Lexus LC 500 (2024) Review

Concepts get diluted on the way to production and this one did not, which is why it still stops people in car parks eight years in. The interior is the best Lexus has ever built, with a driving position and a set of materials that make far more expensive cars feel careless. And the engine is the reason to own it: a naturally aspirated V8 with no turbochargers muffling it, revving to eight thousand and sounding like nothing else on sale, in an era where every rival has downsized.

What it is not is fast or sharp. It is heavy, the automatic is unhurried, and anyone cross-shopping a 911 will be disappointed within a mile. Fuel economy is bad and depreciation is steep because the market for large expensive coupes is small. Judge it as a grand tourer, which is what it is, and it is close to perfect. Judge it on a lap time and it makes no sense at all.