Last week, I opened up the question: Should Lexus should get its own version of the GT 86? Today, the poll closed with just over 1,000 votes — here are the results:
I had a feeling that opinion would be divided, and the reasoning for voting both positive & negative were well-represented in poll’s discussion thread.
Yet, even the people that voted yes for a Lexus 86 qualified their responses, saying that major changes would be necessary, and that it shouldn’t just be an entry level sports coupe. One frequent comparison was to the Mercedes SLK, which makes for an interesting comparison.
The people who voted no didn’t like the idea of yet another rebadging of a car already split into Toyota, Subaru and Scion versions, with concerns that a Lexus 86 would damage the brand more than help it.
My own vote was yes, with some reservations. A small, fun-to-drive coupe aligns perfectly into what Lexus seems to be moving towards, and the line-up could certainly use another model — but it would be important that the Lexus version shared no visual similarities to the 86, and that it was equipped with exclusive features and technologies that helped it to stand apart. A tall order, but necessary.
Thanks to everyone that voted!
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