Toyota shouldered its way into prestige territory the old-fashioned way-with a better product. Two years ago-back when Lexus was just a name, not a car-there were doubts that a Japanese sedan could ever sit at the head table with Mercedes and BMW. The world's third-largest automaker is determined to grab a big hunk of the market's sirloin. How can other brands compete? First, they'd have to be as serious about business as Toyota is. Lexus has baked a fresh new recipe and will undercut the sedan's $40,285 base price. The synthetic-coupe makers typically take two doors away from their sedans and make up for it by raising the price. Davis Illingworth says, "We're going to price this car where we think the customers are." In plain English, that means a window sticker low enough to move the iron. Starting to worry about the repo man coming for the Sony, leaving the kids without Sesame Street? Well, this next bit of news won't help. Tested: 1992 Lexus SC400 Sets a New Bar.About all the SC400 coupe shares with the LS400 sedan is the extravagantly smooth and powerful four-cam, 32-valve V-8, which everybody loves already. It's a new car, with an entirely new appearance, a new suspension, and a new personality. If you're relying on synthetic coupes to keep the kids in Keds, then the migraine throb will kick in as soon as your customers see this real coupe from Lexus, the brand that can do no wrong in the four-door market. But, amazingly, you can show them a synthetic coupe-what amounts to a sedan with half the number of doors-and they write the check. They'd no more be seen in a four-door than they would in a leisure suit. The Lexus brand has already skimmed your gravy with the LS400, a four-door that lures away your customers like a discount Hope Diamond. Imagine that your house payments and your kids' new shoes depend in some way on sales of Mercedes-Benz or BMW or Cadillac or Lincoln automobiles. The big difference is, this baby will cause headaches. The new Lexus SC400 coupe is as rounded and slippery and slick as a caplet of Extra-Strength Tylenol. From the June 1991 issue of Car and Driver.
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