From the same division that birthed the Lexus IS-F and LFA comes the RC-F Coupe, which will turn up next week during the 2014 Detroit Auto Show to punch both BMW and Mercedes-AMG in the face.
Though the luxury automaker hasn’t dropped any hard numbers thus far, Lexus claims the V8 behind the unmasked Predator face will be their most powerful yet. How powerful? The IS-F dropped 420 horses in its day, so it’s possible the former’s 5-liter will be massaged to expel 500 horsepower to the rear wheels through its eight-speed Sport Direct Shift Transmission.
Aside from the aforementioned beastly visage, the RC-F Coupe — based upon the original RC that debuted at the 2013 Tokyo Auto Show — features tons of creased surfaces broken up by flared wheel arches. The front bumper directs airflow over the car and toward the brakes and engine, while vertical air vents positioned behind the front wheels allow heated brake air to escape. Stacked dual tailpipes and speed-sensitive active aero in the rear complete the package.
Am I so far behind the curve that I just don’t get it? This is God-awful ugly. Get off my lawn, you damn kids.
Agreed, but Lexus’ sales have increased noticeably since this brand language was introduced.
True their sales have increased. However it has been a rising market and for 2013 they increased by 12.2% against 21% for Cadillac (new ATS obviously helped), 9% for BMW and 13% for Mercedes. So I wouldn`t put their average increase down to the styling. They have also launched two updated cars – the IS and GS which have had good reviews which will have helped.
I’m been so tired of the giant grill look. This “electric shaver” spin off is the worst yet, and hopefully will help finally put it to sleep. I don’t mind the rest of it, it’s not bad, but that face has to go.
It’s bad bad bad.
Arggghhhhhhh. I didn’t know that Toyota had hired Bangle. Make it stop, make it go away!
Toyota may have picked up a more local designer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuoka_Orochi
Actually, no, I take that back, the Mitsuoka Orochi is actually interesting and bold in a certain way. This Lexus just sucks. It was designed by someone that no longer cares.
Also, the first picture makes in look like it has no B-pillar. A nice, high-end feature on certain German coupes. But latter photes show that is not the case.
Back at ya:
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Plymouth-1961-2-door-wagon.png
Are you saying they looked back to 1961 and Plymouth for inspiration. Wow things must be bad!
Its interesting. It looks menacing….not really very attractive though.
I am not a sheetmetal expert, but I have a guess that the surfacing on this is extremely hard to pull off in production form. Toyota has a history of pushing the limits on production sheet metal, and I suspect they are showing off here.
I think the results are mixed, but I blame the euro pedestrian impact requirements for the schnoz. It would have been cool if they had done a dry sump to drop the motor, but I am not surprised that they didn’t think customers would pony up for the extra cost and maintenance.
Class. For those who can’t recognize it.
Like my poor cousin, a nose job would be a great help. It did wonders for her. Talk about a butterface…
Staggered quad exhausts are not class.
It needs to lose the Nike swoosh turn signals.
And someone please tell me that those vents on the front bumper are somehow functional, or will have foglights placed there. Plastic inserts are my biggest automotive styling pet peeve. Especially on luxury cars (looking at you, all sub-$50K ATS’s).
They don’t look like they’d be particularly helpful in cooling the brakes, but that’s still one possibly…
I would be willing to bet there is an oil cooler on one side, possibly a diff cooler on the other.
For all the people that knocked Lexus for ripping off German design, well, I hope you’re happy. This freakish, disfigured car is the result. When your eyes are burned by one of the few of these that eventually gets driven on the road, probably by a Lexus dealer’s kid, you have nobody to blame but yourself.
It looks awesome and has more power than the new M4, there have already been leaked specs that say the V8 has 460 HP.
The same people who hate on this are the same ones that would’ve hated it for being too conservative if they went that route. Neither would’ve bought it regardless. Haters gon’ hate.
I had a G35. That was an attractive Japanese performance car that could also crush a comparably priced BMW. This is hideous. It probably has much better long term quality than a comparable German luxury car, but who cares about long term quality when leasees will be begging people to buy out their leases because they cannot look at it anymore.
Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know you spoke for everyone when it comes to styling?
Don’t like it? DON’T BUY ONE.
And why the hell would people lease one, then beg to have the lease bought out because they can’t stand to look at it? Did someone hold a gun to their head to buy it and then the gunman fled afterwards?
