Photo Gallery: All the Lexus LC Convertible Colors

Go to article
krew

krew

Site Founder
Administrator
Messages
3,687
Reactions
5,676
adityaw said:
Anyone here with insider information? Man if this comes with hard top, it will be in my garage one day, 10000%.......a man can dream.....
Click to expand...

I spoke with the LC Convertible chief engineer, and the concept was designed as a soft-top. Unsure if production will be different, but soft-top feels like a safe bet. That is, if Lexus even builds it.
 
Joe

Joe

Premium Member
Messages
232
Reactions
377
adityaw said:
Hi people

Just want to know if the upcoming LC500 convertible will be hard top or soft top?

I have done a lot of research. Some articles say soft, some say hard.....

I truly truly hope it will be a hard top. Too many soft tops on the road. They look weak and cheap and ruin the car's sweeping lines. Not everyone cares about WEIGHT, HANDLING, DYNAMICS......LC500 is a grand tourer, owners will be looking for a comfortable car for long distance that can go fast as well. Something that can turn between a coupe and a convertible.

As far as I know, going soft top just does not seem to be the Japanese way of doing things, so that is why I hope they go hard top. Plu,s Lexus has never ever made a soft top previously

Anyone here with insider information? Man if this comes with hard top, it will be in my garage one day, 10000%.......a man can dream.....
Click to expand...

Why would soft top not be the right choice? If you look at the quality of for example a Porsche 911 convertible or a Bentley Continental Convertible...: in that case I much rather like the soft top solution. Such top quality solutions are equivalent to hardtop as it comes to wind, climate or noise isolation. And I personally feel that the design is much nicer with a soft top... Just my personal taste, of course...
 
Joaquin Ruhi

Joaquin Ruhi

Moderator
Messages
1,529
Reactions
2,434
I took the liberty of merging adityaw's thread (welcome, BTW) into the original one on the LC Convertible Concept.

Joe said:
Why would soft top not be the right choice? If you look at the quality of for example a Porsche 911 convertible or a Bentley Continental Convertible...: in that case I much rather like the soft top solution. Such top quality solutions are equivalent to hardtop as it comes to wind, climate or noise isolation. And I personally feel that the design is much nicer with a soft top... Just my personal taste, of course...
Click to expand...

Besides krew's insights gained from the LC Convertible Concept engineer, I'm going to personally and emphatically agree with Joe on this one. Yes, Lexus' history with convertibles has, thus far, only been with retractable hard tops, but their second effort (the IS C) was aesthetically somewhere between clumsy, clunky and an outright disaster. (I mean no disrespect to retractable hardtop convertible or IS C fans, but that just happens to be my opinion). Those aesthetic compromises on the IS C were forced by the logistics of needing to stow a multi-piece hard top inside a trunk without getting into enormous rear overhang while maintaining some semblance of luggage capacity, especially with the top down.

Joe mentioned the Porsche 911 and Bentley Continental Convertible as examples of high-end soft-top convertibles with top-notch wind, climate and noise isolation. I'll add a couple of others: the Mercedes-Benz S-Class convertible and the Rolls-Royce Dawn. BMW seems to be moving away from the retractable hardtop convertible as well. The latest Z4 roadster reverted to a soft top, and the next BMW 4-Series will apparently follow suit.
 
A

adityaw

Messages
3
Reactions
3
Wait, guys, pardon my ignorance, but is the quality of soft tops different? So based on what Joe and Joaquin said, Porsche 911, Bentley Continental GTC, S-class convertible and RR Dawn are all very high quality soft tops. Does this mean, then, that for example, the C-class convertible's roof is not as nice? Or even the E-class convertible's roof is not as nice?

I thought they were all the same....but them being different makes sense - you wouldnt want your C-class convertible's roof or Audi A3 convertible's roof to be the same quality as the Bentley Conti GTC's roof....

So, the quality of soft tops ARE indeed different yes? The ones used in the more affordable range like Audi A3 convertible....Ford Mustang convertible.....to the medium level ones like Audi A5 and E-class convertibles.....to those high end ones you mentioned?
 
Joaquin Ruhi

Joaquin Ruhi

Moderator
Messages
1,529
Reactions
2,434
adityaw said:
hellloooooo
Click to expand...
:laughing: My apologies for the delay in replying. I was searching for (but failed to find) a physical press kit that contained the answers you sought.

Let me backtrack a bit and explain myself. As a member of SAMA (Southern Automotive Media Association), I get to participate as a journalist juror in their annual Topless in Miami competition to name the best convertible (whether soft top or retractable hardtop) in a number of categories. Given the diminishing numbers of convertibles offered by carmakers and at the request of some of the ones that don't even offer convertibles (primarily Hyundai/Kia, as I recall), the parameters were expanded to include panoramic glass sunroofs in separate categories.

Anyway, in 2015 (the second year I participated as a juror), Haartz (the world's largest supplier of automotive convertible soft top fabrics) became the title sponsor of Topless in Miami and, to mark this, gave us a detailed press kit outlining their different grades of soft tops, how many layers they were made of, the composition of said layers, what convertibles came from the factory with what grade of tops, etc.

