JAPAN IS A UNIQUE PLACE. W here the Japanese see a
delightful bowl of raw sea urchin and salmon roe, most
Westerners see a slimy pile of bug and guts. And for the
really fancy meals, you take your shoes off and sit on the floor.
It’s understandable, then, that Toyota strove for familiarity with
the first-generation LS400, which introduced the Lexus brand to
the world in 1989. It was, in the words of one company representa-
tive, an attempt to “out-German the Germans.” In pursuit of this
TURNING JAPANESE
001
Designers tell us it took
six months to perfect
the design of the grille’s
matrix, which has
5032 facets.001
goal, Lexus went so far as to mimic the
processes and chemicals used to treat
leather in European tanneries to ensure
that its interior smelled “right.” However,
28 years later, Lexus is now intent on distin-
guishing Japanese luxury from its Euro-
pean forms, and it’s betting the all-new LS
can do it without boguing anyone out.CAN THE CAR THAT
INTRODUCED A BR AND
REINVENT IT, TOO?
LEXUS THINKS SO.
by Jared Gall
Reveal of the Month
photography by GREG PA JO MAR/2017. CAR AND DRIVER. 017