I still have to look at the ones Lexus dealers’ kids drive. I can’t look the other way when I’m driving.
“And why the hell would people lease one, then beg to have the lease bought out because they can’t stand to look at it?”
Because they were temporary blinded by the free bagels and lox at the Lexus dealership.
Yeah and they have to put up with your attitude on the road and have to look at whatever it is you drive..
You don’t own the road.
“and have to look at whatever it is you drive..”
and I have to look at all of the horrible looking fake SUV product churned out of Korea and Japan Inc. S*** rolls downhill.
“You don’t own the road.”
I might not own the road, but I’m going to write my senators and ask for RC-F restrictions in the TPP, in exchange for getting rid of the chicken tax.
“and I have to look at all of the horrible looking fake SUV product churned out of Korea and Japan Inc. S*** rolls downhill.”
Referring to having to look at this car on the road was a joke, as was the TPP restriction comment.
I don’t approve of current Lexus design, especially this car, but will fight to the death for the right of Lexus dealers’ kids to drive what Lexus currently designs. And even people who are not Lexus dealers’ kids, if the bagels and lox get the better of them.
Unless Lexus goes way off the reservation I don’t think the spoiled children of dealer principles are under any hardship for driving them.
28-
I’m sure you were directing that comment at racer-esp, not me. If dealer principle’s kids are getting these, and bagels with lox, where do I sign up? I’d get to drive around in my RC-F, eat great food, not go to private school today because of the snow, skate around on my back yard ice rink, and hang out with my skanky girlfiend that goes to an all girl catholic school.
Instead, I’m going to drive home in the polar vortex (in my hybrid), make grilled cheese, change a poopy diaper, and fall asleep on the couch next to my wife who worked a 12 today, after the 13 month old goes to bed. Actually, I’ll take my day.
My bad, I’ll fix it.
No problem 28. It gave me the chance to think of what life would be like as an entitled youth.
Personally I prefer to imagine myself beating up the entitled youths.
What the hell is lox!!??
Are Jews known to drive Lexus? Not around here they aren’t. I assume that’s what the locks and bagels thing was for.
Round these parts they seem to prefer older GM vehicles 1993-2005.
You do not have to be Jewish (I’m not) to like thinly sliced smoked salmon on your bagel. Lox is great on top of some good schmear (cream cheese).
Bagels and lox is a big selling point at the Lexus dealerships in my area. Bagels and lox will only become more important as Lexus design gets worse and Lexus quality continues to normalize against the competition.
I somewhat like the rear, but damn that front end is hideous. But then looks are sbjective.
Well, I don’t know, guys…
The “BIG Nostril” effect is starting to take hold all over.
First the new BMW 3/4-series.
Then the BMW M’s.
Then the new Mercedes C-Class.
Now this,….thing.
They certainly are not my favorite design element on anybody’s car. The “spindle grill” is a close bad 2nd.
But “imag” above suggested that they actually do something: engine oil cooler (one side) and differential cooler (other side). I could imaging two others: brake-cooling ducts and/or front wheel-well air-curtains.
Or maybe all of the above.
Does anyone know for sure about these “nostrils”?
——————–
I’m generally critical of the current crop of designers because so much product looks either cartoonish or the result of a contest to see how awful they can make it and still get approved for production. But I don’t hate this, its nowhere near the grace and elegance of the SC400, but its very appropriate. Note to Toyota though, the Scion-styled steering wheel looks ridiculous on this model come up with a thinner looking one more race inspired one and encase the buttons in chrome or stainless steel.
Great point bringing up the SC300/400. Why can’t Lexus make a contemporary car that is as attractive as that car was? Even the SC430 was a better effort.
@racer: When the SC300 was sold it was constantly bashed for being bland, boring, rebadged Toyota, Lexus will never amount to anything blah blah blah.
The SC430’s bashing was far worse.
This car was damned if it did, damned if it didn’t.
Given the superb excellence of the earlier SC series, I think SC430 just didn’t meet some folks high expectations. For what it was I don’t think it was a bad car, but it was bland and forgettable.
The original SC was basically a fancy Supra, since it used a modified A70 Supra platform.
The SC430 was…I don’t even know WHAT that was. Apparently Toyota thought people wanted a less sporty SC? The change in…pretty much everything just mystifies me.
Evidently it was meant to be a convertible from the ground up.
