New Report Says Lexus LC F Project is Dead
The COVID-19 pandemic may be to blame for the cancellation of a long-rumored twin-turbo LC F.
Officially, Lexus has never even confirmed that an LC F was in development. But the fact that the company has been testing a new twin-turbo V8 in the sports coupe’s chassis lead many industry insiders to believe that a weapons-grade version was a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, a new report from Japan’s CarSensor says the long-rumored addition to the LC line will never see the light of day. Here’s a quote from the unsourced, unconfirmed report, courtesy of Google Translate:
“There are several reasons for discontinuation. One is the selection of cost and manpower. It is inevitable that profits will deteriorate due to the prolonged new coronavirus.
It is inevitable to narrow down the fields and vehicles that increase the development cost. As a Toyota, it was the reason why we quickly made selections and removed high-performance sports cars that could not be mass-produced from the list.”
Now, while the translation from Japanese may make for some chunky prose, you don’t have to be a linguist to get the gist. With a global pandemic underway, Lexus is facing unprecedented challenges, and niche products like sports cars are expensive. So while details are basically nonexistent in CarSensor’s post, it makes sense that the LC F would be on the shortlist of projects to be shelved if Toyota was looking to tighten its belt. And as we learned last week, the debut of the new V8 has already been canceled.
Of course, we’d love to see a Lexus LC F, as the 4.0-liter twin-turbo mill supposedly slated to power it was estimated to be in the 600 horsepower range. While that’s far from an earth-shattering figure in today’s power-crazy landscape, it’s a hefty jump from the 467 currently on tap in the brand’s halo car, and would certainly have provided Lexus more street cred in the $100,000-plus GT segment.
That said? History shows there’s no burning desire for high-powered variants at Lexus headquarters. Because once a car debuts, we’ve really never seen a big jump in power. We didn’t see it with the LFA, we didn’t see it with GS F, and even the limited-edition RC F Track Edition, made do with 477 horsepower. For those keeping score at home, that’s just ten more than was available when the standard RC F debuted six years ago.
But what do you think? Was the LC F a pipe dream, or do you think Lexus was gunning to offer a significantly more powerful LC? Will we still see one? Head into the forum and let us know!
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