crkao

Three spy photos of the new LS430 are published in the August issue of a Taiwanese car mag. "CAR News". According to this one-page/three-photo article, both the front and and the back got minor facelift. Engine is the same as the old one. "Automatic manual shift" like the Audi system will be standard.

According to this article, LS500 should be out by 2006. A long version of LS500 would also be available then.

harris10101

can u scan and post pix?

drink300

Yes. Please post the photos from the mag! The article you have sounds like genuine information. There ar no radical engine and design claims. A minor facelift is what I think everyone really expects.

drink300
2003 LS430 Parch/Ecru Custom Luxury

Higuma

Perhaps this will be the V-12 equiped replacement for the aging "custom order / build " market of the Toyota Century....? ? ? ? ?

crkao

Here is the scanned page. These photos could have been an insider job because the background of these pistures had been removed to avoid the location being identified.

Also attached is the Porsche 997 Turbo pictures, also seen for the first time.

crkao

Porsche 997 Turbo

Higuma

That Ls 430 may be a new one for North America but that sure looks like a stone stock Toyota Celsior to me... My friend took dlivery of one about 3 weeks ago and even the shifter is the same...

I will be seeing him and taking a road trip on next Friday I think so I will grab some pictures if I can...

Sorry, I am looking at the pictures and I just don't see anything different from the current Celsior model but perhaps the Lexus LS430 available to you is not the same as the current Celsior ? ? ?

Cheers,

PS : the comment about a LS500 available in a few years may suggest the inclusion of the 5 liter V-12 from the Century.. LS400 = 4 liter LS430 = 4.3 liter LS500 = 5 liter (V-12?)...... Still 2006 is a LONG way off...

crkao

By the way, AWD will be an option for this LS430.

Adaptive front light and laser Cruise similar to RX330 will be standard.

Richie

I like the new nose on the LS!!!

harris10101

the light do look a little different....but they are such subtle mods anyone who wanted to look more current, cud do it in less then 1000 dollars prolly

ATSOU

How come I don't see any changes on the LS?

EXE.UCF10

iTrader: (3)

You guys don't notice the changes? They're very subtle. The nose/grill are different now and the headlights look more like the RX330....more aggressive than the current LS430.

XeroK00L

Really!!? How come the "current" Celsior you're saying isn't even on Toyota's web site?
http://www.toyota.co.jp/Showroom/All...ineup/Celsior/
The Celsior on their web site sure looks like the current LS430 to me, and the new Celsior/LS430 in the magazine looks quite obviously different.

The Celsior your friend just bought may very well be the actual 2004 LS430. It's just that as usual the Japanese market has a head start. Why the web page isn't updated is beyond me though.

I, too, hope that Lexus can come out with a 5.0-liter V12 but their conservative past records keep me pessimistic on this.

Edit: Now that I try to read the text on the magazine page harder, I can finally see the first sentence that reads "In Japan, the Toyota Celsior has already received a minor facelift. Hence it will be only natural that we see the same revision made to the 2004 Lexus LS430...".
So the mystery is gone and your friend indeed got the same car that will become the upcoming LS430.
It's not published on Toyota's web site probably only because the new LS430 hasn't been publicly announced yet either.

ychachad

Sadly, the rear end and tailights look like another S-class imitation. But the front looks much improved.

XeroK00L

Thanks for the info, crkao!

AWD and adaptive front lights are great but to make the option list on par with the RX330 will there be an option for the rear-view camera?

Also, do you mind sending me pictures of the magazine pages in a higher resolution so that I can read the texts as well (I'm from Taiwan but unfortunately not currently in Taiwan BTW). I'm eager to see what the magazine has to say about the new design. Thanks!!

I'll post the translated texts for everybody here to see as well.