“In contrast with the previous generation model, the redesigned Lexus SC was intended as a convertible from its inception”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_SC
I don’t get the SC430. When it came around, it didn’t match their design language, the price was too close to the SL, the ride was not in keeping with the rest of the early 00s range – just ugh.
But thinking of it, the rest of the range at that time was JDM vehicles modified to be a Lexus, save the ES. Wasn’t the SC designed to be a “for America” car? Are we discussing start of the bad Lexus design trend there?
I think this answers your question, gen 1 styling was handled by an American firm, gen 2 was led by a Japanese person and was designed by European and Japanese designers. Perhaps the gen 2 was never intended for American tastes.
Gen 1 SC
“The coupé was going to be targeted towards the American market,[5] and the development effort for its exterior design was handed over to the Calty Design Research center in California in 1987.[4]”
Gen 2
“In contrast with the previous generation model, the redesigned Lexus SC was intended as a convertible from its inception.[19] The development team was led by chief engineer Yasushi Nakagawa from 1996 to 2000. Lexus designers from Europe and Japan worked together to create a streamlined design. A design theme was chosen in 1997 from a sketch drawn by Sotiris Kovos, who in return was named chief designer. Led by Kovos, designers traveled to the Côte d’Azur to develop the vehicle’s exterior shape, and studied the region’s architecture, lifestyle, and harbors.[17] The resulting convertible of 1998 received character lines similar to the region’s yachts, in contrast with traditional waveform lines.[20] The vehicle’s side profile, the product of extensive wind tunnel testing, was intended to channel air around the passenger compartment at high speed during top-down driving”
So basically, they thought yachts would appeal to most of America, and spent time in Africa to style it as such.
Y’know another vehicle which is boat-based in design that nobody likes? The Ssanyong Rhodius.
They had an opportunity to make a lux personal coupe, and just failed. They made a car for tiny blond women in Ohio.
Sounds like an excuse to use Toyota’s expense account but you may have hit the nail on the head: “They made a car for tiny blond women in Ohio.” Seems like a bad business case though to spend all of that money to build a car with such a narrow target audience (small bimbos) when as you pointed out a more standardized personal luxury coupe appeals to a broader demographic.
Nobody said anything about the previous two generations of ISes, this is just an ugly car, so people are saying it is ugly.
84Cressida – could Lexus do anything (or Toyota for that matter) that would make you criticize them or do you just reflexively support whatever they did?
I personally like the new IS, so I don`t reflexively criticize them. The new GS is also by all accounts a good car.
As an aside I think RC is a silly name especially for the UK market since it sounds like “arsey” and anyone from the UK knows that is not a great word to be associated with.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=arsey
+1 on the GS. I think it’s gorgeous, and it and the new CTS would be the only cars I’d buy in this segment…
“84Cressida – could Lexus do anything (or Toyota for that matter) that would make you criticize them or do you just reflexively support whatever they did?”
We should put him, billfrombuckhead and silvy in a room together and see what happens.
Well the fact that it took them this long to come out with a coupe is certainly worthy of lots of criticism. And the fact that it’s been 6 years since the last introduction of an F model. Not to mention I’ve made my thoughts about Scion perfectly clear on this board and now completely irrelevant and a huge waste it is. I’ve complained about Toyota getting into bed with Subaru for the FR-S, a car that itself should be sold as the Toyota Celica. I think the refreshed ’14 4Runner needs to go back to the drawing board. And those are just the items off the top of my head, I could go on for days about stuff they do that irks me.
They’re a great company and I like their products and always have, but don’t think I’m delusional to believe that they’ve never screwed the pooch on anything before.
You could say the same thing of the LS460 vs the LS400. I wish I knew exactly, one might argue the initial SC and LS programs had nearly unlimited funding (esp SC) and thus the product produced was truly world class and current products have more realistic budgets and timeframes.
Who knew the 1961 Plymouth grill motif was such a worthy design inspiration to be updated and slapped on a full line of new cars? Well, Lexus did, apparently.
This thing has a hideous, crustacean-like front end, and a creased up origami hodge-podge rear end with an okay side profile relieved from being a complete Subaru BRZ clone by its nicely done front fender vent.
Hope this rolling visual affront drives really well, because it will never sell on its looks alone.
This car due to its specs and intended audience “works”. However, lide 28 saíd it sorely lacks grace. A softer Touch would have been appreaciated. Notice how thick is the roof to the back of the car. Rhetorically, why? I think your analysis as to the car’s look is spot on.
