Rare IS300 SportCross Wagon Pops Up on Craigslist
Looking for a great do-everything daily? Look no further.
There are a lot of reasons why a car enthusiast might prefer a wagon. Maybe he or she can only keep one car and want to balance utility with performance, or maybe he justs wants something different. Any way you slice it, though, the Lexus IS300 SportCross is one of the best-looking wagons of the early 2000s.
The popularity of station wagons has been waning since the SUV craze reached a fever pitch in the late 1990s, and that momentum hasn’t stopped. Every year, it seems like fewer and fewer wagons are offered, and that’s a real shame.
However, not everybody wants a big, lumbering behemoth to take the kids to soccer practice. Some people would like to carve corners on the way to the dog park or hardware store. Lexus recognized that and offered the IS300 SportCross beginning in 2002.
While they’re supremely rare, some examples, like this one that we spotted on Craigslist in Miami, are still very affordable for enthusiasts. Since most parts are shared with the IS300 sedan, parts availability is great, and you also benefit from a healthy aftermarket. Enthusiasts really embraced this rear wheel drive sport sedan when it was introduced, and most of those goodies fit the wagon just fine.
In fact, the owner of this car indulged in many of those goodies. This car has been fitted with OMNI coilovers, a GReddy Evo2 exhaust, and an upgraded crossmember and control arms. Eighteen-inch wheels from a newer IS250 round out the look.
There is some bad news for enthusiasts, however: No manual transmission was offered on the SportCross — but we imagine a swap is easy enough. Although this car has 160,000 miles on the body, the motor was recently replaced with a low-mileage JDM unit with a fresh timing belt/water pump service.
With some minor cleanup, this car will be a great daily driver for someone. We just wish it was us.
