THE OUTLIER

Spoiler alert - we love the Lexus LC500h. Also, we love it

- Pablo Chaterji

I'm not sure exactly when I realised that the Lexus LC500h is arguably the most underrated sportscar on the planet. Perhaps it was when I went to pick it up at Lexus' elegant headquarters in Bengaluru, and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it glistening on the showroom floor. It could have been the moment when I got into its spectacularly well-made cabin, the likes of which you won't find in any other car. Maybe it was the way it went from boulevard cruiser to bar-room bruiser with a turn of the driving mode dial. It was probably all of these things, to be honest and a whole host of others, which I'll attempt to spell out shortly.

I'm sure you remember the shrieking Lexus LFA, that otherworldly automobile that was essentially an F1 car made for the road. I passed up the opportunity to drive it 12 years ago because I had a school reunion to attend, and thus the very fortunate Srinivas Krishnan went to Japan to drive it and came back a changed man. The LFA is among the wildest cars of all time, and not just because of the V10 it packed; it also looked like an anime fever dream, with a design so out there that it was difficult to accept that Lexus had come up with it. The LC is cut from the same cloth - there are shades of the LFA in it, but if anything it's an even more breathtaking design. There are very few other cars (sports or otherwise) that look this bold, this thrilling, this outrageous, and I'm astonished and glad in equal measure that Lexus - purveyor of understated elegance - lobs a grenade into the mix every now and then.