Lexus

Have something special to share today, here’s the world’s only production Lexus LFA with fog lamps — here are photos from Jorge Jiménez Photography: This is LFA #014, and it belongs to Javier Quirós of Costa Rica — you may remember him as the owner that did donuts in his newly delivered LFA, but he’s also the president of Purdy Motor (the Toyota distributor in Costa Rica), and one of the Gazoo Racing team drivers that had success in Nürburgring a few years ago. The actual fog lamps were developed by TOMs for the Nürburgring LFA race cars, and are made from carbon fiber with HID lamps — here are some detail shots: Special thanks to Javier Quirós, Mauricio Barquero, & Jorge Jiménez for sending these photos over!

The Huntington Beach Concours d’Elegance will be celebrating 25 Years of Lexus Excellence on June 1-2, and for the first time, will offering trophies for Lexus vehicles.  (If you’re in California and would like to enter your Lexus, registration closes on May 27th.) Read more about the HB Concours d’Elegance

Patrick George of Jalopnik has reviewed the 2014 Lexus IS, and liked pretty much everything but the transmission. (Jalopnik scored the IS at 72/100, the BMW 3-series at 73/100, and the Cadillac ATS at 73/100.) Read the Jalopnik IS Review

The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Brands for 2013 has been released, and Lexus has retained 10th place in the Top 10 automotive brands. (According to BrandZ, Lexus is worth $3.5 billion in brand value. Toyota was #1, valued at $24.5 billion.) See the Top Ten Most Valued Car Brands

The annual BoA Merrill Lynch Car Wars research report has been released, and contains some specific details on Lexus future product plans — from Motor Trend: From Japan, notable future product includes a coupe and convertible version for the 2014 Lexus IS; a source told us that the coupe has gotten the green light, but a revival of the convertible has yet to be approved. Lexus will also receive a long-awaited three-row crossover, which should bear the CX name. A coupe based on the LF-CC concept has been the topic of much discussion, and is currently rumored to arrive in 2015. The big news is the idea of a three-row crossover — this possibility was first mentioned in an interview with Lexus USA VP of marketing Brian Smith earlier this year: Smith says one of the brand’s two large body-on-frame SUVs, the GX and LX, could be converted to unibody platforms as the auto maker works to meet looming government-imposed fuel-economy regulations. “In the future, if we could do a 3-row unibody (utility vehicle), I think that’s what consumers would want to see,” he says. Also rumored is a compact crossover, which is expected to debut this year as a concept at the Tokyo Motor Show — adding these two SUVs would be a huge boost to the Lexus lineup, especially if they can capitalize on the success of the RX. [Source: Car Wars Report via Motor Trend]

Paul Horrell from Top Gear magazine has reviewed the Lexus IS 300h F SPORT, and balances his appreciation of the handling with his dislike of the variable transmission. (Ultimately, he preferred the non-F SPORT version and its softer suspension.) Read the Top Gear IS 300h Review

Lexus Canada has updated their website with full pricing for the 2014 Lexus IS, including all packages and F SPORT options. (There are ten different F SPORT packages to choose from — two for each RWD model & three for each AWD model.) See all details on the Canadian Lexus IS

Lexus factory tuner Modellista has announced a body kit for the new Lexus IS — here’s a look at the individual parts: The whole kit is tastefully executed — pricing entirely in Japanese, but it appears the full kit will retail for ¥299,250 ($2,916 USD) and the 18-inch wheels will be ¥386,400 ($3,766 USD). [Source: Modellista]

The Gazoo Racing Lexus LFA team of Akio Toyoda, Masahiko Kageyama, Hiroaki Ishiura & Kazuya Oshima finished 37th overall and second in the SP8 class at the 41st annual Nürburgring 24 Hour race in Germany this weekend. It was a waterlogged event, with rain & fog causing the race to be delayed for almost 11 hours — this unexpected weather prevented the Gazoo team from gaining position on the race leaders. The Lexus Europe team was hard at work this weekend covering the event, and sent over these photos of the LFA in action: Qualifying Rounds Final Race Congratulations to the Gazoo Racing team for the podium finish, and thank you to Lexus Europe’s Danny Chen, David Thompson & Kristof Pitteljon for their excellent race coverage.

Live photos of the recently revealed TRD body kit for the new Lexus IS have shown up on the Japanese blog ????????: While most of the modifications are subtle and suitable to the character of the IS, the rear bumper and its giant diffuser don’t match up very well with the Ultra White exterior color — the contrasting colors are a bit much. See more live photos of the TRD Lexus IS Body Kit