One of the hottest Lexuses ever designed is losing its top in Goodwood. Already teased in concept form earlier this year, a partially disguised Lexus LC convertible prototype is making an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, an event that attracts enthusiasts around the world to watch (usually) vintage cars climb up a short hill course. The LC convertible will join the LC coupe and risk-taking LS sedan at the top of Lexus’ lineup as the automaker looks to further establish its tier-one luxury-brand credentials.
Although we don’t yet know when the LC convertible will officially join the Lexus lineup, it should fit in perfectly alongside the LC coupe, a car we called “one of the grandest grand touring coupes extant.” It was high praise for the intriguing coupe, which is offered with a six-cylinder hybrid powertrain and a 471-hp V-8 that sounded “glorious” through its multimode exhaust. Now just imagine hearing that naturally aspirated V-8 in a drop-top version of the LC.
This isn’t the first time Toyota has used the Goodwood Festival of Speed to spread awareness about an upcoming product. Before the Toyota Supra became a comparison-winning sports car, it was a highly anticipated new model with what felt like an endless rollout schedule. Part of that rollout included a hillclimb in prototype form at Goodwood.
As for the Lexus LC convertible, the prototype will be driven by professional racer Nick Cassidy before the car is taken on tour to various events. Expect the LC convertible to continue where the coupe left off, as an exquisite grand-tourer that isn’t focused on stoplight drag races. In fact, with the convertible’s likely weight gain compared to the coupe, that’ll probably be even more the case once the production version makes its debut. Our fingers are crossed that Lexus will update its frustrating touchpad infotainment controller (as it did with the 2020 RX), but we wouldn’t count on it. Regardless, the countdown begins for Lexus to reveal a fully production-ready LC convertible at an upcoming auto show.