Green With Envy: Lexus Giving Other Continents Far More Colorful LC 500s
The Lexus LC 500 is a phenomenal automobile, mainly because it has one of the best interiors I’ve ever plopped myself into, but you don’t see very many on the road. Lexus in on course to sell about 2,000 LCs this year in the United States, which isn’t bad for a vehicle that can be easily optioned into the six-figure range, but that doesn’t make it a high-volume automobile. In fact, it’s actually less common in Europe than a Ferrari 488.
Rarer still will be the LC 500’s new limited variant — the not-so-cleverly named LC Limited Edition. Why Toyota’s luxury arm didn’t decide to dub it the Yellow Edition is beyond us, as that’s the main aspect setting it apart from the rest of its ilk. Doubly confusing is that the model seems to be limited to Europe.
However, based on other colorized LC models cropping up elsewhere, we could be in store for a North American special edition eventually.
Lexus launched the LC Morphic Blue Limited Edition earlier this year as an Australian exclusive. With the yellow edition similarly relegated to Europe, perhaps we’ll have one in candy-apple red or a extra-sparkly black. If so, we can expect a unique hue on the exterior and an interior that boats a matching color scheme with fancier materials.
On the LC Limited that means a Vibrant Flare Yellow paint job with yellow Alcantara accents on the door panels, yellow contrast stitching just about everywhere you’d routinely look, special white leather seats, and an Alcantara headliner.
The limited coupe also tacks on a number of features that are usually optional. Those include Lexus’ head-up display, Torsen limited-slip differential, variable ratio steering, rear-wheel steering, a carbon fiber-reinforced roof, and 21-inch wheels.
Available in both the 500 and 500h trims, the LC Limited Edition can be equipped with the 471 horsepower 5.0-liter V8 or hybridized 3.5-liter V6 offering more economy but less oomph. Deliveries of the LC are said to begin this fall, presumably right after it is displayed at the Paris Motor Show in October.
[Images: Lexus]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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would have made a great supra, as well.
The only nice thing about its interior are the seats; they look great. The rest of the cabin is a stylistic nightmare. I get that they were trying to go for something sophisticated and with flair, but they failed. That aside, what really bothers me is that noticeable plastic slab front passenger side air vent design which looks either like an afterthought or something they grabbed out of a Corolla/Camry parts bin.