Tokyo Auto Salon: TTAC Visits The 2UX3J Booth

The upscale Lexus brand and the car-kichi people that frequent the Tokyo Auto Salon usually go together like tailcoats and a Dirty Rotten Imbecils concert. As in not. This year, the Lexus booth is a major attraction, despite the fact that many people, including me, had to be told that Lexus is at the show. They are there under (a black) cover and under a false name. The designers of the Lexus booth pulled-off a whimsical and humorous concept, from the design of the all-black-on-bare-concrete booth to the choice of cars on display. It starts with the name on the booth. It says 2UX3J. But it’s Lexus.

It’s Lexus in reverse, as demonstrated by this helpful 2UX3J employee. The motto is “Urban Circus – Real Or Fake?” Most of what is in that booth is at least surreal. And I like it.

For instance this Lexus 600. The choice of Japanese heads of state and leaders of industry looks like the usual matte-black SEMA job. Step a little closer …

… and you see that this thing is adorned with spikey nails, as if it’s the daily driver of a Kabukicho fetish queen.

The BDSM style of the LS600 leaves onlookers a bit perplexed.

This is a CCS-R. It already is a Pikes Peak winner, and it still is called a concept. When I ask when this thing finally will be available for purchase, a helpful product specialist says something that sounds like Japanese played backwards. The livery however makes the car go fast even when it stands still.

Then, there is an innocent looking, but totally perplexing car. It is white, and we will cover it in the next story.

Before we do that: Someone made very creative and very daring proposals here. I have great respect for managers that approve controversial ideas like this one.