The fan-favorite LC500 has had its top chopped off. Will this convertible be as lovable?
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 This is the 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible.
00:09 That's right, they took the Lexus that everybody loves
00:13 and chopped off the top.
00:15 Makes quite a statement, no?
00:17 It also costs a lot of money.
00:20 But is it any good?
00:21 Let's find out.
00:27 In 2012, Lexus released a concept car called the LF-LC
00:32 and it previewed this.
00:33 Sure, the concept was a little bigger, a little wilder,
00:36 but really it previewed what the LC500 would be all about.
00:40 Finally, a couple years ago, it came out.
00:43 Big V8 engine, rear wheel drive, everybody loved it.
00:47 I remember because I was there.
00:49 Now, they've got a convertible version of it.
00:51 So for the first time, you can choose either a hard top
00:55 or a soft top Lexus two-door.
00:58 What does the LC500 Convertible compete against?
01:01 Turns out not a lot as big, luxurious convertibles
01:05 are going the way of the Dodo
01:07 or the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet.
01:10 The main competitor is the BMW M850i X-Drive Convertible.
01:15 However, this also competes nicely
01:19 against the Mercedes-Benz SL, the Jaguar F-Type Roadster,
01:23 the Bentley Continental GTC,
01:25 and either the Aston Martin Vantage or DB11.
01:29 One thing you can say about the Lexus
01:31 compared to all that competition,
01:34 it doesn't look like any of them.
01:36 For the design section, we have to make a distinction
01:40 between proportions and styling.
01:43 I love the LC500's proportions.
01:47 They are classic.
01:48 It's like a Jaguar E-Type on steroids.
01:51 Styling, I think it's a bit more problematic.
01:55 Let's get into it.
01:55 Look at this grill.
01:57 Lexus's spindle grill, although this one
01:59 is in three dimensions, it kind of bends
02:01 up to the big, wide hood.
02:03 Then there's this area, and like, what?
02:05 Like, what is this?
02:07 Well, this is either a fishhook or the Nike swoosh.
02:10 This is the McLaren swoosh.
02:12 That's a triangle, that's a boomerang,
02:14 that's dripping mascara.
02:16 It's a mess.
02:17 And then they've just done some fundamentally weird things
02:20 to the car.
02:21 So normally you want the power peak,
02:23 the highest point of the fender,
02:24 to be right over the center of the wheel.
02:27 Well, it's here.
02:28 Then you start taking in the proportions, right?
02:30 I mean, talk about classic Coke bottle.
02:33 Magnificent.
02:35 The curve of this fender here, just so much metal.
02:39 Also, the wheels are excellent.
02:41 Then my favorite part is, look at this,
02:43 the narrowest point of the car is right here.
02:45 So that means that it flares out for the rear wheels.
02:48 When you have a big, muscular, rear-wheel drive car,
02:51 that's what you want.
02:53 It just says like, ugh, aggression and power and everything.
02:57 Just, if you look at the big picture,
02:59 this is one of those rare, rare vehicles where,
03:02 going from a hardtop to a convertible,
03:05 I don't think it loses anything.
03:07 And so stylistically, it's not my favorite car,
03:11 but proportionally, the LC500 is a masterpiece.
03:17 This is how you design a car's interior.
03:21 It is exquisite.
03:22 It is gorgeous.
03:23 It is elegant.
03:24 I love sitting in this vehicle.
03:27 Is there anything wrong with it?
03:29 Sure, nothing's perfect,
03:31 but really all the stuff I can point out,
03:33 it's all nitpicking, and I'll do a little bit of that,
03:35 but let's start with what's so great about it.
03:37 Primarily the leather.
03:39 Look at this stuff.
03:40 It's gorgeous.
03:41 It's such a nice grade of leather.
03:43 These seats, Lexus, I remember on the launch,
03:46 it said they went through 50 iterations of seats
03:49 before they settled on this one,
03:50 and believe me, they chose wisely.
03:53 Rolls-Royce released an entire press release
03:56 about how on the new Phantom,
03:57 they put a bunch of stuff behind glass on the dashboard.
03:59 Well, guess what?
04:00 Lexus has done the same thing.
04:02 There's a little tiny piece of Alcantara right here.
04:05 Why?
04:06 Well, to prevent reflections.
04:08 There's some LFA design elements in here,
04:09 like these little stocks, these like, you know,
04:11 Shrek ears or Frankenstein neck bolts.
