Origin of an Upstart: XCAR Tells the Story of Lexus
Given the company’s position in the automotive industry, it’s interesting to remember that in the late ’80s, Lexus was a scrappy upstart standing in the shadow of the European luxury icons. It’s fair to note Cadillac was also making cars at that point, even if they were vehicles General Motors would rather people forget.
On that note, XCAR put together a cool video which relays plenty of interesting bits about about the genesis of the first Japanese luxury brand to enter the world’s largest automotive market. Personally, I found the list of alternate which were short-listed for Lexus–Vectre, Verone, Chaparel, Calibre, Alexis–to be particularly interesting. While it’s weird to think about Lexus by any other name–thought the LFA would surely sound as sweet–I’ve never liked the fact that the current moniker ends in an “S.” Though I don’t think Vectre or Chaparel roll of the tongue either.
Fun fact? According to WikiPedia, “Alexis” was modified to “Lexus” because that was the name of Joan Collin’s character–Alexis Colby–on Dynasty, and she was a legendary bitch. Seriously, I can’t be the only person for whom that sounds totally reasonable. Check out the video for a quick recap of the history of Lexus so far.
