A white Lexus LS400 - Joe Morris/Getty ImagesIn Toyota legend, the creation of the LS 400 was gestated by a crew of 1,400 engineers, 2,300 technicians, and 60 designers (more engineers designers than with Slate's new Truck). They ran through 450 prototypes, and took half a decade to get the first Lexus to market, and all of that burned through $1 billion.Plus, their lofty target was to surpass the Mercedes-Benz S-Class — which at least Car & Driver thought they'd achieved, besting a round-up that pitted the LS 400 against the mighty 420SEL and BMW 735i. But before we go any further, let's go back and define the goals of Toyota's LS400 F1 project. F1 wasn't a shorthand for Formula 1. The project was originally dubbed "Circle F," with the F standing for the word "flagship," something that Toyota, maker of Cressidas and Corollas, was trying to establish. Lexus's own official history on this matter notes that they a team of planners to California to study luxury buyers. Although Toyota made the Japanese-market Century, that rather product was far too conservative for a global luxury audience.What researchers learned from focus groups was that Americans didn't prioritize performance nearly as much as prestige. That makes the LS 400 all the more remarkable, because Toyota had to birth not just a car that was engineered as well as cars from Europe, but one that was aspirational via perceived luxury.AdvertisementAdvertisementRead more: 11 Factory Cars That Can Hit 60 MPH In 3 Seconds Or LessThe Relentless Pursuit of PerfectionThe 1990 LS 400. - Lexus USA NewsroomTo highlight this aspiration, ad firm Saatchi & Saatchi came up with the tagline, "The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection." Part of their ad campaign featured an LS 400 on rollers and accelerating to 145 mph. But the party trick was that it did so with a pyramid of Champagne glasses on the hood — filled with bubbly — and not one drop of Champagne spilled. That might have been impossible had Lexus not actually been relentless, but they were. During prototyping, engineers detected a noise in the drivetrain that was ultimately traced to a harmonic in the driveshaft. This noise got more audible at highway speeds. True to form, Lexus didn't just swap a part. They entirely remanufactured the drivetrain from superior, high-tensile steel. To cement that high-quality mindset, Lexus took what still bedevils automakers today — a recall — and turned it into brilliant marketing. The recall was for a faulty tail light. Rather than making customers come to dealers for repairs, they sent technicians to customers' homes, fetched the cars, fixed them, washed them and brought them back. A Time Magazine story from 1990 even highlights how a Detroit-based dealer flew a crew of repair specialists to Grand Rapids, 150 miles away, to repair just 10 customer vehicles. Performance and PoshLexus testing the LS 400 on their Japanese circuit. - Lexus Europe NewsroomYet Lexus also knew they couldn't compete with German rivals if they didn't offer a V8 engine, which wasn't available on any contemporary Toyota sold in the U.S. They targeted the LS for a 155 mph top speed, while still achieving 10.5 liters per 100 kilometers – which is 22.4 mpg. AdvertisementAdvertisementThey achieved the latter highway mpg by making the LS 400 incredibly slippery for its day, with an enviable drag coefficient (Cd) of just 0.29, which is solid even for cars produced today. For example, a 2026 Toyota Prius has a 0.27 Cd. That slick aerodynamic shape, along with a light enough curb weight, meant the LS 400 would avoid America's gas guzzler tax. And, oh, Lexus didn't just produce any V8. They made an incredibly durable, four-liter quad-cam aluminum V8 that produced 241 horsepower. Not that Lexus stumbled into that performance or quality. They made 973 prototypes of that engine and were put through 2.7 million miles in test cars. A foundational element of Lexus's DNA goes back to that original research, which found that Americans prioritized prestige at least as much as performance. That led to an idea that comfort and performance must coexist. And further, that a Lexus had to be comfortable at speed. Fast, efficient, and exceptionally quiet with a warm interior. Lexus is now a segment titan, but we forget that they achieved this success by reinventing a luxury market — along with Acura — that at the time seemed entirely confined to European brands.Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox, and follow us or add us as a preferred search source on Google.Read the original article on Jalopnik.
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