Good expansion on my original point gentleman. If any of Mr. Toyoda’s staff are lurkers I hope they bring some of these comments to his attention. If I sat on Toyota’s corporate board I would wallpaper the ’92 SC400 all over the RC-Fs design area and I would command them to bring “this” into the 21st Century.
You didn’t like the subtle revisions around 95? ;)
Maybe they’re going for a front and back end so angular and busy you can play bumper cars all day long and no one will be able to tell a difference.
Meh – Lexus/Toyota will always get bashed no matter what they do.
I’m looking forward/hoping to see this beat up the best the Germans can bring in the future.
But I’m sure the TMC haters will always find something to complain about.
Unfortunately the good looking rear and side profiles as well as the combination of an NA V8 and RWD are completely undone by that front end overbite.
The Euro pedestrian impact regulations have really trashed the looks of sporting cars like this. The only front engine sports cars that have decent hood lines have ultra-low engines like the boxer in the FT86 or the pushrod motors in the Corvette and Viper.
Imagine how this would look with 2″ off the front and the top of the hood. Darned good, I would say.
Yep the rear and sides are fantastic… but that nose? WTF?
It has a V8 and RWD. We need more cars like this. I personally don’t like the grille, but I’d probably buy this over an M4. I’m still waiting on the ATS-V and Lincoln to dissapoint me again though.
“It has a V8 and RWD. We need more cars like this. I personally don’t like the grille”
+1, Like most new cars today I’ll need to see it in person. Not a fan of the tailpipes.
I agree, I have to like it on principle. But that grille, I just can’t do it.
@28-Cars-Later: I suppose that makes sense, but it seems that making the SC430 a convertible just made it a worse car.
I don’t recall ever seeing a Gen 1 SC convertible, designing its replacement from the ground up as a convertible made sound business sense. I don’t object to SC430, but if I had to pick something I would say it was clearly a feminized design which I think was a mistake. Lexus should have been going for an extremely refined Japanese Corvette. The new RC-F doesn’t feel like Corvette but it feels like their take on an A5/BMW 650.
Oh yeah, front end aside, this thing looks lean and mean, like a big cat. A big cat with a really stupid face, but a big cat.
There are parts I’d like to see massaged but in aggregate I like it. Lexus, aka Toyota Heavy, has built a coupe, with a naturally aspirated V-8 that will be in the neighborhood of 450 hp.
The design might not be to your liking but that’s subjective. I mean everyone’s a**hole stinks. Except mine.
But please, I implore you to take a look at the powertrain goodness present in this car and please consider the manufacturer and the blandness it produced in recent memory. If knowing that this exists doesn’t excite you on some level you might want to think about scoring some Cialis or maybe some Viagara. Absent that just go eat some oysters.
I get that the looks aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but I’d expect enthusiast to gnash their teeth just a bit less.
I agree. There is goodness here. Let’s focus on that.
+2
If it was designed like a 20 year old SC most people would be bitching that it’s “typically Lexus boring”. I agree with hubcap that some of the design elements are questionable on their own but looks pretty good on the whole.
Reg; “typically Lexus boring” That is the way it on the American auto blogs.
The SC300/400 were very nice looking cars, a very composed design. I really wanted an SC300 5-speed, but never found one new to buy. The SC400 was and under steering mess with the SC300 not so much afflicted, both, really, boulevard and freeway cruisers.
I did finally pick up(recently) a very nice SC300 with the 5-speed and a Supra turbo motor(busted)that will probably get one of our LS376 crate motors, when things slow down around here.
As for the SC430, I think it was a design Tour de Force, and still find it quite visually interesting. See a lot around Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, and Palm Springs. Never see a guy driving one, usually women of late middle age and later dressed to the nines or in their tennis outfits.
I think this latest Lexus is a keeper with its dramatic stylings and performance potential. Looking forward too seeing them on the street.
Maybe they should advertise these like the early Scion commercials that were all about the car as a canvas for you to mod to your liking. Make it drastic enough and start a nose job shop for extra income. Genius!
I think Lexus is having an identity crisis at the moment, and so I can forgive them for the styling. Plus, Lexus isn’t the worst offender when it comes to styling. I’d take any Lexus over a Lincoln. Besides, this probably makes the best use for the new Lexus school-of-design. The coupe is certainly better than the IS sedan. Still, I think that the upcoming Q60 coupe will likely have better styling.
I agree totally, except that to be a school of design there must be followers. I think there will be none (crossing fingers).
