Lexus LF-LC Concept
This is the Lexus LF-LC 2+2 sports coupe concept, which debuted at the Detroit auto show. The car’s proportions and profile are as sultry as they appeared to be in earlier teaser images, and we really dig the complex surfaces that dive and flow down the body sides. As for the front, one C/D editor who saw pre-show photos opined that the overly fussy fascia looked like someone chucked a grenade into the front bumper. The mug is no less over-the-top in person, but it is more cohesive and comes across as far less tragic.
The show also gave us a good chance to check out the car’s details, including the vertical dot-matrix fog lamps; the mirrored taillights, which boast a nifty reflective effect; the wavy interior stitching that intersects like blades of grass; the cabin’s small touch-screen control interface (check it out in the photo gallery), and the two 12.3-inch LCD widescreen displays.
Even after the Lexus press conference, we remain in the dark about what exactly powers the low, glass-roofed sports coupe, although we do know that it’s supposed to be a hybrid. The automaker claims that the LF-LC is powered by its next-generation advanced hybrid powertrain, which a Lexus insider explained to us as simply an Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine with an electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack. There were no further details, although the same insider admitted that the concept car rolled onto the stage under the power of an electric motor and a battery pack. He didn’t elaborate on the battery pack’s strength or composition, but we suspect it holds just enough juice to get the car onto a turntable at walking speeds and little more.
Getting in Touch with Its Passionate Side
The automaker says that the LF-LC previews the third phase of Lexus-more on that in a moment-but it also adds that the car will never be produced, at least not as we see it here. We’d have supported Lexus turning this concept into a production grand tourer or second, less-expensive sports car powered by, say, the gasoline engine and electric motor from the LS600hL. In that car, the world’s most plush-riding sofa, they pair to make 438 hp.
We will see a sprinkling of its styling elements on some of the nine production models and three F-Sport variants being introduced in 2012 alone-a version of the grille already appears on the new GS sports sedan and the LX570 SUV-a product blitz meant to usher in that third phase of Lexus’s existence.
“Wait a minute,” you say. “Third phase? What were the first and second?” The first, says the company, started 23 years ago and essentially involved establishing the brand in the luxury market. The second phase expanded the brand into the full-line luxury automaker it is today. The third phase is where Lexus stirs in the emotion and passion the company has lacked for much of its history. Indeed, we’ve found evidence of a pulse in the new GS, which is every bit a Lexus in the traditional sense but also dials up the dynamics to satisfy enthusiasts. The LF-LC might have amped things up even more, but it isn’t meant to be. Too bad.
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