Carrying on quietly, the LC Convertible is still the finest tourer on the market
Positioned higher than any Lexus SC tourer before it, the LC was always a niche proposition, an apparent passion project from a team that so evidently yearned for a taste of something resembling the 2000GT soulfulness of Toyota’s past. As in that 2000GT and in the late LFA, Yamaha once again stepped in to refine power, in this case a naturally aspirated V8 offering 471 hp and 398 pound-feet of torque through a limiter-bouncing 10-speed automatic transmission and a sonorous, authentically raspy exhaust.
It was a costly way into a Lexus badge, but a consciously low-volume alternative to the usual country-club roster’s European incumbents. Still, the LC started off strong: Canadians bought up 171 units in that first year, a respectable volume for its sort. Seven years on, the LC 500 continues to carry surprisingly well: 128 cars in 2024, just over half of which were chosen in this correct flavour: the LC Convertible.
The Lexus LC 500 Convertible is the way this car ought to be taken. Sporty, yes; powerful, yes; graceful — that’s the LC’s real might. Its deep cabin opened still further to the skies above, yet so precisely insulated from their turbulent disruptions, the LC Convertible is a particularly brilliant execution of the type.
GTs of any sort — Aston, Jag, Merc — are more about the fantasy of cruising down to Monaco than about hitting the circuit. All offer the on-paper potential of high-powered sports cars, but typically lean toward milder-riding setups that indulge loud-piped theatrics without the hard-riding aggression of super-sports cars.
Part of this temperance is in grand tourers’ bias toward longer wheelbases, often stretching a 2+2 seating configuration to fill some of the space. These longer wheelbases dial back the snappy go-kart handling of two-seat supercars in favour of more gradual, steady response and easy-cruising high-speed stability. It’s all about left-lane Autostrade ease, and all the one-handed satisfaction therein.
It can play, sure — rear-drive, many horsepower, and fully defeatable traction control ready it well for that — but the LCs’ strengths are in the assurance of a supple, special-feeling car that’s as comfortable on long-distance journeys as it is exciting through stereo-off, deep-footed B-road indulgence. The coupe does all of this, sure, and with fractionally more purposeful poise through the latter sort of driving. Really though, the convertible better suits the laid-back, still-ready-roaring character of its drawn-out proportions.
In the everyday, those proportions afford distinct comfort. Compared to its shallow-sidewalled competitors, the LC offers a more forgiving experience across climate-beaten urban asphalt. Darted across heaving undulations that often unsettle other cars, that long footing teams with adaptive damping to breeze the LC along with surprising indifference. It doesn’t feel detached, just well managed.
Part of this is surely thanks to the suspension geometry below, a winding array of forged aluminum control arms twisting helically around one another. It’s an artful arrangement, with cast-aluminum strut towers accommodated beneath a low bonnet line by compact double-jointed forged front control arms. Double wishbones out back match this multi-link configuration, all of which was updated in 2023. This was matched in 2024 by an update from original-spec Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires to new-gen Pilot Sport S 5s — the same tires under that new Aston Martin DB12, and which are gradually rolling out to most of today’s top-of-the-line super-sports cars.
Put to task, the assemblage feels lively, if also of its 2,040-kilogram (4,497-lb) curb weight. Switch everything off (an extended process) and you can roll that naturally aspirated torque to the rears
It must be acknowledged that LC Convertible buyers miss out on the optional Performance Package, which for $14,875 fits LC coupes with a limited-slip differential, active rear wing, and still-excellently comfortable sport seats — albeit at the cost of the usual panoramic glass top, which trades that open airiness for tighter-feeling headroom under a suede-lined carbon roof. Again, however, the LC is a tourer — you’d best go try an RC F if you want to hoon a NA V8.
Conversely, the LC seems a car to be savoured in the smug knowledge that it can amp up and perform, it just needn’t always be bothered. There’s no particular urgency to bellend it from light to light, jarring passengers and startling well-to-do goldendoodles.
Ridden lightly, the LC’s V8 keeps its voice low and its presence dignified, a refreshing restraint until you call upon something more. Its California-designed bodywork isn’t necessarily so subtle though, not least when correctly specced in a deep red metallic against a caramel soft top and leather.
That soft top is itself a spot of elegance. Convertible adaptation of sport coupes often seem an afterthought, a compromise that interrupts the original lines. Properly colour-contrasted on the LC though, the 15-second retractable roof accentuates the profile of the side glass and maintains an impression of open airiness even when sealed against the weather. Four-layered construction manages wind noise when up, and as in most modern convertibles, it can be operated at up to 50 km/h.
Drop the roof though, and the LC500’s precise tuning shines. Wind noise and buffeting are remarkably well isolated in the LC Convertible, keeping hair untousled and conversation easy. This starts it on a strong footing versus the drop-top Aston or Porsche offerings, and the advantage only grows from there.
Augmenting this is the LC’s fabulous standard audio, a 13-speaker setup wired for 915 watts’ peak output. High-low clarity is a standout here, with tourer-appropriate classical or brooding late-night synths rendered beautifully at both extremes. The equalizer slightly adjusts to compensate when the top is retracted, and thanks to that isolation, open-air driving doesn’t compromise listening enjoyment. Against so many premium stereos tested in so many years of this career, this standard-fitted unit stands out in performance and memorability. The night I went to return a previous LC tester, I detoured to sit in a parking lot where I spent two-plus hours listening to favourites with the roof down and the seat reclined. On this test I made a point of picking up audiophile pals for a listen. It’s just a delight.
Cabin design effectively carries the sweeping motifs in from the car’s outside, with particular appreciation for the smooth leather-lined pocket that serves as the driver’s door pull. The LC effectively delivers a greater sense of occasion than a 911 on entry, if still leaving room where the Brits furnish more cold metals to accent their leathers and woods.
On utility, Lexus updated 2024 LC500s with the excellent and intuitive new tablet-style infotainment gradually deploying across the Lexus and Toyota lineups. Though a tremendous boon for everyday usability (the old touchpad system was dreadful), the system still keeps some comfort controls to inconvenient onscreen menus. More unfortunately, this new system feels a pasted-in afterthought that interrupts the LC’s originally seamless, window-faced dash design. For a short-term lessee, this new system will certainly be preferable; to a long-term collector choosing 20 years from now, either will feel ancient, so might as well search for the prettier early setup.
Don’t lose sight of that collectability either. The LC500 is absolutely and without a moment’s hesitation a future collectible. Full-haired rear-drive, that naturally aspirated V8 of a family so reputed for reliability, statement styling and emphatic craftsmanship, this stands a height for modern grand tourers and sets a standard that old-money luxury-market peers still struggle to match seven years in.
Not the 500h V6 hybrid though. You’re already spending $134,405; do it right and get that special V8.
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