04:14 The LFA had something similar.
04:15 Here's the controls for the roof.
04:17 Nice and, you know, just hide 'em away
04:20 when you don't need 'em.
04:21 My biggest gripe is of course gonna be, you know,
04:24 it has this Lexus track pad,
04:25 which just doesn't work that well,
04:26 but pretend it's not there, right?
04:28 Just set your presets, take a few hours, do that,
04:31 then you can just scroll through 'em
04:32 with this tuning knob right here.
04:34 You're good to go.
04:36 Again, I mean, everything is just so wonderful
04:39 in this cabin that I just don't even care
04:42 about the negatives.
04:43 I mean, small back seat, who cares?
04:46 For the performance section,
04:49 I gotta put a little teeny asterisk on the LC500,
04:53 and that's because someone at Motor Trend
04:55 helped to tune this car.
04:57 No, not me.
04:57 It was Randy Post, our own professional race car driver.
05:01 Lexus hired him as a consultant
05:03 to help make the LC500 drive better.
05:06 Under the hood, there is a big, naturally aspirated
05:09 five liter V8 that makes 471 horsepower
05:12 and 398 pound feet of torque.
05:15 All that power goes into a 10 speed automatic transmission,
05:18 and it drives only the rear wheels.
05:22 Now, because this is a heavy car,
05:23 because it's only rear wheel drive,
05:25 if you look at the competition,
05:26 say that BMW convertible we were talking about,
05:29 that makes 523 horsepower,
05:32 and it hits 60 in 3.5 seconds
05:35 compared to 4.8 seconds for the Lexus.
05:38 Two things.
05:39 One is sort of a who cares?
05:41 I've driven both.
05:42 Trust me, this is the one you want.
05:44 Also, the BMW has two turbochargers.
05:47 This is naturally aspirated,
05:49 which means that the Lexus sounds about 500 times
05:53 as good as the BMW.
05:55 For such a heavy vehicle, it's shocking how much fun
05:59 and how rewarding it is to push this car hard,
06:02 and it's one of the rare vehicles in the industry
06:05 that everyone, and I mean everyone who's driven it,
06:08 falls in love with it.
06:10 They've just done a wonderful job.
06:12 Is there a downside?
06:14 Fuel economy.
06:15 And for something from the Toyota Motor Corporation,
06:19 it's no Prius.
06:20 15 miles per gallon in the city,
06:23 25 miles per gallon on the highway.
06:25 As far as safety goes,
06:28 no agency has crash tested one of these,
06:31 so I don't know what to tell you,
06:33 except for the fact that it comes standard
06:35 with all sorts of automatic safety features,
06:38 lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring,
06:41 smart high beams, and this low speed parking assist,
06:45 which helps prevent accidents that happen
06:47 at nine miles per hour and below.
06:50 How much?
06:52 Okay, I said it cost a lot of money, and I wasn't kidding.
06:56 The Lexus LC500 Convertible begins at a smidge
07:00 over $102,000.
07:03 This one right here, the way it's been optioned,
07:05 costs over 113 grand.
07:09 But how does the Lexus stack up against the competition?
07:13 Quite well, it turns out.
07:14 That BMW is 110,000 plus to begin.
07:19 The Mercedes-Benz SL starts at over $115,000.
07:24 The Jaguar F-Type Roadster actually does match up
07:27 pretty well to the Lexus.
07:29 So in terms of value, it's hard to recommend
07:33 the LC500 Convertible here.
07:35 Just know that it is a vehicle for people
07:37 who either have or earn a lot of money.
07:41 If there's one thing I want you to know
07:44 about the 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible, it's that
07:49 it's a dream boat.
07:51 I can't stress how lovely this thing is,
07:54 just to sit inside of, let alone drive.
07:57 I liked practically everything there was to like
08:00 about the hardtop version.
08:01 Who knew that by removing the roof,
08:03 the car got that much better?
08:06 Sure, some of the competition,
08:08 the quicker in a straight line,
08:09 the go around a racetrack faster, who cares?
08:12 Look at what a statement this thing makes.
08:15 Both the outside and the inside,
08:16 and then when that V8 soundtrack fills your ears,
08:20 there are certain cars that you lay awake at night
08:23 and you dream about.
08:24 Well, this Lexus right here, this is one of them.
08:29 To see vehicle rankings and a complete buyer's guide,
08:32 please visit motortrend.com/cars.