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^^^^^^^^ Talk about nit⛏️ing That letter looks pretty official to me. The dealers have received word from Lexus, and Lexus is allowing them to publish the letter.
Seems legit then? We've all known this day would come at some point, it's just strange to finally get there.
At this point they're likely building the remainder of the cars using existing inventory and orders, and not placing any more. So if you've got a unique bespoke combination of parts, good luck getting your orders through.
Holding out hope for a "final edition" for that last month of production, if it does happen the markups are going to be stupid.
"Lexus executives say the brand’s decade-long foray into motorsports was a success and point to race weekends including the 2026 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona here as proof.Fans of all ages could be seen wearing Lexus Racing gear. A steady stream of race fans, and potential Lexus buyers, visited the brand’s product display. And a group of Lexus dealers, some of whom were making a repeat trip to Daytona, gathered to take in the race experience with executives."
Ours not to reason why, but seems to me the move to Gazoo racing brand doesn't seem sensible when vastly larger potential Lexus audience/owners would be boosted and do admire "Lexus" racing's building reputation. In the marketing world this has to be a source of pride to an also (so called) luxury car brand I would think.
"Lexus executives say the brand’s decade-long foray into motorsports was a success and point to race weekends including the 2026 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona here as proof.Fans of all ages could be seen wearing Lexus Racing gear. A steady stream of race fans, and potential Lexus buyers, visited the brand’s product display. And a group of Lexus dealers, some of whom were making a repeat trip to Daytona, gathered to take in the race experience with executives."
Ours not to reason why, but seems to me the move to Gazoo racing brand doesn't seem sensible when vastly larger potential Lexus audience/owners would be boosted and do admire "Lexus" racing's building reputation. In the marketing world this has to be a source of pride to an also (so called) luxury car brand I would think.
Agree 100%. It makes no sense to try to elevate what was formerly a Toyota moniker in GR to a standalone brand with a supposedly several hundred thousand dollar halo car (GR GT). Rumors are "several hundred thousand" from what I read.
Imagine thinking the GR86, GR corolla, and GR Supra target audience will be potential buyers of a 250k-300k+ GR GT. Or that the formerly loyal Lexus RC F and LC 500 audience will just suddenly be pleased as punch to change "brands" to Gazoo Racing to buy whatever trickle-down 100k+ "budget" model comes out of the GR GT (with a TT V6 no doubt).
I had a GR86 2 years ago and have no shame in saying a 120-125k out the door LC is at the high end of what I am comfortable spending on a car, and I am very likely an extreme outlier as most GR86 buyers are NOT in that bracket except wealthy track rats who buy cheap cars to mod them extensively. Anything over 150k would be out of reach for my income and comfort level.
Somehow I fully expect the GR GT to be "just" on par with an AMG GT performace-wise. While that isnt a BAD thing by any stretch, if the price significantly eclipses 225k it will very likely be DOA unless they can somehow proove the reliability is on par with historical Lexus, and even then it will be a VERY tough sale if the price is 2x-3x a 2026 LC's price. Because for that money one would just go buy the benchmark -- a 911 Carrera Turbo (or a C8 ZR1 for pure performance per dollar).
Lexus's strong suit is(was) the LC and RC F. Luxury GT cars that benefitted in their own ways from the racing heritage. Chasing the performance crowd at the expense of the Luxury crowd will gain them little and cost them everything theyve spent 20 years building up.
Agree 100%. It makes no sense to try to elevate what was formerly a Toyota moniker in GR to a standalone brand with a supposedly several hundred thousand dollar halo car (GR GT). Rumors are "several hundred thousand" from what I read.
Imagine thinking the GR86, GR corolla, and GR Supra target audience will be potential buyers of a 250k-300k+ GR GT. Or that the formerly loyal Lexus RC F and LC 500 audience will just suddenly be pleased as punch to change "brands" to Gazoo Racing to buy whatever trickle-down 100k+ "budget" model comes out of the GR GT (with a TT V6 no doubt).
I had a GR86 2 years ago and have no shame in saying a 120-125k out the door LC is at the high end of what I am comfortable spending on a car, and I am very likely an extreme outlier as most GR86 buyers are NOT in that bracket except wealthy track rats who buy cheap cars to mod them extensively. Anything over 150k would be out of reach for my income and comfort level.
Somehow I fully expect the GR GT to be "just" on par with an AMG GT performace-wise. While that isnt a BAD thing by any stretch, if the price significantly eclipses 225k it will very likely be DOA unless they can somehow proove the reliability is on par with historical Lexus, and even then it will be a VERY tough sale if the price is 2x-3x a 2026 LC's price. Because for that money one would just go buy the benchmark -- a 911 Carrera Turbo (or a C8 ZR1 for pure performance per dollar).
Lexus's strong suit is(was) the LC and RC F. Luxury GT cars that benefitted in their own ways from the racing heritage. Chasing the performance crowd at the expense of the Luxury crowd will gain them little and cost them everything theyve spent 20 years building up.
To provide some context, for those that follow sports car racing (WEC, IMSA, and other GT series), many privateer and customer teams do not take the Lexus GT3 platform seriously. Only one team in IMSA (Vasser Sullivan) and one team in WEC (Akkodis ASP) utilize the Lexus RCF GT3 for racing. Vast majority of teams prefer other GT3s to compete with (e.g Mercedes AMG GT, Ferrari 296, BMW M4, Aston Martin Vantage).
