Lexus at the London motor show 2008

By Ben Whitworth and CAR reader reporter Carcare

Motor Shows

23 July 2008 16:40

There was a performance bent on the Lexus stand, proving that Toyota's upmarket premium brand is keen to shed its image as a purveyor of steady-Eddy, high-luxury but low-on-thrills cars.

What’s new on Lexus’s London motor show stand?

The seen-it-before LF-A and the on-sale-now hotshoe IS-F – as well as its full line-up of hybrid models. We’re getting rather accustomed to seeing the LF-A – the Lexus supercar has been knocking around in one form or another since it was unveiled at the Detroit motor show in 2005. Which means it either has to let rip with the road-going version pretty soon, or else people’s interest in this 200mph V10 supercoupe will quickly evaporate.

CAR’s Lexus highlight

Take a good look at the IS-F because with only 150 earmarked for the UK, it will be a pretty rare beast indeed. We’ll let you know what it’s like living with one – Chris Chilton has just taken one on as a long-term test car, and our first web report will be up soon.

What were they thinking?

The LF-A is still a crowd-pulling bit of eye-candy to have on the Lexus stand, as is the slammed and bulging IS-F. But these two lookers aside, the Lexus display looked a little bare and bereft of glamour.

In a nutshell

Well worth a detour to look at Lexus’s Aston Martin-basher – and its take on the muscle saloon.

To read CAR's reader
reporter's verdict
on the Lexus stand,
click 'Next'

To read CAR's reader reporter's verdict on the Ford stand click 'Next'

By Ben Whitworth and CAR reader reporter Carcare