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Today’s been quite a day—first the CT 200h was revealed a week before its offical debut, and now I get to announce that The Lexus Enthusiast is adding a new writer!

To ensure that TLE is providing the best Lexus news coverage on the Internet, current comment moderator Dan will now be regularly posting news stories. Very excited to have him on board, welcome (again & again) Dan!

At last week’s Toronto Auto Show, I had a chance to take some interior photos of the Lexus LF-Ch, and it was an amazing opportunity to get a close-up look at the handcrafted and one-of-a-kind concept car.

Before entering, I was asked not to touch anything—the interior is delicate and not built to be handled—even the door was opened for me. The steering and pedals are functional, but every other button and lever is purely speculative, meant to give off an impression. In fact, much of the labelling is done with rub-on lettering:

The driver’s seat had all the feeling of a wood box (which is likely what it’s made from), but every material is beautifully detailed, I loved the look of the fabric:

Sitting in the LF-Ch was a real fanboy moment for me, and my fifteen minutes inside went by in a flash. Here’s the full gallery:

I had a chance at last week’s Toronto Auto Show to have a quick chat with Toyota Canada’s Managing Director, Steven Beatty, about the growing Canadian Lexus sales and the possibility of a production LF-Ch coming to Canada (keep in mind that this conversation took place before Lexus’ announcement of the CT 200h).

TLE: In January, Lexus Canada had a 62% sales increase, and I was curious what you would attribute that to.

Stephen Beatty: I attribute it to good product! (laughs)

TLE: That’s a good answer!

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I’ll be attending the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto today and will be bringing you coverage of the Lexus exhibit along with plenty of photos (as usual). My major focus will be taking interior photos—every single interior picture I snapped at the Detroit Auto Show didn’t turn out due to my insistence on using natural light, so I’ve finally given in and purchased a flash for my camera. Very excited to see the results.

One other point of interest is the AJAC awards, where the Lexus RX 450h will be competing against the Subaru Outback & Volkswagen Touareg TDI for the Canadian Sports Utility of the Year.

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Much to my excitement, The Lexus Enthusiast community has been growing steadily over the last few months. There’s now dozens of frequent commenters with diverse insight and strong opinions, and it’s been one of my favorite things to watch as the site builds in popularity.

In order to best serve this community, I’ve asked frequent contributor Dan to help me moderate and respond to the hundreds of new comments the site gets every week. Dan has been involved with this site since its very beginning (all the way back to The Passionate Pursuit days), and I was very happy when he agreed to assist me in making sure all of your comments and questions are answered. Thanks Dan!

Even with the winter weather, one of the real pleasures during my time with the 2010 Lexus RX 450h has been driving at night. It all starts with the on-demand all-wheel drive system—there hasn’t been a single slip, really nothing more than a flash of the yellow traction light, and that brings a lot of confidence no matter the road conditions.

But more than that, it’s also when the RX 450h’s real luxury shines through, as much of the vehicle’s best technology takes a starring role once the sun goes down.

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