Design insights of the Lexus LC 500 Convertible

Lexus has designed a sportier, gorgeous looking convertible known as the LC 500 Convertible. The new model is expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2021 for the South African market.

There are similar looks between the two LC models, Designers Tadao Mori and Chief Engineer Yasushi Muto have provided a sneak peek into the design process of the Lexus LC Convertible.

“Our biggest challenge was always how we would keep the trunk line low, while still allowing room for load space and stowing the roof,” says Mori. “With other carmakers, you’ll often see a high rear line, but we wanted to make this the most beautiful convertible, keeping the best lines whether the roof is up or down. We’re really proud of how we have kept the top of the rear wings so low, keeping the feeling of a low centre of gravity.”

Being that its the first soft top that the carmaker has made, of course, to achieve this was quite a challenge meaning, this meant that the roof had to be folded into what already is not much space behind the models’ rear seats.

“To make this possible, every bend in the roof had to be a different size, so we had to engineer a complex and unique mechanism,” Muto adds.

The manufacturer aimed for beauty in this model but with well-balanced practicality.

“When you operate the roof, one will notice that there’s a pause at the beginning and end of the sequence, with faster movement in between,” says Muto. “This is intentional, it’s a way of communicating elegance in moving parts that has been part of the Lexus DNA right from the start with the first-generation LS sedan.”

“The balance itself isn’t difficult to understand – we call it functional beauty – but achieving it was very difficult,” says Muto. “For example, we had to add bracing to keep the body rigid, but also needed to keep space to stow the roof. So we developed a new rear suspension brace made of aluminium that gives good rigidity but is also compact. It’s design also helped us keep the car’s beautiful silhouette.”

The LC 500 Convertible will be available with a 5.0-litre V8 engine delivering 351 kW with 540 Nm of torque at 4800 rpm. The model’s engine is mated to a DirectShift-10 automatic gearbox.

The power of the Lexus LC 500 Convertible’s power output will be tuned according to the specific style of driving at that moment.

Lexus is very excited to introduce the new model. The carmaker is confident that the LC 500 will be sure to make heads turn thanks to its elegant, stylish design.

Pricing and specifications will be revealed closer to the time of its launch.

Picture/s: Motorpress