Take A Guess (Lexus Edition)

When Was Photo This Taken?


  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .

Carmaker1

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Hi everyone, like in The Garage, I am going to be conducting a "Take A Guess" weekly series, in terms of using this to showcase never before seen Lexus and Toyota development/pre-production photos. None of the photos are going to apply to a model, during its lifecycle. Sometimes I might give hints, but in most cases I'll let folks guess and get creative with their investigative skills.

F1 Clay.pngF1 Clay Rear.png
 

Carmaker1

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Interesting choices Ian, RAL, and Will. I'll let you know the correct answer after the poll closes.
 

Carmaker1

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By the way everyone, please notice some discrepancies not existent on the production LS 400. I was really surprised when I discovered this photo 2 nights ago. As it previously didn't even exist in my automotive literature collection. When the poll closes, I will officially begin chronicle development of the F1 from February 1984 to 1988.

Voted 1987 as it was launched in 1989 as 1990MY.

But maybe, it's a 2020 design freeze for the first Level 5 autonomous car since there is no steering wheel :p:)

Interesting, I haven't followed that too closely. When is that due exactly? For something like that, I guess they might need 3 years? You'd be surprised at how long some Toyotas took to develop.

Thanks for the answer.

Agreed, '87 for an '89 launch.

Thanks for the answer and voting! I appreciate your participation.

1986. But might as well be 1987

Interesting rationale, thanks for voting and explaining your choice.
 
Last edited:

flexus

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Hi everyone, like in The Garage, I am going to be conducting a "Take A Guess" weekly series, in terms of using this to showcase never before seen Lexus and Toyota development/pre-production photos. None of the photos are going to apply to a model, during its lifecycle. Sometimes I might give hints, but in most cases I'll let folks guess and get creative with their investigative skills.

View attachment 3304View attachment 3303
On the photo there is in Japanese Car Manufacturer 1 so I'm guessing that picture is benchmark vehicle for F1 project
 

Carmaker1

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On the photo there is in Japanese Car Manufacturer 1 so I'm guessing that picture is benchmark vehicle for F1 project

Yes, my moniker in Japanese. I understand Japanese, but not fluently. It's not for users here, but drive-by readers who take stuff and post it to pinterest or certain sites that shan't be named. I didn't want to highlight that little secret, because I buy these photos in many cases LOL and some blogs can erase watermarks (I was too lazy watermark it this time) if they spot them (*coughs* Autospies).
 

Carmaker1

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I concur with the majority and voted 1987 as well.

Thanks for voting, I will admit due to some very recent discoveries, this one may be very difficult to get right, as I am guilty of some past misinformation on the F1 LS 400 program.

Bear in mind everyone, the design freeze mockup will still differ from the "final design choice" mockup. The former is production model exact, while the latter is the "final concept", which is without engineering finessing. That's the only hint I will give for now.
 

flexus

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Yes, my moniker in Japanese. I understand Japanese, but not fluently. It's not for users here, but drive-by readers who take stuff and post it to pinterest or certain sites that shan't be named. I didn't want to highlight that little secret, because I buy these photos in many cases LOL and some blogs can erase watermarks (I was too lazy watermark it this time) if they spot them (*coughs* Autospies).
You should use 自動車技師1 if you mean car builder :)
 

CIF

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Looks like a pre-design freeze final concept mockup of the F1 project, I would say from 1986 based on the timelines of the F1 project.
 

Carmaker1

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Looks like a pre-design freeze final concept mockup of the F1 project, I would say from 1986 based on the timelines of the F1 project.

Thanks for voting! There are many more photos and this will be my first true Lexus story, since I am now confident with the material I have.
 

Carmaker1

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This was not an easy one to answer, as clay models take many weeks to develop and the second half of 1986 things started getting close to done. However, the photo is from indeed February 1987 and is of the final concept clay model (pre-design freeze), that was started on in late 1986.
331933203321
In August 1985, most of the Toyota designers sent to Malibu, California returned to Japan and spent the next 18 months designing the LS. In February 1987, the final design for the LS was set and then in May 1987, the design freeze was achieved. A short 3 months of cubing, which is a rare feat in the industry.

F1 Program Design Freeze for XF10 - May 1987
Notice the badging has no Lexus L yet.
3323
3322

Here are some others all from 1986, I will add much more later.

3324
3325
3326
 
Last edited:

Ian Schmidt

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Thanks! Those alternate '86 versions really show off how much luck was involved in the LS400 having the iconic look it ended up with. Especially the second, which has a mid-80s GM front end, or the third, which looks like the Fox-body Crown Vic / Marquis twins.
 
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The birth of Lexus was so legendary. To imagine the amount of love, passion, care and determination that went into this car is beyond this Earth. Not to say Lexus and Toyota aren't anything now (heck no), but they really were something back then. Makes me want to experience that time period. Has anyone built a time machine yet?
 

CIF

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This was not an easy one to answer, as clay models take many weeks to develop and the second half of 1986 things started getting close to done. However, the photo is from indeed February 1987 and is of the final concept clay model (pre-design freeze), that was started on in late 1986.
View attachment 3319View attachment 3320View attachment 3321
In August 1985, most of the Toyota designers sent to Malibu, California returned to Japan and spent the next 18 months designing the LS. In February 1987, the final design for the LS was set and then in May 1987, the design freeze was achieved. A short 3 months of cubing, which is a rare feat in the industry.

F1 Program Design Freeze for XF10 - May 1987
Notice the badging has no Lexus L yet.
View attachment 3323
View attachment 3322

Here are some others all from 1986, I will add much more later.

View attachment 3324
View attachment 3325
View attachment 3326

I was close, but not quite right. Thanks for the info.