Summary

• The Lexus LC is a unique grand tourer that combines luxury and high performance at a slightly lower price than its European rivals.
• Its sleek design stays true to its concept car origins, making it stand out in a crowd and giving it the potential to become a future classic.
• With a well-appointed interior, intuitive controls, and a choice between a smooth V-8 engine or a hybrid drivetrain, the Lexus LC offers a modern GT experience with the right amount of analog feel.

Grand tourers (GT) are such a specialty segment of the automotive industry. With luxury married with high performance, these vehicles are the epitome of an emotional purchase. It also doesn’t help with the fact that these are only two-door vehicles, which further limits the appeal of these vehicles to being just expensive toys for the rich.

This is why there aren’t a lot of GTs out there, and if there are any, it’s an elite list of vehicles that’s dominated by European brands. There is a GT, however, that is born out of Japan and is oozing elegance and style in the same way its European rivals could do, but at slightly lower prices. That vehicle in question is the Lexus LC.

Related: The Most Underrated Lexus Of 2023

A Concept Car You Could Buy

When the Lexus LC first came out at the 2016 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), the beautifully styled coupe immediately captured the eyes of car enthusiasts because it looked so much like the LF-LC Concept that previewed this GT. Usually, the transition from concept to production means a heavily watered-down version of the vehicle that previewed it. Just look at cars like the previous generation Subaru WRX, whose concept prototype looked so radical, while the production WRX looks very ordinary in comparison. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the production model, but the bar was set so high by the concept, that many were disappointed when they saw the production WRX.

Not so with the Lexus LC. It maintained the smooth lines of the LF-LC Concept, while the proportions were only slightly altered in order to provide better interior room. The side mirrors that are extraordinarily thin have also been swapped for bigger, more conventionally sized ones that still look stylish. Large 20-inch wheels fill the wheel wells nicely, and in between those wheels is a tapering body that gives the illusion of a pinched waist.

The side profile of the Lexus LC looks very clean, characterized by curves and surfaces that take advantage of the interplay of light and shadow to add depth to its design. The rear end of the LC is equally striking, with three-dimensional LED taillights housed in a silver boomerang-shaped bezel that also contains the vertical LED turn signals. It was basically a concept car that you could buy but without the weird pre-production quirks associated with prototypes.

Related: Here’s Why Makes The Lexus LC An Undisputed Future Classic

An Interior That’s An Extension Of Your Living Room

Likewise, the interior of the Lexus LC is well-appointed and stylish to look at. The materials are top-notch, and the way that the cockpit wraps around the driver creates a very cocooned feel. This was achieved through multiple layers on the dash wherein the 10.3-inch infotainment screen for the Lexus Remote Touch infotainment was housed in a glass piece along with a decorative panel and an analog clock that was unlike anything else on the road at the time. Every layer of the interior had a sense of design flourish, from the buttons to the switches and storage bins. It was Lexus design at its finest.

However, a lot of people loathed the previous Lexus Remote Touch touchpad-based infotainment system, and since the LC came out in 2017, its interior layout has centered around that interface. Now, for the 2024 model year, as Lexus is spreading out its touchscreen-based Lexus Interface operating system, it meant that a new, bigger 12.3-inch display had to be fitted and thus moved closer to the driver. As a result, this spelled a bit of a design problem. The screen’s integration into the dash lacked any cohesion compared to the past screen. Still, the LC’s interior in 2023 manages to look stylish and modern to look at.

While the interior of the LC is tech-savvy, the operation of it all is intuitive and user-friendly. Because the vehicle first came out in 2017, it means that it still contained a plethora of physical controls as opposed to putting everything in the infotainment system. At the same time, those said controls were great to the touch. The metal buttons had a feeling of heft and quality that will never be replicated in capacitive touch surfaces and touch screens. More importantly, the interior was comfortable, with seats that are unmistakably Lexus in terms of comfort. It was a true GT in every sense of the word, but at a price tag that undercuts all of its European rivals.

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A Choice Between An Old-School V-8 Or A Modern Hybrid

The powertrain choices are also quite interesting because the Lexus LC came with either an old-school 5.0-liter naturally-aspirated V-8, or a modern 3.5-liter V-6 hybrid drivetrain. The former choice is an oldie but still a goldie because while its 471 horses and 398 pound-feet of torque aren’t plentiful by today’s standards of forced induction and electrified drivetrains, it’s not what you’d still call underpowered by any means. That V-8 is extremely smooth, and it delivers power linearly that forced induction engines can’t replicate. At the same time, this V-8 sounds amazing, and it also certainly helps that it’s bulletproof and reliable while it sends all of that power to the rear wheels via a ten-speed automatic and through a Torsen limited-slip differential.

The V-6 hybrid, on the other hand, is still good, though with so much complexity in handling two drivetrain sources, the driving experience is less cohesive compared to the V-8. That V-6 drivetrain is married to electric motors at the front axle along with a transmission that combines a CVT and a four-speed automatic, which simulates ten gears. Yes, this means that this model, which is called the LC 500h, is all-wheel drive (AWD).

The platform that the Lexus LC uses is also pretty solid, too. Using the same TNGA-L platform as the Lexus LS, it had the right fundamentals for a GT that delivered a luxurious yet sporty driving experience. The BMW 8 Series and Mercedes-AMG SL both feel more athletic to drive than the LC, but the LC is still no slouch when it comes to the bends.

Arguably, though, it’s the LC that looks more special and is more of an occasion whenever one drives down a busy street. For comparison’s sake, here’s how the LC stacks up against the SL and the 8 Series.

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The Lexus LC Could Become A Future Classic

Because of all these ingredients that make the LC so desirable, we argue that this is a Lexus that could become a future classic. The combination of seductive styling, a well-appointed interior, as well as offering just the right amount of technology without overwhelming the driving experience means that it’s a GT that’s modern with just the right amount of analog feel. Oh, and because it’s a Lexus, this is a future classic that won’t be a pain to own long-term. After all, luxury isn’t just about the feeling of being special, but it also means having fewer headaches when owning a vehicle long-term.