The Lexus LC is shaping up to be a legitimate contender to the established order of German sports cars, but as well-developed as the LC currently is, it still doesn’t have a range-topping model to call its own. Well, that’s all about to change now that parent company Toyota has officially filed trademarks to the names “LC F” and “Lexus LC F.”
Granted, trademark filings aren’t automatic signs that a company is going to use the names it’s securing for a soon-to-be-released production model. For all we know, Toyota’s simply protecting the names so that other companies can’t use it. This is different though. The Lexus LC F is a car that’s on it’s way. You can take that to the bank.
Consider this: Lexus wants the LC to become its answer to established sports cars like the Porsche 911. It’s an ambitious goal, but it can be done if the automaker has the horses to make the 911 sweat. Here’s the thing though. The current LC lineup peaks with the LC 500 and its 471-horsepower and 398-pound-feet of torque numbers. Those are good numbers, but not good enough if Lexus hopes to truly compete against a car like the Porsche 911, let alone its two top-dog variants, the 540-horsepower 911 Turbo and the 580-horsepower 911 Turbo S.
A range-topping LC F would help fill that void for Lexus. It’s going to have to develop the heck out of it, but with the options it has at its disposal – don’t sleep on the LC F getting some form of turbos or even hybrid assistance – it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to see the LC F packing some serious punch that can knock down a German titan or two.
Remember, these trademarks filings aren’t clear indications of the LC F. But let’s not kid ourselves either. The model is coming and it’s coming for Germany’s finest.
Continue after the jump to read the full story.
from Top Speed http://ift.tt/2kP7zw2
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