chief Executive
                             Officer (Principal 
                             Executive Officer)              July 11, 1997


/s/ ROBERT M. SANDLER        Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Robert M. Sandler


/s/ GREGORY M. SHEPARD       Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Gregory M. Shepard


/s/ HOWARD I. SMITH          Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Howard I. Smith


/s/ ARTHUR H. VOSS           Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Arthur H. Voss

/s/ ROBERT B. TSCHUDY        Senior Vice
-------------------------    President and
Robert B. Tschudy            Chief Financial 
                             Officer (Principal 
                             Financial Officer)              July 11, 1997
<PAGE>


                                       EXHIBITS


 4.1     20th Century 1995 Stock Option Plan.  Incorporated by
         reference from the Form 10-K filed by the Company for the year ended
         December 31, 1996.

 4.2     First Amendment to 20th Century Industries 1995 Stock Option Plan.  
         Filed herewith.

 5.0     Opinion of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

24.0     Consent of Independent Auditors.  Filed herewith.

25.0     Power of Attorney (included on Signature Pages).
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 10025}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "20TH CENTURY INDUSTRIES", "cik": "0000100331", "assigned-sic": "6331", "irs-number": "951935264", "state-of-incorporation": "CA", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-31143", "film-number": "97639611"}, "business-address": {"street1": "6301 OWENSMOUTH AVE STE 700", "city": "WOODLAND HILLS", "state": "CA", "zip": "91367", "phone": "8187043700"}}
AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON JULY 11, 1997
                                        Registration No. 333-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                                Washington, D.C. 20549

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                       FORM S-8
                                REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                        UNDER
                              THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                               20TH CENTURY INDUSTRIES
                (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                 CALIFORNIA                               95-1935264
       (State or other jurisdiction of                 (I.R.S. employer
        incorporation or organization)                identification no.)

            6301 Owensmouth Avenue
         Woodland Hills, California
   (Address of principal executive offices)

                  20TH CENTURY INDUSTRIES 1995 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                               (Full title of the Plan)

                                 William L. Mellick
                        President and Chief Executive Officer
                               20th Century Industries
                                6301 Owensmouth Avenue
                           Woodland Hills, California 91367
                       (Name and address of agent for service)

                                    (818) 704-3700
            (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

                           CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                     Proposed      Proposed
   Title of                           maximum       maximum
  securities         Amount          offering      aggregate      Amount of
    to be            to be             price        offering     registration
  registered       registered        per share       price           fee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Common Stock       3,000,000        $ 21.75(1)   $ 65,250,000(1)  $ 19,772.73
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1) Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(h) and Rule 457(c) solely for the
    purposes of calculating the registration fee and based on the average of
    the high and low prices of the Common Stock of the Company on the New York
    Stock Exchange on July 10, 1997.
PART II

                  INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

    This Registration Statement is being filed for the purpose of registering 
additional shares of common stock, no par value per share, of 20th Century 
Industries, a California corporation, for issuance under the 20th Century 
Industries 1995 Stock Option Plan.  Pursuant to General Instruction E of Form 
S-8, the Registrant hereby incorporates by reference the contents (including 
the Exhibits other than Exhibit 24.0, "Consent of Independent Accountants") 
of the Form S-8 filed by the Registrant on July 25, 1995, File No. 33- , except
as to Item 3 of each of said Registration Statement.

ITEM 3.  INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

    The following documents of 20th Century Industries, a California
corporation, (the "Company") previously filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") are hereby incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement:

    (i) The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 1996;

    (ii) The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
March 31, 1997; and

   (iii) The description of the Company's Common Stock, no par value, set forth
under the heading "Description of Registrant's Securities to be Registered" in
the Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A, dated July 22, 1991, together
with any amendment or report filed with the Commission for the purposes of
updating such description.

    All documents subsequently filed by the company or the Plan pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates
that all securities offered hereunder have been sold or which deregisters all
securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement and to be part hereof from the date of
filing of such documents.  Any statement contained in a document incorporated 
or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be 
modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the 
extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed 
document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein 
modifies or supersedes such statement.  Any such statement so modified or 
superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to 
constitute a part of this Registration Statement.
SIGNATURES

    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Woodland Hills, State of California on this 11th day
of July, 1997

                                  20TH CENTURY INDUSTRIES

                                  By:/s/ WILLIAM L. MELLICK
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                        William L. Mellick
                                        President and Chief Executive Officer
                                        (Principal Executive Officer)

                                  POWER OF ATTORNEY

    Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints William
L. Mellick, Robert B. Tschudy and John R. Bollington his true and lawful
attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, with full power of substitution
and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all
capacities to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments)
to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto,
and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone,
full powers and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing
requisite and necessary to be done in and about the foregoing, as fully to all
intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and
confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, or his
substitute or substitutes may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.

Signature                         Title                         Date
---------                         -----                         ----

/s/ JOHN B. DE NAULT         Chairman of the                 May 20, 1997
-------------------------    Board of Directors
John B. De Nault

                             Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
William H. Braddock

/s/ STANLEY M. BURKE         Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Stanley M. Burke
/s/ JOHN B. DE NAULT, III    Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
John B. De Nault, III

/s/ R. SCOTT FOSTER, M.D.    Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
R. Scott Foster, M.D.

/s/ RACHFORD HARRIS          Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Rachford Harris

/s/ WILLIAM L. MELLICK       Director,
-------------------------    President and
William L. Mellick           Chief Executive
                             Officer (Principal 
                             Executive Officer)              July 11, 1997

/s/ ROBERT M. SANDLER        Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Robert M. Sandler

/s/ GREGORY M. SHEPARD       Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Gregory M. Shepard

/s/ HOWARD I. SMITH          Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Howard I. Smith

/s/ ARTHUR H. VOSS           Director                        May 20, 1997
-------------------------
Arthur H. Voss

/s/ ROBERT B. TSCHUDY        Senior Vice
-------------------------    President and
Robert B. Tschudy            Chief Financial 
                             Officer (Principal 
                             Financial Officer)              July 11, 1997
EXHIBITS

 4.1     20th Century 1995 Stock Option Plan.  Incorporated by
         reference from the Form 10-K filed by the Company for the year ended
         December 31, 1996.

 4.2     First Amendment to 20th Century Industries 1995 Stock Option Plan.  
         Filed herewith.

 5.0     Opinion of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

24.0     Consent of Independent Auditors.  Filed herewith.

25.0     Power of Attorney (included on Signature Pages).