Seriously guys.
I mean the W140 Mercedes had four wheels, the LS430 has four wheels.
HELL THE LEXUS EVEN COPIED THE AMOUNT OF DOORS THE W140 HAD!

 

that's why in general i don't really care about the talk on who copies who

 

We've had many debates on CL about the original LS and how people think it copied the S-Class of the time. Again, I will say there isn't any similarities except for 4 wheels, 4 doors, ect...

Look at the Toyota Camry's of the time and you may begin to notice that the 1990 LS simply takes similar themes of Toyota's own products and enlarges, modernizes, and perfects those shapes. I'm not saying the LS looked like a Camry but you can tell the same company designed each. The LS and S were very different and were very obviously from different companies.

Anyone notice that the S-Class that came AFTER the original LS became closer in design thean the previous S. So how could Lexus be the copycat?

 

 

Whoa didn't expect that!

 

Wow, got one of the 5-Series too?

 

Please, the new LS doesnt look like the new 7 at all, show me one similarity other than the trunk that came standard on the Dodge stratus back in the 90s.

 

this is getting really old..

 

Repost X 100+ since months ago . . .

 

exactly... and trunk doesnt look the same at all, its lines are completly different, its cut out differently... find closeup pics of 7 series and it looks like car from stone age...

in fact, earlier someone posted pics of 7 series next to LS, and 7 series looks like Lego car

 

Overlap pics of just about any two sedans of similar size and they'll blend just as closely.

 

Thanks again for the great photos and write up.

I recently moved to the Orange County / Newport Beach area and with all the ultra / mega rich people in this area, as great as the new LS is and having one of the largest Lexus dealerships in this area (Newport Lexus), you just don't see that many Lexus vehicles on the road as compared to MB or BMW (especially MB, since they have one of the largest MB Dealers in the country in the area - Fletcher Jones).

I want to love the LS, I want to have some desire for it and I do, however when you see a MB S550 / S600 / BMW 750 with 19-20" OEM rims (they are many around here), you can not help but to drool over those vehicles.

The new LS is a great improvement and probably still your best BANG for the buck in this full size luxury segment as well as best reliability, but if money were not an object, the ultra rich consumer in this segment would most likely still opt for the MB / BMW over the new Lexus and they will not mind about reliability issues which comes with the territory with german vehicles.

 

Wouldn't these rich people want the best looking most luxurious car though?
Or do they just pick MB and BMW because of the long heritage of prestige?
Because if money was no object it would still be a no brainer what I would drive. Lexus LS of course. I wouldn't drive a car that was kind of ugly because it has heritage. People will always buy the S-Class even if it were to get uglier and uglier just because they think it tell's others that they have "arrived".

 

Hi Lexguynj,

Your observations are correct as the SoCal area is the one market in the US where there are more Benz vehicles than Lexus vehicles in certain sales percentages/brackets.

I think the New LS will go some ways toward remedying that though.

BTW, as for that pic above, I wanted to mention that it doesn't capture the look of the new LS very well, the other pics show it quite differently.

 

Show me a design that is really 'timeless'. In general many people think a design is timeless because it had a big impact on THEM. Future generations just think

The designs are also weakened by older materials and manufacturing methods, where gaps and seams and welds weren't as good. And we've already said old wheels/tires look funny.

Very little of any design ages well. "Classic buildings" seem to do well, but what does that mean, even? Because the 1900-1930 Manhattan buildings have lasted so long we think of them as classic. Because London's 1800-1900 buildings have lasted so long we think of them as classic.

Hopefully many will still like the current Aston Martins in decades to come as I think they're truly beautiful. But we'll see...