Love the look of this coupe. Distinctive and not boring… kudos to the principle designer and staff.
Build it!
OK, OK, I get it.
Pontiac made the Aztek and hung crappy plastic on everything. Then those designers went to Honda and gave us the Acura beaks (or can openers or knight shields if you prefer) and the Honda Crosstour. Then they got booted from Honda, but Toyota snapped them up where they work at Lexus now.
My eyes! It hurts my eyes!
I thought they went to Ford to create the Schick Razor grills. THEN then went to Lexus.
It heard the entire design was outsourced to this company:
Copy & paste link:
http://owoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Pixar-Cars-Backgrounds.jpg
Free advice for Lexus: one thing Detroit used to do very well and something the Europeans somewhat understand is you shouldn’t be looking to create one off models you create a evolving *series*. Based on conversations I’ve had with now deceased members of the WWII generation, when they talked about cars they like/owned it was about the model, not even the brand. For instance there was a time when you didn’t refer to your “Cadillac” you referred to your “Eldorado” or “Coupe de Ville” and people instinctively *knew* what those models were as opposed to “what brand is that?”. Maybe you were a Ford buyer so you drove a Continental Mark III, so when the new Conti series came out, *you just bought the Mark IV*. Car series defined people, not only the brand but the series of car. Felt like joining a club and every so often you just re-upped your membership. I think this still exists to a point (Corvette, Mustang, Wrangler, Camcords etc), and for Lexus their series is ES/RX. But for the now RC, your “series” would be the SC430 and SC300/400 before it, but all three models are vastly different from each other almost like one offs (even the current LS is vastly different than the LS400/430 before it). Seems like today outside of a few models, most buyers don’t seem to gravitate to the same brand/model over and over again, but it seems to me this should be the goal. Don’t just sell a car, sell a series and a lifestyle.
It’s a good point you make, 28CL, but it is still the same, today, it is just that M3 or Q50 don’t quite roll of the tongue as beautifully as ‘Coupe de Ville’. But, we still have ‘Quattroporte’ or Wraith’ or ‘Phantom’……
By the way, a funny video for the RR Wraith and one the guys who a P- whipped should take note of.
http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/andtheworldstoodstill/
Actually, nowadays, I’d argue that it’s just the opposite. Luxury automakers today are successful by focusing on the brand and not the models. This is especially useful when you have a model that really needs to be assimilated into the rest of the lineup rather than being left to keep its own reputation (like, for example, the Escalade), and it’s also useful when you have an entry-level luxury model that isn’t all that nice, but that makes its case solely by badge (like the Lexus CT and departed HS).
Could be, Kyree, but tell that to the ‘brand’ owner driving a ‘CLA’ when he would rather be driving a ‘C’, ‘E’, or ‘SL’. Or the ‘3’ driver who would rather be driving a ‘4’, ‘5’, or ‘6’.
It is the model they desire, and yes, it, is, part and parcel with the brand, but the model is definitive from the marque.
i’m not saying anything about the grille that hasnt been said before
but isnt this a Toyota Scion Subari 86 BRZ given the luxury treatment?
No, it’s based off the GS platform.
It’s hard to believe that it’s GS based. I usually defer to your knowledge of Toyota trivia, but the main cabin beyond the changed hood looks exactly like Toyobaru hachiroku. Like stamped on the same dies.
This car is a lot bigger than the FR-S, which uses a modified Subaru platform. As for looks, I don’t even think they look all that similar and the dies are definitely more complex in the RC than the Toyobaru twins.
“The brand doesn’t want you to take this RC Coupe for a two-door version of the IS. It’s based on the GS platform but its dimensions are unique, being wider, lower and shorter in wheelbase than the IS”
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/20/2015-lexus-rc-300-h-hybrid-coupe-tokyo-reveal/
The IS uses the GS platform as well, but since the RC was designed from the ground up and they wanted it to have its own identity, it’s branded with a new name, rather than being just an IS coupe.
I actually like the styling of it. Looks like an LS F-Sport in a coupe with a general Lexus sedan rear end. This is from someone who thought the IS wasn’t that bad looking when unveiled last year.
That shot of the front end is taken from the perspective of a person sitting on the sidewalk, probably done intentionally to accentuate the grill and the aggressive stance. If your eyes are more than 3 feet above the ground, it won’t look so pronounced.
But who cares what it looks like when it has an “eight-speed Sport Direct Shift Transmission”? I guess that absurd moniker means it’s an auto? Sport? Not.
