√2021 Lexus LC500: owner review

So exactly a year ago, I took delivery of my 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible.
Owner: Euge

So exactly a year ago, I took delivery of my 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible. Lexus might have a reputation as a reliable old man’s car, but on this day, the sun was shining and I had the roof down, and was loving the roaring V8 and cosseting quality of driving this car.

Stopped at a red light, two tradies in high-vis vests in a ute pulled to a stop beside me and stared at the car. They nodded, and beaming with pride I gave them a ‘how awesome is this car?’ thumbs up.

They nodded back, and the driver stuck his head out the window and yelled “Mate, how old do you gotta be to own one of them?”.

As he probably wasn’t expecting an answer, I smiled, put a cap on my greying hair and drove off.

It was meant to be an in-between car for me while I tried to convince my partner to allow me to get a Bentley Continental GT or Ferrari Portofino, but things happened.

People started calling the LC500 a future classic. Whatever that meant. To me, a future classic had to be unique, stylish, functional and, like a reliable 1960s Ferrari, rare. And after a year, I think I might just be keeping the LC500 for a bit longer than I thought.

The LC500 definitely has unique looks. The exterior, especially of the convertible, attracts stares everywhere I go, which is fine in front of the local cafe, but panic-inducing when driving past a police station, slowly.

The angular lines in the metal work, the modern afterburner tail-lights and impossibly narrow headlights are all like a 1990s BMW Chris Bangle design done right. But I can’t help thinking that this stylish design might date in the next decade before becoming nostalgically cool again, like
the dorsal fins of a 1950s Cadillac.

I’m surprised that the phrase ‘future classic’ hasn’t been trademarked. It seems to make the list on many YouTube and review videos about any car that is unique in the slightest.

But then again, for me, the LC500 Convertible is my day-off car. I head to work in my daily driver Tesla Model X, but when given the choice, I choose the car that’s fun to drive. And that’s the thing, I’ve driven the LC500 Convertible everywhere including my trips to get coffee, weekly to the local shopping centre, the two-hour drive to my beach shack, and even on track days.

And how did it go? It handled each of those jobs as the consummate grand tourer. If I had more garage space, I would have a car for each of the above situations, but as it is, the LC500 Convertible is a brilliant all-rounder and does 9/10ths of the job in each case.

Like the durable old Rolex watch that I wear everyday to work and on ski and diving holidays, the LC500 can be a workhorse. It’s not one of those fancy Rolexes that seems to double in value every year, but a Rolex Explorer 2 that was made for hard work. In the age of Apple watches that do everything, and before that digital watches that were more precise than any mechanical watch could be, it feels good wearing the Rolex to remind me that old ideas executed well could still have a future. A future classic.

More apt a comparison might be the Grand Seiko watch that I wear on weekends. The well-designed mechanicals combine with the superb hand polishing of the case in what they describe as Zaratsu polishing. The mechanicals and the polishing rival, and some would say exceed, the standards set by Rolex watches, even though few have heard of the name.

It seems that Grand Seiko is to Seiko as Lexus is to Toyota. That extra bit of design and luxury added to the solid engineering fundamentals. As Grand Seiko has the Zaratsu, Lexus has its Takumi craftsman’s expertise that enhances the impeccable attention to detail. You don’t notice at first, or even at all, the carbon-fibre internals, unique and ergonomic design elements, and the tactility of the precise leather textures and sewing. All of this is important in a halo car such as the LC500. No expense spared. Craft done to the highest possible standard. All worthy of a future classic.

Yet when you think of the history of automobile classics, certain images come to mind. Elegance such as the Jaguar E-Type, and dynamics of the Mazda MX-5. But just as important is the colour. From the British Racing Greens of traditional Aston Martins to the lime green of the Holden Toranas.

The colour combination that I think might befit a future LC500 Convertible classic is the Khaki Green with ochre top and caramel interior. Leave the black exteriors and tinted windows with red seats to the boy racers. The green and caramel combination oozes so much class that you can imagine yourself driving it in 20 years, with the roof down in the countryside, driving gloves on and a scarf flowing in the wind.

In the USA, reviewers compare the LC500 to the Porsche 911. Different cars for different needs, but over there the 911 costs the same as the LC500. In Australia, the LC500 is tens of thousands cheaper. More 911s are sold every month than LC500s are sold annually. That’s the value and rarity aspect ticked.

That naturally aspirated V8 engine, though. The heritage and provenance from the very first revolutionary LS400 that started the Lexus legacy all those years ago, having now been refined as a pinnacle farewell to the internal combustion engine era. The sound, only comparable to the Maserati Gran Cabrio I had previously. I loved hearing that Ferrari-derived V8 engine of that car. I still remember the excitement of turning the key and wondering if the engine would start.

However, the crowning achievement is the LC500’s infotainment system. Originally developed by Lexus to allow the input of Japanese characters in Lexus’s home market of Japan, the infotainment trackpad and menu have been universally derided by almost every single car reviewer. The seemingly infinite layered menu system is actually awkward to use when driving.

However, in the future, when infotainment systems will predict the driver’s needs surely by reading our thoughts, this tactile infotainment trackpad will have the definite nostalgic value, in the same way that physical buttons are now returning to certain car dashboards after the trend of a touchscreen for every dashboard function.

Maybe the answer to that tradie’s question of “How old do you gotta be to own one of them?” is “Now – at whatever age”. This is the right time to buy and enjoy a future classic, while waiting for it to become a future classic. Because having had it for a year now, the LC500 Convertible constantly reminds me of the joy of driving a well designed and built motor car at the pinnacle of its development, and as a celebration of the end of an era.

Owner: Euge