mmarshall

Much of that nailing, of course, was due to the classic smoothness of James Sloyan's voice. Believe it or not, after he did a series of those classic Lexus ads, he left and went to work for Mitsubishi LOL...they apparently offered him a better contract.

Stroock639

that must explain why they didn't have much left for the cars

AJT123

I agree with you about going back in time to the 90s when Lexus was very different, with their original ethos. All this reminiscing and 90s ads take me right back. It really was a completely different car company then, for the most part.

And yes, that guy's voice is like butter, lol.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

he's an actor who's done a load of other stuff besides car ads:

Toys4RJill

Do you really think that? I do not agree. Lexus is just making cars that are more interesting than in the past. More emotion. More passion.

AJT123

I can't think of one Lexus that's class-leading these days. They all were back then. Now, part of that reason is because there wasn't competition like there is now (because of Lexus lol). But yeah, take me back to the days of the "boring, soulless" Lexus cars any day.

mmarshall

I still feel, over the years, (and have not changed my mind on this), that, although Lexus products are more boldly-styled these days, the materials they used back in the 1990s were more robust and superior....particularly in interior parts and body sheet metal. With a couple of exceptions (primarily the GX and LX), weight and cost-cutting are an obvious part of most Lexus designs today.

RX469

iTrader: (1)

Happy 30th Lexus.

That LS400 was some awesome automotive engineering.

AJLex19

I remember about 20 years ago my cuz pulled up in his boss's '96 GS300.... The car was beautiful back then to me ...looked like some exotic 4 door sedan - and I thought one day I wouldn't mind driving something like that lol

The only modern Lexus that has made me feel the same way when I first saw it was the LC500 but...kudos to Toyota for the last 30 years showing that they could compete not only in the small/mid-sized categories but also in the luxury market as well.

Toys4RJill

There was always competitive in the past. The difference was that Toyota (along with Lexus) was everyone's darling at the time. Toyota achieved tremendous growth at the time in 1990's and then did really well in the early 00's...A lot if it also had to do with the incredible boost in everyone lives when NAFTA debuted and spending on stuff, including Lexus luxury cars skyrocketed. Toyota was in the right place at the right time. Lexus did very well with their dealerships...(this was huge)....Lexus also had the tremendous brand value created by Toyota and other Japanese brands that were making serious market share inroads at the time.

Now, where Lexus was not class leading:
-powertrain department, it took a long time for Toyota to match what American and other brands were offering, an example is of the 4.7 liter V8 in our first LX470 was nowhere to what Cadillac was offering in their second generation Escalade.
-Lexus then and still has never had a V12 motor...
-size and features, Lexus lacked...dual zone climate was mysteriously absent from the range topping LX470 in 2007
-horsepower rating were not as high as competitors
-size of vehicles were not as large as competitors

I don't put any merit into what magazines ranked at the time (nor today) for comparos (and Lexus was #1 a lot of times), as any magazine had in its best interest to rank Lexus very high as any magazine would like to add new readers.

Lexus sells at over 700K worldwide, Lexus is a much more appealing brand today. Lexus also has the best selling luxury car and luxury suv in the United States..so they are doing some things right.

mmarshall

I'm not one who simply looks at raw numbers when judging the competency of a auto-manufacturer...and, neither, apparently, does AJT123. Sales numbers often reflect the coat-tails of past images, not the current reality. Many people live in the past, and rely on past experiences, when they choose (or not choose) a certain vehicle or manufacturer....at times, in my own life, I have also been guilty of doing that.

Toys4RJill

Sales figures help remove personal bias as well as personal opinion. They are fact based. Lexus sales really took off in the 90s and then people went wild for Lexus in the 2000s. People also went wild for Mercedes Benz as well as BMW at that time. Cadillac really got hit hard when the Japanese three luxury brands emerged. Acura outsold Lexus for a really long time.

AJT123

Agree completely. 90s and early 2000s Lexus cars just weren't like that. That doesn't mean Lexus isn't still a good, reliable car, but yeah, I definitely agree with you that quality isn't what it once was.

Every time I get a loaner once I get back in my LS430 there's a stark difference. Granted I'm driving around the flagship, but the wood trim etc in other Lexus vehicles back then was just as nice. There just wasn't as much of it.

Toys4RJill

Here is an interesting article from a Lexus sponsored event in Costa Rica. It's neat that Lexus has an original LS in their fleet of press cars

https://www.auto123.com/en/car-revie...9-ls500/66080/

Stereorob

i wasn't lucky enough to experience a 1990 LS400 as a brand new car, but i AM lucky enough to have experienced a 1999 LS400 as a brand new car and it made such a lasting impression ill never forget it. up till then i was all about american muscle and modern cars of any kind didnt interest me at all. (i was driving a 1955 Pontiac starchief at the time). i will never forget how amazing that car was. how slick it was inside and out, how responsive it was on the road and how insanely well it drove. how smooth and quiet it was, how great the sound system was. it really was something else. i liked it so much i had to have my own LS400 and well, my 15 year old lawn mowing lunch money self didn't have 60 grand for a new LS400, so i started saving. for the next 2 years i busted my *** saving every spare dime i had till i was able to get one, but it was a 1990 model and nowhere near new, but not antiquity either. it was 11 years old at the time. would be like driving a 2008 LS460 now. today all these years later i still drive LS400s lol




its hard to believe the 1990 LS400 is 30 years old even though it is, and when you get behind the wheel of one 2 seconds after getting out of a new LS500, it feels absolutely archaic. for its time though, the LS400 really was THE car. one of, if not the best car ever built, by anyone.

yes, 21st century Lexus is nothing like the old school. the message isnt the same. its close but not exact, but also 1990 was a very different world with a different conscientious of what a luxury car should be. back then they didnt have gizmos, so they focused all of the efforts in ride quality and build quality. lexus/toyota lost money with the 1st gen LS400 as they saw the brand as an investment for the future because first impressions are well, everything. they wont ever build them like that again. hell nobody will ever build a car like that again. yes the current stable is still well made with good quality fit and finish, but not like it was then. still better then what else is out there. sure, Lexus could build the LS500 the same way as the 400, but it would cost substantially more then 80 grand. the LC500 feels LS400 level solid. will the current LS still feel as good 30 years from now as the OG LS400? probably, if you can find one that is looked after. one in my fleet is a 99 Ls400, same year as the one i drove when it was new, and my 20 year old 200k mile example was maintained religiously. it feels almost as good as i remember the new one did.