Thanks to the people at Road & Track jumping the embargo gun, we received our first sneak peak of the Lexus LF-LC Concept. Now the rest of the story has been published, with R&T taking a thorough look at how Toyota’s California-based Calty Design Research facility came up with the look of the racy hybrid 2+2 coupe.
“Only a few written attributes were given as criteria: avant-garde beauty, originality, driving joy and unequaled technology,” according to the story, which says Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda himself weighed in with a mandate that the car “have the ‘wow’ factor.”
Lexus has been working on the LF-LC Concept for a year and a half, so the concept is no mere auto show roller. That kind of attention-to-detail shows in the new photos, especially inside the car. A finely detailed interior with wave designs stitched into the leather door panels is a nice touch that reinforces the car’s exterior design language, which R&T says Lexus is calling “tumbling ribbon.” The car also has a multi-layered instrument panel that looks like it could have been inspired by any number of sci-fi video games.
One thing missing from the article is any further information about the hybrid drivetrain system in the car. Curiously, while the press release on Toyota’s Japanese website announcing that it would be unveiling the car mentions “Advanced Lexus Hybrid Drive,” that line was omitted from the release on the American site. Apparently we’ll have to wait until the car’s official reveal at the Detroit Auto Show on January 9 to find out what (if anything) is under the hood of the LF-LC.
