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First British Lexus LS 400 Returns Home


Here’s a neat story from blogger Mike CJ that combines the first-ever UK Lexus LS 400, Twitter and a whole heap of coincidence — here’s a quote but I recommend reading the full article:

Way back in 1990, I was still in my 20’s and had recently been appointed to a role as a Training Manager at Toyota GB in Surrey. Ice, Ice Baby was at number one, Nelson Mandela had been set free and we were still marvelling that the Berlin Wall had come down the previous year.  I loved my job, and it was a fabulous time to be working for Toyota, as we were preparing to launch a whole new luxury car brand onto the UK market – Lexus.

When I heard that the [first LS 400] had arrived, I almost ran down the stairs to find it in one of our training bays. It was dark metallic green with tan leather.

It’s probably quite hard to imagine the impact that first LS 400 had back in 1990.

I’ve often considered buying an old Jensen, so I did what we all do. I Google’d “Classic cars UK” to see what was available and how much one would cost. I clicked on the site that came up number one, and looked at several examples.

With my dream Jensen in mind, I absentmindedly scrolled through the menu and was surprised to see Lexus amongst the Morgans and Lotus’.

Great to see Lexus GB buying a little bit of its history — I wonder what kind of story that LS could tell?

20 years is a long time, but the LS has this “timelessness” about it, and has aged so well. I may be bias, but it’s still a great looking car.

(Note: The picture above is not the same LS in the article, hard to find a dark green pre-1993 update LS 400.)

[Source: Mike’s Life]

Lexus LS: First GenerationUnited Kingdom
Comments
W
  • W
    WorldofLuxury
  • July 28, 2010
It would be nice if Lexus could give us a little time to restore owner's vehicles for a price, even if the vehicles might not be that "old". And with the restoration, they could probably update a few things and maybe add a few simple, but convenient features. I'm willing to negotiate at this moment, as a matter of fact. hmm... an engine swap would be nice. hehe Maybe also: - transmission swap - tasteful LED DRL - through Nav update for my 1998 version - more leather, wood, chrome, and Mark Levinson stereo - new grille and foglights - new, fully optioned seats I can go on forever. aha I'm not the traditional restoration type of guy. Hopefully safety features don't get tainted.
J
  • J
    Josh
  • July 28, 2010
wow truly heart warming story. How exciting for Mike
E
  • E
    Evn
  • July 28, 2010
I totally agree on the "timeless" status of the car. I drive a '95 LS400 well over 150k miles and it still runs great. I love the LS.
S
We collect the car next week and will get some photgraphy done then. In the meantime, here's a link to a shot and drive of another Mk1 LS we found earlier this year; Drive of original LS
M
Thanks so much for sharing my little story here - I love The Lexus Enthusiast, and really look forward to your regular posting. I agree, the original LS400 is timeless - more so than later models strangely. I'll keep you posted on this one, and let you know when I get to see the car again.
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  • R
    RDS
  • July 29, 2010
One of my favorite Lexus , LS400 .

R