And it will go racing too.
Lexus was never meant to be a performance brand. The luxury arm of Toyota has for decades been happy to build regal machines that waft along the highways and byways of our cities, but ever since the launch of the magnificent Lexus LFA, the Japanese luxury automaker has been thrust into the world of performance motoring, and it hasn’t looked back since. Today we get to enjoy the Lexus RC F, but there’s a glaring gap left right at the top and the car that will fill it promises to be magnificent. The automotive world is pretty certain that an ICE-powered “LFA2” is coming sometime in 2025, and in a recent interview with Road & Track, Lexus Motorsports Manager Jeffrey Bal hinted at what lies ahead as we eagerly await a high-horsepower version of the Lexus LC.
For some time, Lexus has been dabbling with the idea of creating an LC F, but the car never made it through the feasibility stages. “The LC is a touring car, it’s a perfectly balanced, 50/50 weight distribution,” said Bal. “Rumors are that there was design and study for the LC F… They looked at it and that’s not a feasible study for us.”
Rumors of a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine producing around 660 horsepower have also been swirling, but Bal says the company is looking elsewhere for inspiration, and the Toyota GR GT3 concept revealed at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon could offer some important hints:
“The Tokyo Salon concept. We’re pretty well down the road in development and really excited, but not at a point yet where we can share a lot of details. The car you saw is very striking, and what we’re seeing is going to be close.”
This suggests that something based on this crazy concept will eventually come to light in a more sensible state, likely pared back without a huge wing and louvers all over the place.
So we know that an LFA successor is coming and that an LC F is not, and while Bal says that there are no plans for IS F or GS F successors, he notes that “there’s a gap between the LFA and the IS, GS, RC F platforms that these cars have the potential to take a space in.” Could the car that fills this gap be a Mercedes-AMG GT rival? R&T posed the question and got this response: “There is something [in the works] closer to [the AMG GT] you described and it might fall into that as we study it closely, but we’re not ready to announce anything yet.”
Basically, Lexus is saying that the LC remains a comfy GT car and won’t become a hardcore sports car. Instead, a new model will arrive to fill the gap between the next LFA and the LC.
Whatever Lexus eventually ends up building, the company will be sure to use it as a platform to race in the IMSA’s new GTD Pro category and Bal hopes for a debut in 2024. Best of all, accessible cars already on offer that have a performance focus – like the IS500 F Sport – are likely to be added to. The future looks good.
