According to Lexus
The LF-Gh, which stands for Lexus Future Grand Touring Hybrid, sets out to redefine the premium grand touring sedan. Through this exercise, the definition of L-Finesse, the marque’s design philosophy since 2001, has been refined and evolved to include a bolder, more distinct projection of what a luxury car could become in a modern world. The result is the LF-Gh concept, which conveys original thoughts and ideas that may migrate to future Lexus vehicles on a global scale.
From these teasers, it’s hard to tell what Lexus’s “spindle grille” actually looks like, but the brand says it “hints at the new face of Lexus vehicles.” If nothing else, Lexus seems to be diverging from its arch-conservative stylistic roots, a move that will be interesting to watch given Toyota’s history of success with a substance-over-style strategy.
Does anybody else see the face of “The Predator” at this angle? (shudder)
shudder, indeed. It looks like it’s aping the Dodge Charger look. Except the eyes seem to have been stunted. I can imagine that if we could see the whole thing it might look a bit silly.
So, can anyone translate the Lexus PR into meaningful English? Didn’t think so. Frankly, I think that Lexus–the little we can see of it–looks more like it does today than it ever has before.
Simple! Just ask Google Translate to go from PR-speak to English:
Our new concept, whose name has been chosen from a bag of Scrabble tiles, is meant to remind you that Lexus does actually try to compete with the 5er and E-Klasse. Since everyone forgot about the GS, we’ve had to change up the styling a bit, and while the result is likely to be as ugly as Acura’s “Keen Edge” nonsense, at least you won’t forget it two seconds after seeing it. We’re going to be plastering this “spindle grille” and other overwrought nonsense on all of our cars soon, so you’d better get used to it now.
I see an old school Cylon. Predator is apt too.
Yeah, that’s one angry looking maw there. Still, it beats the Mazda’s goofy Nagare-inspired grin.
I’m seeing a Zeta Gundam mobile suit head. Maybe Lexus has hired Bandai for their future designs.
The alt text is priceless.
Now, that said, design-language concepts are rarely that extreme in production cars. Mazda pushed the boundaries and even it’s stuff wasn’t a patch on how radical it’s concepts were.
…i remember the last decade this extent of filigree was pervasive across the industry: they were called the seventies, at they’re not exactly revered as a high watermark of automotive design…
Ah but we were in the midst of an economic “meh” decade during that time. Coincidence?
Is there some reason that car fascias have started to look more and more like fish?
Fish are fairly aerodynamic? Or is that fluid-dynamic? :P
Well, if you’re going to make the logo the size of a dinner plate, obviously the grille is going to need to get a little larger.
I was going to blame it on Mazda’s weird attraction to baleen-whale faces, but then I remembered the mid-90s catfish-faced Camaros. Truly perplexing. Not at all attractive.
It looks hungry… very hungry.
Looks like they’re trying to outdo Acura with the “aggressive” and “edgy” styling. I just hope that, unlike Acura, the vehicles start to pack something “truly exciting” (to use Toyota’s own words) performance to back up the styling.
To each his own. I think Acura’s as a group are some of the least attractive cars made.
Honda’s a close second.
My thoughts exactly. Nissan and Mazda seem capable of original styling, while certainly hit or miss on some elements/models are much more coherent than Honda/Toyota’s offering of late.
Aggressive doesn’t necessarily have to mean ‘violently pissed off’ or ‘aesthetically inept.’
I hope they’re not smoking cracura over there. The last thing we need are tens of thousands of middle-managers swarming around in anime-inspired angermobiles.
I wouldn’t say Mazda since they lifted that “smiling guppy” look from Peugeot; and it took Nissan some time to stop overly relying on the BMW-esque greenhouse with the Hofmeister kink (but they got there).
It looks like a Cylon from “Battlestar Galactica”. If that’s what they were going for, they should’ve made it look like Tricia Helfer (number six) rather than a Centurian.
Overreach. Overkill. Just over. Awkward proportions. I can’t it getting any better when the whole car is in view.
(Carve, +1 for the Cylon reference…I can see that now)
These photos should take the stock back down.
Virgil Exner crossed with Zagato. This is really nasty, and it won’t wear well at all.
It looks like a kit car. Bleh. Give me the handsome, clean looks of their current lineup any day.
Looks like the same rattle-canned chicken wire you see on so many tacked-on body kits.