Lexus LC Designer Reveals Fascinating Inspirational Details
Lexus LC Chief Designer talks inspiration, making a statement, and changing the brand’s image – all with one car.
Inspiration, as they say, comes from many different places. And while you might think that car designers draw most of their inspiration from other cars, that isn’t always the case. Especially when you’re trying to break the mold and appeal to an entirely new audience. And that’s exactly the position Lexus found themselves in with the groundbreaking LC coupe.
Lexus’ goal from the outset was to create an entirely new car that shared little with any of its previous designs. To do that, they had to draw inspiration from a number of organic and inorganic sources. Lexus LC chief design Tadao Mori recently revealed those sources to the Robb Report.
“We found some leaves and plants and did digital scans, then transformed those shapes on the computer and put them into the car. Also, we studied housing and architecture,” Mori explained.
It’s fascinating that designers would look to nature and architecture as inspiration for designing a grand touring coupe. But Mori and his team obviously took cues from the LF-LC show car as well. Interestingly enough, however, Mori admits that the one-off ride would be “impossible to build.” Clearly, the proportions of the car had to be altered to make it both feasible to build and to drive.
There are also elements of the LFA present in the coupe’s design. They include the LC’s instrument cluster “ring meter” and control stalks that flank the steering wheel. But Mori is most proud of the depth of design on the outside. The exterior sports a “very three-dimensional shape.” Combine that with an interior almost completely devoid of plastic, and you’ve got a winning design.
It’s safe to say that Mori and his team achieved their goal of shifting Lexus toward what he calls a “more dynamic, younger brand image.” And we can’t wait to see what they have in store for future models.
