GQ India – August 2019

(Chris Devlin) #1
ENGINE
.-litre,
petrol V

TORQUE Nm

POWER
bhp

PRICE N/A

TRANSMISSION
-speed automatic

Lexus LC500 SPORT+


AUGUST 2019 — 135

WORDS: PARTH CHARAN. IMAGE : PARTH CHARAN (RED CAR)


A


t  rst glance, the glistening grand tourer
awaiting me at the Shin-Yamaguchi
station parking lot appears to be at
odds with itself. Its front façade has
a scimitar-like sharpness, giving it
the sort of otherworldly good looks
which can only come from incorporating bleeding-edge
design technology. And yet, nestled underneath all that
metallurgic wizardry is a solid 5.0-litre atmospheric V8
that’s so traditional it’s almost pro igate by modern-
day, forced-induction-meets-hybrid-power supercar
standards. The Lexus LC500 – the brand’s pièce de
résistance – is a con uence of old-meets-new values
that’s the cultural hallmark of its home country, Japan.
My rendezvous is a highly awaited one, taking
place after a two-hour Shinkansen ride from the
industrial town of Nagoya, which is Toyota country.
The LC dispenses with polite greetings and small talk,
instead opening up the V8’s 32 valves upon ignition to
symphonic effect – a curtain-raiser to the pantomime
show that awaits me. It’s the frontman of a band that
consists of the upcoming UX crossover SUV, the LS500
Hybrid and the recently launched ES300h. The last two
have maintained a quiet, digni ed existence since their
arrival in the Indian market almost three years ago,
but it’s the UX that could prove to be the most popular,
should it arrive in India soon.
Lexus has a carefully planned itinerary that
begins with a tour of the Lexus manufacturer in the
outer periphery of Nagoya and culminates in the
town of Fukuoka, home to one of the main Toyota
manufacturing units in the country. All the cars
currently in production share one common trait above
all else: They bene t immeasurably from Lexus’
fastidious attention to detail when it comes to creating
well-insulated, plush and sensational-looking luxury
cars. This sort of sweeping statement might appear to
be nicked from a marketing brief, until you actually  nd
yourself trundling about at pit lane speeds in the LC,
which, for all its bombast, can be remarkably quiet when
not throwing itself into the deep end of the horizon
at warp speed. Its innards are a seamless tapestry of
beige leather and alcantara, which, despite containing
a Bondmobile-esque sliding rev counter, have the warm,
cosying embrace of a Victorian  replace. And while its
chiselled exterior is dripping with exoticism, it’s the
unrivalled build quality that really stays with you, long
after the primeval echo of the V8 has faded. The seats
are nicely bolstered, the driving position is fantastic
and the large aluminium paddles have a weighty feel to
them as you toggle between an extensive range of gear
ratios (Lexus has equipped the LC with a ten-speed
automatic gearbox).
Inducting us into what was a three-day programme,
the brand decided to kick things off with a quick Kiriko
workshop, demonstrating how it has incorporated the
ancient Japanese art of glass sculpting – by employing
bona  de Takumi masters channelling decades’ worth of
patrimony – into the handcrafted geometrical patterns
that decorate the door panels of the LS500h. Dipping
deeper into its treasure chest of native craftsmanship
techniques, Lexus has opted to decorate the rest of the

LS’ door panelling with origami fabric featuring pleats
made from a single piece of cloth. Lexus may not be
leading the front on the AI-assisted, autonomous-driving
arms race that’s at the centre of automotive luxury at
present. Not yet, anyway, although brand management
made multiple cough-cough, wink-wink allusions to an
LFA-style party piece being in the works. But the sort
of near-bespoke level of craftsmanship and innovation
found in its cars has seldom been seen since the
coachbuilt era.
The LC, meanwhile, is eager to devour the Japanese
countryside, frowning constantly upon the severity of
the speed limits. The roads are narrow and sustained
speed is looked upon with the sort of jaundiced eye
one reserves for those found streaking down a hotel
corridor. Regardless, I decide that it would be a cardinal
sin to keep passersby in the dark with regards to the
intensity of this particular V8’s timbre. Because lord
knows it likes to sing. Particularly when it encounters
a tunnel. And there are a lot of tunnels. So I don’t
hesitate for a second in putting the windows down,
shifting to second and revelling in its Jurassic-era
bellow with infantile glee.
After an early morning start from Otani Santo


  • a famous heritage hotel in Nagato, where a close
    encounter with puffer  sh imbues me with a new-found
    sense of mortality – we  nd ourselves driving towards
    the city of Fukuoka, where Lexus intends to show
    us motley crew of journalists just how it does things
    differently. A detailed tour of the plant presents a clear
    idea of why parent company Toyota remains the world’s
    most reliable, and why the likes of the Hilux can have
    a building dropped on it and continue to run like it
    was no biggie. Constant surprise inspections (including
    impromptu skill tests for top-tier quality inspectors),
    a microscopic level of familiarity with each car’s body
    panels, the ability to spot minute inconsistencies in
    body panel gaps by simply looking at it – these are just
    some of the practices that have helped maintain the
    unfathomably high quality levels. Even the sound of a
    door shutting is carefully inspected to ensure it sounds
    like a forti ed luxury can and not a pheasant falling out
    of the sky.
    The many strings in the LC’s bow include the fact
    that it works as well as a plush, gentri ed GT car as
    an out-and-out rear wheel drive (with optional rear-

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