24 Hours With The Lexus LC500h
Our Editor Next To The LC500h
A few weeks ago our friends at Lexus Liverpool kindly extended us the privilege of spending 24 hours with their halo model – the LC 500h. Aside from being the jewel in their hybrid crown, it’s also an incredibly rare car, with around only 350 in the UK. We weren’t told what colour or spec the car would be, which only added to our excitement. Upon entering the forecourt we couldn’t see any sign of the LC 500h, the tension was building. Whilst the car was given its final once-over we had some time to appreciate their opulent showroom, which is something akin to a waiting room on Harley Street. The car was then revealed in all its glory and we were given a passionate briefing before setting off.
As you can see, the exterior speaks for itself, ineffably good looking. Underneath is where it gets interesting. Lexus have two LC 500 models, the red-blooded v8 that delivers an exhaust note capable of starting an earthquake and the interesting hybrid model that we had the keys to. The hybrid engine harnesses a responsive 3.5 L V6 that somehow generates a combined mpg of over 30, which for a car this powerful was seriously impressive and therefore very worthy of its hybrid badge. Inside, the cockpit is one seriously refined place to sit, the build quality is immense throughout and the styling is refreshing, easy to see why Lexus were named Best Car Brand 2019 in the Which? Awards.
Thankfully the weather was glorious so we wanted to make the most of it. Liverpool was heaving with people and we were curious the sort of reaction it prompted by passersby. We found the most common reaction started with ‘Wow’ followed by ‘What is that?!’. Upon our one and only fuel stop 3 people paused to take pictures, with one very polite gentleman even coming over to ask us for a closer look, which says it all. Lexus have created something special here and it clearly gets the recognition it deserves.
Early next morning it was strangely disappointing to see it was going to be another beautiful day because we had to return the car. The drive back to the showroom was a quiet one, we didn’t want to hand it back, probably why we ended up being an hour late and didn’t apologise! Big thanks to Lexus Liverpool, polite, friendly and professional. If you haven’t already popped in – you should.
Rimrose Road, Bootle, L20 4TX
All images unless stated are owned by Trailblazer UK
Lexus LC500- credit Lexus UK