Motor Trend managed to score an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Lexus LF-1 Limitless crossover concept:
For more than a year, the 11-member Calty team pored over sketches, renderings, scale models, paint samples, interior fabrics and materials, and a full-size clay model. Now, with their collective work effort starkly posed in front of them, the group is speaking in hushed, almost reverential tones.
Suddenly, in a fit of enthusiasm, Ian Cartabiano, Calty’s chief designer and the overseer of the exterior design of the LF-1, spontaneously grabs my shoulders and gives them a manly shake.
“It’s so hot. It’s so hot. Look how hot it is,” he exclaims. He is quite literally hopping up and down, unable to contain his elation.
There’s so much to take away from this article and definitely recommend reading the entire thing — there are also a collection of photos and sketches from the Calty design studio in California:
There’s even some general idea of a timeline should Lexus decide to build a production version of the LF-1 concept:
Although none of the Calty executives would give an explicit time frame, given past Toyota and Lexus product cadences, there is a strong chance the LF-1 could be a reality as soon as 2021—if Toyota’s board hits the “go” button. Given the LF-1’s status as a counterpart flagship to the LS and LC, pricing would likely start around $75,000.
“If the reaction is positive,” Hunter says, “we could move this into the Lexus production design system right away.”