By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Today’s pic is from Court’s Lexus IS 300 ride page. Keep those photo of the day PMs and e-mails coming!

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

Video is good for capturing a few things that hi-res pictures just cant do justice to. One of my favorite details that I saw at TAS can be found in the rear wing of this Lexus IS-F CCS Concept (CCS = Circuit Club Sports). So rather than try to photograph it, I decided to take a video to show you how cool it is!

The side plates of the rear wing do something I’ve never seen before. They showcase the IS-F logo in multiple segments of dry carbon yet integrate it seamlessly in a way that blew all of us away. Afterward I was wondering how they did it. My guess is that they used a template and laser cut the pre-preg dry carbon to remove the total shape of the IS-F. Then I’m thinking that they laser cut the components of the IS-F and then re-arranged them all so it fit perfectly before putting it into the mold and then the autoclave. That’s my guess…whatever it was they did, it was brilliant.

Continue reading "IS-F CCS Concept Video" »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Like last year, Lexus’ booth was outside by the proving grounds, and the roar of the Bondurant Corvettes was audible over the tunes the DJ was playing. There was a definite attempt to give the space a club vibe, which was compromised slightly by the fact that the turntables didn’t have heads on them, and the cocktails were actually mocktails, but whatever. There was a grip of customized IS-Cs—including Brian Fox’s hyper-green example—on hand this year, but the red-hot LF-A was the star of the show. The matte black doesn’t photograph particularly well, but in person, it looked sick. The styling in the front is somewhat restrained, which makes the aggressive lines of its hind-quarters look even better. Hit the jump to see more shots of the new supercar, along with the pics of some fresh creations from Brian Fox, David Huang, Gordon Ting, Clark Ishihara and David Rahemi, and TRD.

Continue reading "All Up In Their Booth: Lexus at SEMA 2009" »

By Antonio Alvendia

Antonio Alvendia

As you might imagine, everyone who’s anyone in the automotive industry was at the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas last week. While many pessimists have complained that this year’s show was smaller than any other SEMA in recent years, there were quite a few notable announcements, releases and debuts this year. (And those who did show up to the show were serious about doing business, not just a bunch of useless tire kickers.)

While there was much on the news front in terms of debuts, to be honest, there was nothing that excited me personally more than the new Lexus LF-A. I might be a bit jaded, as I am a Toyota man. My first car was a Toyota, and I’ve owned many many different types of Toyota and Lexus vehicles in my life; I’ve lost count of the actual number, but if you figure that I currently own 6 Toyota/Lexus vehicles, then I’m pretty sure the total number is somewhere around twenty. Yup, TWENTY! So maybe I do have a slight personal slant towards the Lexus brand, but regardless, I think the new LF-A that Lexus debuted at SEMA is nothing short of amazing.

Sure, there are skeptics out there who complain that the LF-A hasn’t yet beat an R35 Nissan GT-R’s record at the Nurburgring. There are also people out there who also say there are a lot of other cars they would rather buy for the LF-A’s hefty $375K price tag. Sure it’s pricey. And yes, maybe the R35 GTR can currently beat it around Nordschleife. However, in my mind, there’s just no denying how outstandingly bad ass the LF-A is. Continue reading and view more photos on MotorMavens!

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

LFingA is right…having just returned from SEMA and seeing a production version LF-A in the flesh I am impressed all over again. I’ve seen a couple of LF-As in the flesh leading up to this, there was a nice red concept version at Toyota Megaweb in Japan that I molested, and then there was the Nurburgring race car at Tokyo Auto Salon last year. Yet something was different about seeing this production LF-A at SEMA.

First off, it looks F-R-E-S-H in matte black. As much as I think everyone wants to say matte black has jumped the shark as a color, it still looks damn good and I don’t think its going away anytime soon.

Continue reading "LFingA" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I caught up with Brian over at the Lexus booth. Wow, that green BASF paint really pops in the sun. More pics and a short video of Brian talking about his Lexus IF C build after the jump!

Continue reading "Brian Fox at SEMA" »

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

I was in the Las Vegas Convention Center very early this morning wandering the halls to try and find undiscovered treasures hidden within the excesses of SEMA. Take a look at this one, a Lexus LX 570 competing in the SCORE Stock Full Class, piloted by Joe Bacal who is a Cancer Survivor sitting at the KC HiLiGHTS Booth. Read more after the jump!

Continue reading "Something Unexpected: A Lexus LX 570 SCORE Offroad Contender" »

By Fireball Tim

Movie Car Design Master

Clambering over mounds of insane car nuts, I scampered for the doors to SEMA. Elbow clocking, crotch kicking, upper cut chucking. It was a nasty scene. BUT, I managed to get in with only a broken collar bone and a head gash. Only 4 inches long right through the left eye. But don’t worry. I’m ok.

And what did my good eye perceive? … Camaros. Ug. So, while everyone’s posting Camaros, I’ll post other stuff. Like this! My hotel.

Continue reading "Fireball SEMA Day 1! It's Open!!!!" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Here’s the wild Lexus IS C that Brian is bringing to SEMA this year. Be sure to check out his ride page for the specs and build pics, and of course we’ll have more on this car next week at the show!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Here’s some video of the LF-A in advance of the official unveil later today at the Tokyo Motor Show.