Lexus Rising

Toyota’s Luxury Division Grew Sleepy.  This Sexy Beast Wakes It Up.

- Jasonh. Harper

CAR CONNOISSEURS, it is time to put away your knives. To cease the mean jabs. “It’s pretty good . . . for a Lexus.” Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota and Lexus brand ambassador, listened, politely, as you told him that his cars were a bore. After a research trip to the United States in 2011, he returned to Japan and issued an executive edict: Banish the boredom.

The result, more than five years on, sits infront of us today, in the Spanish sun, and we can say unequivocally: You ain’t gonna yawn.

The LC 500 is the production version of the LF-LC concept car shown in Detroit in 2012. It is a big-boned, rear-drive coupe, slightly shorter than a Mercedes E-class coupe but wider and lower. The Lexus uses its size to make a definite impression, athletic and purposeful. It fills a parking spot commandingly.

The company was able to pull off this trick because the LC 500 isn’t based on any other Lexus or Toyota vehicle. It’s a clean-sheet design on an all-new platform that will also underpin the next LS sedan. The LC is the first Lexus to wear the spindle grille as a resplendent crown rather than a design oddity. With its extra-long hood, two-plus-two seating, and an interior that uses expensive materials playfully, the LC 500 comes off as upscale and potent, a shiny toy in the best of ways.

The details are a marvel. The mesh on the grille is tight near the hood and then loosens as it waterfalls down the nose. The lines along the sides dance in sunlight. The rear is a cheeky reinterpretation of the nose. The cabin has beautifully designed grab handles on either side of the passenger, and the seats, with origami-inspired bolsters, beg you to climb into them.