I’ve driven an IS-F with a similar transmission. I assure you, it is very, very good. Disclosure: 4 of the 6 cars I’ve owned have been stick shifts. The 2 that haven’t weren’t available with an MT and are family oriented.
It just makes me sad that a 500hp coupe is coming out without a 3rd pedal. Just another nail in the coffin, so the quality of the AT doesn’t help, unfortunately. Thanks though.
Yeah, I’d also like to see it offered with a stick shift. I’m not really in the market for a $75k sports coupe, so I can see how my opinion probably means little to Lexus in that regard.
At least the MT seems to be strong in the $20k-$30k sports car segment (GTI, WRX, FR-S, Mustang, etc.)
Ha, good point. I’m not buying one at that price either, so I guess I have no standing to complain. However, I do think this will trickle down and there will just be fewer and fewer true MTs available, even in the $20-30k range.
Someone should tell the designers of these awful looking cars and SUVs:
“Listen, we actually DO want it to look good!”
Somehow, it seems these guys don’t know that. Or, they are just deranged.
At an estimated MSRP of $100,000, few issues will be on the road offending the B&B’s… brightest?
Nowhere close to $100K, more like $60K range.
$60K?
Not according to WR Magazine “with an expected MSRP just north of $100,000 and a production date expected to be toward the end of 2014”
So much for it being ‘an M4 fighter’
http://magazine.windingroad.com/issue/127/1?utm_source=Winding+Road+Weekly+Email+List&utm_campaign=329c0d553a-WR1271_8_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f40212f51a-329c0d553a-57115501
“…with an expected MSRP just north of $100,000…”
Patience grasshopper. In time all will be revealed.
The question of the day is how did WR come up with that price? In the articles that I’ve read I haven’t seen any mention of price, let alone a starting one of $100,000.
Give it a week, more or less, and we’ll know for sure.
Just reporting, Cappy.
I don’t care what it costs, with that new Vette out there, I’m pretty much blind to anything else except for my general interest in all things automotive.
Only thing I’m really curious about is the new MX5/Miata/Alfa and the new iteration of the Camaro.
They are wrong.
The color on this car and on the Subaru in the article below this one is just stunning. I’m really digging the return of bright, deep blue.
I had a ’99 Saab Viggen in that exact color. Yes, very sharp. That color set against silver wheels is just outstanding.
…it looks like an FT-86; is the RC a cousin platform?..
A car like that, in THAT color, should not have seats covered in “sensible parchment” colored leather.
To me the front end makes perfect sense. For me it IS attractive against its direct competition since it is aggressive and unmistakable. It is a potential 500hp beast, imagine it roaring into the rear view mirror of the average commuter, they will PROBABLY get in the right lane and let it pass on looks alone. Average commuters dont have to love it, only the owner does. The grille fits the demeanor of the mechanics (not the base model though). It does exactly what Lexus needs it to, be brash, aggressive, its is unmistakably Japanese and not the “me too” pseudo German designs of yore. Once they break from that old image I bet they will tame it down a bit (The Acura “Beak” is an example of this) in a couple of years.
You’ve got a second on those comments, epsilonkore.
Yup. When you are packing 460 to 480hp, being a little brash and crazy is OK. If you want conservative styling, there are definitely options from other automakers. It is sort of refreshing to see Lexus not trying to be everything to everyone.
I think it looks great, but what is the expected price? It would have to come in below the M4 to be viable. I hope they can take the platform, strip it out and sell a less expensive model as a Toyota–Supra, Celica, or something new.
They already do that, the car was on sale for a couple of years as Scion with a smaller engine.
This and the FRS are NOT related.
Its based on a GS (I know you know that Cressida), but its platform dimensions are unique. Its wider, lower, and shorter than the GS. I’m not a Lexus guy and I think the car will be awesome. It is shaping up to be better than the M4.
I like everything about this car except the likely price.
I’m more of a ‘form follows function’ guy and generally try to follow that idiom when buying a car. It is increasingly harder to do this in the marketplace. This car exemplifies the direction that many automakers have chosen – possibly Asian manufacturers more than others.
When I look at this car and really squint, I see a silouette that looks attractive. But when my eyes are fully open, that silouette turns into a mess of creases, feature lines and flamed surfaces that follow a design approach taken from Japanese science fiction.
The styling is just a mess. Doubt it will age well.