Failing to find the physical press kit, I went to their website. Fortunately, the info is on their site, and suitably updated from 2015, to boot! Anyway, here's the link:
https://www.haartz.com/exteriors

To find the information you seek, scroll on the EXTERIORS link across the top of the screen (it's the third from left) and the drop-down menu will list 6 different CONVERTIBLE TOPPING "families" (SONNENLAND, TWILLFAST, STAYFAST, LANDMARK, BLUESKY and PVC TOPPING). Click on each of those listings on the actual Haartz site, and all the information on composition, number of layers and vehicle applications will be there.

Finally, I'll add that the 9th annual Topless in Miami is coming up in exactly 3 weeks, and, again, I'll be there as a juror.
 
S

supra93

Expert
Messages
1,126
Reactions
1,967

Lexus LC Convertible could be coming to the Goodwood Festival of Speed - Autoblog

The drop-top variant will likely resemble the concept from Detroit.
www.autoblog.com www.autoblog.com

Lexus LC Convertible might be revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Lexus reportedly has plans to reveal a Lexus LC Convertible at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. The news comes from a Roadshow report, citing multiple, anonymous Lexus sources. One is right to be skeptical, but an LC Convertible seems likely after seeing the concept revealed at the Detroit Auto Showat the beginning of the year.

We liked what we saw back in January, and the "concept" looked nearly production ready. Lexus hinted a production version may be on the way, and it looks like we might see the delivery of that car in early July. The Goodwood Festival of Speed runs July 4-7.

That concept car was missing a roof, but we imagine Lexus will be fitting a space-saving soft top for the production car. Space is limited in the LC500's small trunk, and a bulky hard top would just about kill it entirely. However, the gorgeous lines of the LC500 will most likely suffer from such a top — it's pretty much impossible to replicate the coupe's sweet lines and styling with a fabric top.

The idea of an LC Convertible is sound, though. It makes sense for Lexus to take advantage of the beautiful and exotic design of the LC500 for more models, especially as BMW dives head first into this arena with multiple flavors of the 8 Series. As convertibles typically are, we'll expect this one to be more expensive and slower than the coupe. The LC500 starts at $93,325, including the $1,025 destination charge. Lexus says acceleration to 60 mph with the 5.0-liter V8 takes 4.4 seconds. We wouldn't be surprised to see a price tag arching over $100,000, and a couple tenths knocked off that 0-60 mph time with an inevitably heavier car.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is as good a place as any to reveal something like an LC Convertible. We'll be on the grounds in England when the time comes, so check back to see if Lexus decides to pull the covers off in a few weeks.
 
Joaquin Ruhi

Joaquin Ruhi

Moderator
Messages
1,529
Reactions
2,434
Carmaker1 said:
The LC convertible will be making its debut at Goodwood. I cannot provide a link as I'm making a presentation, but check Motor1.
Click to expand...
supra93 said:

Lexus LC Convertible could be coming to the Goodwood Festival of Speed - Autoblog

The drop-top variant will likely resemble the concept from Detroit.
www.autoblog.com www.autoblog.com
Click to expand...
As Krew correctly noted in his front page commentary news story, the origin of the Goodwood Festival of Speed debut for LC Convertible rumors is with Chris Paukert of RoadShow by CNET. Both Motor1 and Autoblog referred back to the RoadShow story as their source.

As of this writing, none of the major official Lexus newsrooms has said anything yet about this production LC convertible debut.
 
Joaquin Ruhi

Joaquin Ruhi

Moderator
Messages
1,529
Reactions
2,434
A thought that just occurred to me: if the rumored world debut of the production Lexus LC Convertible indeed takes place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, will its North American debut happen at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in mid-August?
 
krew

krew

Site Founder
Administrator
Messages
3,687
Reactions
5,676
Joaquin Ruhi said:
A thought that just occurred to me: if the rumored world debut of the production Lexus LC Convertible indeed takes place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, will its North American debut happen at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in mid-August?
Click to expand...

Perfect audience, you’re probably right. That leaves the update GX for a LA debut. Also, feel like Lexus will reveal an EV at the Tokyo Show.
 
Will1991

Will1991

Moderator
Messages
1,589
Reactions
3,232
krew said:
Perfect audience, you’re probably right. That leaves the update GX for a LA debut. Also, feel like Lexus will reveal an EV at the Tokyo Show.
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate a more regarding your final sentence? :)
 
Trexus

Trexus

Founding Member
Messages
648
Reactions
932
Curious if Lexus will bring an LC 500h convertible as well, if so it would be the only luxury convertible hybrid ever until another automaker follows suit. That's awesome that Lexus is expanding the LC line and with these additional variants it will bring in a tiny bit of additional sales, not a whole lot but a wee tiny bit...

LC 500
LC 500h
LC 500 convertible
LC 500h convertible
LC F
LC F track edition
 
Carmaker1

Carmaker1

Admirer
Messages
817
Reactions
2,486
Trexus said:
Curious if Lexus will bring an LC 500h convertible as well, if so it would be the only luxury convertible hybrid ever until another automaker follows suit. That's awesome that Lexus is expanding the LC line and with these additional variants it will bring in a tiny bit of additional sales, not a whole lot but a wee tiny bit...

LC 500
LC 500h
LC 500 convertible
LC 500h convertible
LC F
LC F track edition
Click to expand...

This is accurate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.