Meet the Lexus LC500, the kind of car you can drive while wearing Crocs, and don’t feel like you should be taking it more seriously.
Although it weighs a resolute 4500 pounds, we wouldn’t call the LC500 a ship. It’s more like a classic Chris-Craft for the road with a tight two-plus-two cockpit that looks out over a long and beautiful bow.
Lexus LC500, a beautiful convertible thing
Up until this May, the Lexus flagship was a literal ship. The Lexus LY650 yacht is approximately 65 feet long, made up of 2700 horsepower, and cost nearly $4 million. And now, Lexus is giving us a new car to oversee.
The $102,025 LC500 convertible is not a yacht, but its fabric top folds in 15 seconds at speeds of up to 31 mph. You can feel the sunshine in your face and the wind in your hair even inside the car.
It doesn’t matter whether you are driving a long road; it still feels relaxed, thanks to its V8-powered grand-touring convertible that’s different from the rest.
As reported by The Drive, LC500’s powertrain contains 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 engines, a 10-speed automatic transmission, and a rear-wheel drive. The car weighs 4,280 lbs with a maximum of four seating capacity.
On the safety front, there are loads of advanced driver-assistance smarts. The Lexus Safety System Plus is fitted as standard equipment and includes pre-collision automatic braking with pedestrian detection. This feature comes along with blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure, and lane-keeping systems.
It also boasts adaptive cruise control, so you just have to drive, and there’s nothing to worry about all the time. Additional safeguards include pyrotechnic pop-up hoops for rollovers and a helpful head-up display, worth $900.
Is it worth the price?
The price of the 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible starts at $102,025. That’s a lot of cash. Still, with its concept-car looks, addictive noise, and gorgeous interior, it is worth the price.
The car comes across as worlds more desirable than the badly aging Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and more attractive and special-feeling compared to BMW’s 8 Series Convertible. It feels worth the money. It’s taken a few years, but the Lexus LC500 finally knows what it is that people are looking for. To describe it simply, it’s a beautiful, thrilling, and virtuous luxury convertible car.
Unlike the $93,975 coupe version, there’s some vibration and shock in the soft top LC500’s steering wheel that’s borne from structural flex rather than road feel, but this Lexus otherwise feels solid. The review found that just a few flaws in execution can’t invalidate how special and fun it is.
Images used courtesy of The Fast Lane Car/YouTube Channel and wjarek/Shutterstock