Exotic Rides: Lexus IS F
In the not-so-distant past, there was a time when the Toyota Motor Corporation’s amenity-laden American affiliate, Lexus, was heavily scrutinized -- not for the grade of the vehicles produced, as most car manufacturers are, but for the catalog itself. This barrage of criticism was spurred by the complete absence of a single performance model rolling off of Lexus assembly lines.
Enter the Lexus Intelligent Sport series -- code name: IS. Although the first two generations of 200/300 and 250/350 were well received and a formidable foray into the arena of high-output luxury sedans, rivals like Infiniti, Mercedes, Acura, and specifically BMW were beefing up their offerings to previously unheard of proportions, putting the heat on Lexus to remain competitive. And Lexus took on the challenge with gusto -- thank the vehicular lords.
If the IS 430 prototype was to serve as any indication of Lexus performance capabilities, not even that could prepare us for the unveiling of the supremely ...
