The LS had its chance with a TTV8 a decade ago, and Lexus never followed through with it. Too late to turn back the clock.

 

I would say that was a smart move...not following up. Toyota/Lexus knows their customers. Wouldn't have sold in enough numbers to make it worthwhile. Would've been great to have though...

 

Yes...well I never thought Toyota would shove a 5.0 back into the IS and NOT call it an F. So who really knows...I think they will do it..

 

These are tribute cars meant for enthusiasts. How many F (not F-Sport) cars have you actually seen on the streets? I've seen maybe 10 in the last 10 years. Their V8 is going away and they are just paying tribute to it

 

I'm not sure about that. Axing the V8 from the LS500 was among one of the many factors that resulted in its mediocre sales.

But now, in 2021, it's far too late and outright corporate suicide to offer a new from the ground-up V8 over an EV. Even the upcoming Mercedes/BMW PHEV V8's are still based on existing V8 powertrains.

 

I have seen way more than 10. Very common in the GTA as you see them from time to time. The fewer the better though

 

Was the LS460 actually a big seller? Or the other LS models going back to the LS400? I haven't seen a lot of them until recently. I know the GX and and the bigger SUV's and trucks were popular, but most people I know who bought LS didn't buy them new, but used 5 to 10 years old. I don't know if the LS with a 5.0L V8 would be a big seller today. Maybe I'm wrong

 

Well you've seen more than I have. In the Bay area in Northern Cal where I live, the IS, GS, and ES F-Sport models are very popular, but I've seen only a handful of F cars (RC-F, LC-F and IS-F). I've only seen a couple of GSF's

 

Region specific I guess. My favorite F car so far is the RC-F Track Edition. I hopefully one day will see a RC-F Fuji Edition.

 

There just weren't that many sold. I see way more Ferraris and Lambos than I see GSFs. I've actually seen more P1s than I've seen GSFs lol.

 

The LS460 in particular was a very hot seller upon debut in 2006. Sales petered out over time but the sales were shockingly good at the start.

 

That's why I'm saying Lexus didn't build them in mass, because they know their customers. Most of the people I know that are Toyota and Lexus owners wouldn't buy an ISF, a GSF, LCF etc. So competing with BMW's, Audi's and Benz by building super high performance cars to match theirs would be a losing proposition because Lexus buyser mostly are not interested in those types of cars. Those that are just buy an M or AMG, Porsche etc

 

I know a ton of people who own LS460's....they just didn't buy them new. People today are more interested in CUV's

 

Yeah, sales only started to weaken when Lexus decided to give it a 2nd refresh in 2013 instead of a brand new model like the Germans. Nobody was fooled into buying the same car twice.

 

Mercedes may have not figured out what excuse they wanted to go with for the lack of V8s, but they seem to have figured it out. You'll be order the full V8 lineup starting tomorrow, although supplies are very limited.