My all time favorite Lexus would be the first gen SC.

Of the models I have owned (3RX, 3IS, 4GS), my 2015 GS has been my favorite. I may actually buy this car out at the end of the lease. I still love it as much as (or maybe more than) the day I bought it.

 

I have to admit, that the 2001 SC had that "wow" factor when it came out. I literally thought to myself, if I were in the NFL, I'd buy me one (remember my dream at that time was the 2001 328Ci. About the only thing I didn't prefer about it was the rims. But as for the rest of it, bordering on timeless. Since the thread says modelS,

my favorite has to be the LS, of any vintage. But of course I like mine the best

 

i have a soft spot for the 2IS partly because i really like the design and also because a 2IS was my first car ever.

 

1999 LS of course!!

yes this is possibly the most "chill" car of all time... everything it does is just in a manner conducive to relaxation and luxury, yet it's not that heavy and actually handles quite well. by NO means is it a racer but get out on the open road and it's such a delight. as fun as the E55 is, it's not nearly as "nice" to use as the LS. and as Aron mentioned, the 98+ LS is genuinely a quick car, even by todays standards. nothing i've come across (and i've come across quite a lot) matches the silky smooth way that the LS effortlessly wafts down the road. it just does nearly EVERYTHING incredibly well, as former LS owners can attest.

other than that i'd have to extend this to the LS400 as a whole, and nobody has mentioned the LFA yet? that car has got to be the best example of someone with basically unlimited funds and time being told to design the best sports car they could, so they did! i can't speak from personal experience with the LFA but even on speakers it sounds incredible and it must be amazing to really wind that V10 out to 9500 rpm.

the SC300/400 will also get an honorable mention from me, timeless styling and lets not forget it was the basis for the MKIV Supra, which is of course THE Supra!

 

I've seen late-90s LS400s on the road with well over 200K miles on them.

 

I didn't mention the LFA, because it seemed so obvious lol. I'd pay $300,000 for that car just based on the engine note alone. Seriously, if I won the lottery, I'd have a hard time deciding between the Lexus LFA and the Lamborghini Miura as my first exotic car purchase(I saw a Miura in a museum and spent a better part of an hour staring at that car).

I mean just listen to that exhaust note, it sounds like a Formula 1 V10 car. If there was any sort of exhaust mod to make it louder while retaining that sound, hell yeah, I'd run that SOB with open headers if it sounded like this but 10 times louder. Seriously that is the best sounding exhaust note of any production car. Ferrari can suck it, that is a straight up Formula 1 sound from that V10.

 

yamaha did a great job tuning that exhaust for sure.

 

My favorite would be my current car, a 2015 GS350 F-Sport RWD. I absolutely love that car. In a close second place was a 2005 GS430 I owned - what a great car. I got rid of it only because I ran across an M3 at a price I couldn't pass up. That was a fun car, but the fact that I sold the M3 after a couple years and ended up in another GS says it all.

The car I'd love to own is a GS-F. My desire for that car borders on the unhealthy.

 

1st Gen SC, of course. Acquiring the one we have in '92 was a thrill (an auto SC300) and now with all of the mods invested it has taken on a whole new feeling while retaining it's original attraction.
Hard to say without owning one, the LC500 is very compelling but the price point (while justified) is challenging so maybe a CPO down the road is a potential.

Of our 2 LS models, I still prefer the 430 but the 13 years newer 460 is a top shelf car.

The LFA is just not practical but I agree if a "lottery" came around and cost of ownership was of no concern I'd build a house with a very large garage to hold one...... (along with other platforms of play...).

 

4GS, 3IS, 2GS, 2.5SC, 1IS in this order

 

1GS, 2.5LS, 3GS.. but i maybe a lil biased

 

i notice here a lot of love for lexus of 10-20+ years ago...

i want to see lexus blow the world away again... maybe the new ls when it's finally available for review will hold big wonderful surprises. the new lc is very positive and pretty stunning. the rest are either (to me) not attractive now (rx), not great (ct), old or very old (lx, etc.), or not that interesting (es, is, rc). the nx refresh is nice, the current ls is still a wonderful car but isn't really competitive at this point.

as for my favorites... well my old gs400 was memorable and wonderful in its day, all the ls models have been top notch. the rx was a game changer. the sc300/400 were awesome and unique.

 

...........for good reason.

 

The competition has gotten a lot better these days. Lexus isn't just competing with the Germans. Even the Koreans have stepped up their game. I would like to see Lexus blow the world away again, but different times...

 

a lot of old lexus changes the luxury game and they are classic / iconic

but the best lexus and my most favorite? LFA easy