Lexus SC: 1st Generation News & Information

Posting the Lexus SC 400 review from TTAC yesterday reminded me of a Flickr photo by Jon Sylvester (best viewed in original size):

Love the panoramic feel and the lighting—great location as well.

(This, of course, is the Japanese version of the SC 400, the Toyota Soarer, which uses a griffin as its logo.)

The Truth About Cars has posted a review of the 1992 Lexus SC 400, a car many consider Lexus’s most influential design and perhaps the greatest Lexus ever made—here’s an excerpt:

Combined with the four-speed electronic automatic transmission, the engine is just plain unkillable. It can literally out-diesel a diesel when it comes to longevity, and it’s infinitely more quiet.

Speaking of which, when most people enter the SC400, the first things they will notice is the amazing material quality…Lexus today has a long history of coddling their occupants; this model certainly helped give rise to that rep.

With the exception of the LS 400, the SC 400 is the Lexus that I’ve driven most frequently—over the years, I must have test drove 30 of these coupes, and every time I’m always amazed at the absolutely classic design.

As the reviewer notes, most of the time, these old SC’s are extremely well-loved, but every once and a while, you can still stumble on a rare gem—and next time that happens to me, I might not be able to hold back buying the thing.

There must be something special about crazy Lexus SC’s in the Bay Area, because San Francisco resident Kristie Wells spotted another variation on what seems to be a local phenomenon:

I don’t know what astonishes me more, that there would be three strikingly similar cars all within a 100 mile radius, or that a photo of each car somehow made it onto the Internet independently of its owner.

A group of dedicated first-gen Lexus SC owners from Club Lexus have put together an extraordinary video tribute to their cars, complete with synchronized routines and even a touch of humor:

Great job by everyone involved, it’s definitely “the passionate pursuit” in full effect.

If these first-gen Lexus SC’s are any indication, Oakland rolls with a style all of its own:

Both of these photos were captured by Oakland resident Kitty Holmes, who was lucky enough to glimpse these wonders in real life.

Featured in this month’s Import Tuner is the story of Geoffrey Chen, who set out to “recreate a simple, clean and practical VIP-styled [Toyota] Soarer” from his existing Lexus SC 300.

Starting with an imported 2JZ-GE engine, Chen added a JIC Magic body kit, Supra slotted Brembos with Rotora carbon pads, and Blitz Technospeed Z1 wheels. Yet, still he wasn’t satisfied:

During his years researching the capabilities of the 1JZGTE engine, Chen found it could be made to hold about as much power in stock trim as its nearly indestructible 2JZ cousin. Predicated on this knowledge, and after some short conversation with Danny at SIXautoworks, Chen had a request put in overseas with GReddy for one of their T78 single turbo kits. “The kit is so rare, it’s not even kept in stock in the Japanese factories,” Chen explains. “To my knowledge, it’s the only one on an SC in the states, and one of only a handful in the world.”

All in all, though it’s an interesting technical look into a SC 300-to-Soarer conversion, the article is written with a certain verve you don’t often see in a tuner mag. Case in point:

What’s most impressive about Jeff, even more so than the car he built that’s presented on these pages, is that he was able to find that balance between passion and restraint that comes with the realization of having nothing to prove, while recapturing the simple enjoyments that are so fleeting for many of us as we strive for progression in this game.