LOS ANGELES: Having angular front headlights and villainous front grille, the Lexus Future – Coupe 2 (LF-C2) Concept car has attracted the luxurious vehicle lovers, when it was unveiled at LA Auto Show.
Jeff Bracken, the group vice president and general manager of Lexus said, “We’re here to share with you what happens when we take our signature look, which is critical to our identity in the luxury market, and incorporate it into a fun ‘what if’ concept.”
The result is the LF-C2, he said, adding, “This concept celebrates our design identity and kicks it up a notch – actually, make that several notches. Open top, gorgeous at a glance and just plain fun, this concept gives you a hint into what the future of Lexus design holds.”
The LF-C2 appears to be nominally related to the RC F coupe, which is headed into production. So the LF-C2 could theoretically be powered by the same 400-plus-horsepower V8. Or, as with its nonexistent top, it could be powered by nothing, which is not an uncommon form of motive power among auto show concepts.
Lexus, and its parent company, Toyota, seem to have a tortured relationship with convertibles. For many years, the company refused to make any. It barely tolerated an open-top version of its Celica, and only because it didn’t really build it; a third-party vendor did the conversion.
The Lexus SC 430 coupe, with its folding hardtop, was beautiful on the inside but a lumpy concoction of disproportionate styling elements on the exterior. Still, it hung around in the marketplace for almost 10 years without a redesign before finally being put out of its misery.
The SC 430’s neglect was so extreme that, at the time of its demise in 2010, it was still sold with a cassette tape deck. The IS C is the only Lexus convertibleon the market.
