Lexus LS

Strip the Lexus LS back to its specification sheet and the character is already there: 3968 cc 1UZ-FE V8, 250 hp. Lexus built from 1989, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. The shape is credited to Kunihiro Uchida (Chief Exterior) / Michikazu Masu (Interior) / Masahiko Kawatsu (Parts) / Akihiro Nagaya (Parts).

The background

The Lexus LS (Japanese: レクサス・LS, Hepburn: Rekusasu LS) is a series of full-size luxury sedans that have served as the flagship model of Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, since 1989. For the first four generations, all LS models featured V8 engines and were predominantly rear-wheel-drive. In the fourth generation, Lexus offered all-wheel-drive, hybrid, and long-wheelbase variants. The fifth generation changed to using a V6 engine with no V8 option, and only one length was offered. As the first model developed by Lexus, the LS 400 debuted in January 1989 with the second generation debuting in November 1994. The LS 430 debuted in January 2000 and the LS 460/LS 460 L series in 2006.

A domestic-market version of the LS 400 and LS 430, badged as the Toyota Celsior (Japanese: トヨタ・セルシオ, Hepburn: Toyota Serushio), was sold in Japan until the Lexus marque was introduced there in 2006. In 2006 (for the 2007 model year), the fourth generation LS 460 debuted the first production eight-speed automatic transmission and an automatic parking system. In 2007, V8 hybrid powertrains were introduced on the LS 600h/LS 600h L sedans. Development of the LS began in 1983 as the F1 project, the code name for a secret flagship sedan. At the time, Toyota's two existing flagship models were the Crown and Century models – both of which catered exclusively for the Japanese market and had little global appeal that could compete with international luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar. The resulting sedan followed an extended five-year design process at a cost of over US$1 billion and pre

The engineering

The engine is 3968 cc 1UZ-FE V8; the output is 250 hp. On the scales it comes to 1705 -. That is roughly 147 horsepower per tonne: brisk everyday performance. Drive goes through a 4-speed A341E automatic. The wheelbase is 2814 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Where it sits

In the Lexus line-up the Lexus LS has a clear place: the factory was Tahara, Aichi (Tahara plant), Japan. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Dodge Viper, the TVR Tuscan Challenge, the Alfa Romeo SZ. Its Lexus stablemates include the Lexus ES (V20) and the Lexus GS 450h.

Owning one today

Buying one now means $17,700–$38,700 for a typical example, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $5,010–$7,210 a year. Insurance sits around $1,860–$3,310 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.