Flashback Friday: Lexus IS250 Build Turns Into Crazy Project

Reputation Equals Value

It's pretty common knowledge that the Lexus IS250 is the runt of the proverbial litter. And that reputation is warranted, as their 204 hp V6 engines didn't exactly offer up much in the way of thrills. But the IS250's reputation has also made them dirt cheap. Which, in turn, is rather enticing to people like Club Lexus member kerweezy, who wanted to transform his IS into a track-eating monster.

Panda Looks

The build began with some visual mods. By now, the car was already sporting a unique "panda" look with its white body and black graphics/various parts. And of course, that alone was enough to hook plenty of folks into following this killer build.

Unique Touches

The OP also put a lot of time and effort into completely redoing the interior. He recovered pretty much every trim panel he could pry off. But perhaps the coolest touch was a Rolls Royce-inspired headliner with sparkly LED lights that resemble a starry night sky.

Classy Upgrades

And the interesting custom work didn't stop there. The OP grafted a keyboard into his center console, which was built to look like something out of the movie Tron. He then covered the door panels in a diamond stitch pattern fabric, which was a classy move.

Method to the Madness

The OP also went to the trouble of explaining his unique yet slightly controversial styling decisions. "I wanted different themes just for the sake of comfort and style," he said. "This theme is really more of Japan's VIP GT scene - aggressive exteriors with luxury interiors. I didn't wanna gut the whole car and make it a full track car because I have another car for that specific purpose."

Nissan Power?

Eventually, it was time to address the elephant in the room. And by that, we mean the slow engine under the hood. The OP's original plan was to complete a 2JZ swap, which obviously would have been awesome. But things changed, and he diverted to Nissan RB power instead.

Clean Power

It seems like blasphemy at first, but you can't argue with the output of his twin-turbo RB26. Nor how incredibly clean the whole thing turned out to be. But that's what we've come to expect from Club Lexus members and their IS 250 builds. If nothing else, they're masters of turning less popular machines into sweet objects of desire!

>>Join the conversation about this IS 250 build right here in ClubLexus.com.

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