NAIAS 2016: 2017 Lexus LC500 - Ur-Lexus for Next Generation?

Four years after Lexus unveiled its LF-LC at the 2012 North American International Auto Show, the automaker announced Monday that it would put into production largely the same car and call it the LC 500.

Powered by a 5-liter V-8 lifted from the RC-F and GS-F, the LC 500 will be the brand’s largest two-door coupe and mostly complete the turnaround by the automaker they started around four years ago.

Seriously, the LC 500 is by the same people who make the ES 350.

Lexus didn’t announce how much the LC 500 will cost, nor when it would be on sale, but said it would be available sometime this year.

In announcing the coupe, Lexus signaled that the LC 500 would ride on the same chassis that will underpin the new LS when that car is unveiled later. (In Detroit, Lexus showed an LF-FC fuel cell concept with four doors that could foretell what the LS looks like later on.) The coupe is underpinned by Lexus’s new GA-L global architecture for rear-drive, front-engine vehicles, according to the automaker.

While the LC 500 is more than a foot shorter than the newly announced Mercedes-Benz S-Class coupe, both cars have their fair share of similarities. The LC 500 and S550 share nearly identical horsepower figures (although the Merc’s turbos give it significantly more twist) and the coupe’s are nearly the same height. Both coupes accelerate up to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and it’s likely that the two coupes will share similar prices.

Despite being an all-new car for Lexus, the LC 500 will feature mostly the same electronics as current Lexus models without any new autonomous drive modes or tech.

Trading on momentum from its earlier design, the LC 500 largely follows the same form as the LF-LC concept, including 20- and 21-inch wheels and wide hips.

Holy crap. These are the same people that make the ES.