It is my opinion that the GR GT was first and foremost developed to be a strong GT3 competitor in sports car racing first and a production road car second (hence, not as elegant in appearance as an LC500--function over form). A production road car is necessary to homologated by the FIA to be able to compete in these racing series and the high price was a natural byproduct in my opinion. I suspect it was never intended to cater to the existing Lexus clientele (those who enjoy the LC500) or those who are cross-shopping for a GR86 or GR Corolla. The Toyota GR LMH Hypercar and its LMP1 predecessor have already been very successful and has had a proven record in WEC, and from a racing standpoint, it makes more sense to brand the GR GT3 a GR rather than another Lexus. That way, Toyota hopes to be taken more seriously in sports car racing and hopes to attract more customer teams to their GT3 platform. The days of Lexus performance cars are at an end, unfortunately.
And this opinion is coming from someone who loves and owns both an RCF and LC500 and who would have preferred the GR GT to be branded a Lexus, but I partly understand why it wasn't.
Last edited by advntstrfe; Jan 29, 2026 at 12:46 PM.
To provide some context, for those that follow sports car racing (WEC, IMSA, and other GT series), many privateer and customer teams do not take the Lexus GT3 platform seriously. Only one team in IMSA (Vasser Sullivan) and one team in WEC (Akkodis ASP) utilize the Lexus RCF GT3 for racing. Vast majority of teams prefer other GT3s to compete with (e.g Mercedes AMG GT, Ferrari 296, BMW M4, Aston Martin Vantage).
It is my opinion that the GR GT was first and foremost developed to be a strong GT3 competitor in sports car racing first and a production road car second (hence, not as elegant in appearance as an LC500--function over form). A production road car is necessary to homologated by the FIA to be able to compete in these racing series and the high price was a natural byproduct in my opinion. I suspect it was never intended to cater to the existing Lexus clientele (those who enjoy the LC500) or those who are cross-shopping for a GR86 or GR Corolla. The Toyota GR LMH Hypercar and its LMP1 predecessor have already been very successful and has had a proven record in WEC, and from a racing standpoint, it makes more sense to brand the GR GT3 a GR rather than another Lexus. That way, Toyota hopes to be taken more seriously in sports car racing and hopes to attract more customer teams to their GT3 platform. The days of Lexus performance cars are at an end, unfortunately.
And this opinion is coming from someone who loves and owns both an RCF and LC500 and who would have preferred the GR GT to be branded a Lexus, but I partly understand why it wasn't.
I can see the logic behind all of this and I'm sure my sentiments are largely emotionally driven. After all the LC is an emotional purchase not a logical one. Even Toyoda himself spoke of this IIRC.
It is my opinion that the GR GT was first and foremost developed to be a strong GT3 competitor in sports car racing first and a production road car second (hence, not as elegant in appearance as an LC500--function over form). A production road car is necessary to homologated by the FIA to be able to compete in these racing series and the high price was a natural byproduct in my opinion. I suspect it was never intended to cater to the existing Lexus clientele (those who enjoy the LC500) or those who are cross-shopping for a GR86 or GR Corolla.
...
And this opinion is coming from someone who loves and owns both an RCF and LC500 and who would have preferred the GR GT to be branded a Lexus, but I partly understand why it wasn't.
A quick reminder as well, the 4.0L twin turbo V8 in the GR GT was developed originally for the LC-F before covid scared the company into cancelling it and letting the trademark expire.
Lexus had a big LFA event last year where they gathered a bunch of the owners and showed the GR GT, I imagine the early buyers will be (a) LFA owners who anticipate similar value growth and can afford to take that risk then (b) people who missed the LFA and are hoping for the same thing. Since Toyota (and Honda) only builds a car like this once every ~15 years.
As an LC owner I'm more in the market for the new MR2 than the GR GT. First off, no removable roof. Second, I just don't like how it looks. If we're spending crazy money for a halo car from the world's largest auto manufacturer, it should look more like the NC NSX (which I'd have if the roof came off) than a Dodge Viper.
A quick reminder as well, the 4.0L twin turbo V8 in the GR GT was developed originally for the LC-F before covid scared the company into cancelling it and letting the trademark expire.
Lexus had a big LFA event last year where they gathered a bunch of the owners and showed the GR GT, I imagine the early buyers will be (a) LFA owners who anticipate similar value growth and can afford to take that risk then (b) people who missed the LFA and are hoping for the same thing. Since Toyota (and Honda) only builds a car like this once every ~15 years.
As an LC owner I'm more in the market for the new MR2 than the GR GT. First off, no removable roof. Second, I just don't like how it looks. If we're spending crazy money for a halo car from the world's largest auto manufacturer, it should look more like the NC NSX (which I'd have if the roof came off) than a Dodge Viper.
Agree wth you very much on the looks. The LFA looked amazing. The GR GT looks like a kit car.
I was in the bespoke channel for around six months with a high-volume dealer in Chicago. I kept waiting and waiting, but nothing... Maybe I was just unlucky. I took an off-ramp and found a 2024 with everything I wanted (color combo, DHP, ML, HUD, etc.). There are still units out there, but I can't imagine it's going to get any easier to find one configured exactly the way you want. I feel very fortunate.
That letter looks pretty official to me. The dealers have received word from Lexus, and Lexus is allowing them to publish the letter.
