Re: [OT] another fugly car

Ha! Almost looks like something rendered in Photoshop...

Jerry

-- Jerry Bransford KC6TAY, PP-ASEL The Zen Hotdog, make me one with everything! See the Geezer Jeep at

Who would do that?

God Bless America, ßill O|||||||Omailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com Melameth wrote:>

Actually, you're wrong. The engine and transmission are lifted right from the Land Cruiser. Most mechanical parts on the car are either directly lifted off of a Toyota from somewhere in the world in one of the many markets they have, or a slightly revised Toyota part. You must remember that Toyota makes many rear drive cars in other markets. In order to get that level of reliability, those parts need to have been redesigned over and over again to get rid of any defects. Most Lexus models are rebadged Toyotas from another market, just as the Acuras are rebadged Hondas from another market. The use of a premium name in the US market is done only for perception to compete against other premium brands. True, they probably are a bit more loaded than their Toyota counterparts...

Designing from scrap ensures defects, and thus is the reason Honda and Toyota never totally redesign their cars. Their philosophy is "if it isn't broke, don't fix it." On the flip side, the US companies have traditionally redesigned their cars from top to bottom. The (then) new for 1992 Jeep Grand Cherokee was a total redesign and was touted by Bob Lutz that the only parts from the old Grand Cherokee used could fit in a small bag. Hence, it was horrible in reliability and did a lot of damage to the Jeep reputation because of all the yuppies that bought them expecting more reliability like the Hondas and Toyotas they used to buy.

I do believe that it was a redesigned V8 that already existed, not a ground up engine for Lexus. The Land Cruiser got its V8 (4.2 Liter) in 1975, long before Lexus even existed. The redesigned engine may have made a debut in the Lexus first, but it was still based on the old Toyota engine. Never-the-less, the LS400 shares most of its mechanical components with other Toyotas sold in many parts of the world. It is, in fact, a Toyota at heart and not something revolutionary, as you so try to indicate.

At the same time, it was and is a very bland car, just as all other Toyotas are.

I thought Toyota used to make vehicles under license from both Jaguar and Rover. From whence came a better DOHC engine than Jaguar ever produced?

ok, JEEP group. :)

-- Bruce

99 White WJ 4x4 Select Trac 89 YJ 03 Liberty Ltd L.O.S.T #000256 90 XJ6 Sovereign

It was a scratch-built ground-up brand-new design 4.0L engine that the then-new LS-400 received. It had nothing more in common with the 4.2L engine other than a V8 design. There were no other major parts or assemblies shared with Toyota at the time of the LS-400 introduction either... the Lexus was designed as a cutting-edge entry into the Mercedes Benz marketplace and was a radical departure for the Parent company. Eventually, some Lexus designs made it down into Toyota... but few Toyota parts get used in the LS-400 or LS-450.

Jerry

-- Jerry Bransford KC6TAY, PP-ASEL The Zen Hotdog, make me one with everything! See the Geezer Jeep at