Man Maths: Lexus LC 500

The LC was previewed by a 2012 concept car, named LF-LC, and if you can identify any major differences between it and the production model that followed half a decade later, yours is a keener eye than mine. Actually, it’s quite remarkable how little the showroom model was watered down, such that the car you could go out and buy actually looked like a designer’s sketch. Its shape and stance have endured all these years, and if you saw one rumbling down your local high street today, you’d be rooted to the spot between the vape shop and Turkish barber just staring at it.

Its interior is a work of genius too. The architectural layout of the dashboard and transmission tunnel is complex and ambitious, but brilliantly executed with high-grade materials. The weird infotainment system track pad, like the one you’d find on a laptop, isn’t the easiest to use and I still remember how it made my finger feel funny, like a tiny static charge was running through the pad and into said digit, but I suspect you’d get used to it over time. The front seats are large and comfortable, but the little pews in the rear are mostly useless other than for additional luggage space.

So there is plenty to like about the LC 500, but the star of the show is undoubtedly its 5-litre naturally aspirated V8 (beware the LC 500h, which is a hybrid powered by a far less stirring V6). It revs well beyond 7000rpm, produces a peak power output of 457bhp and sounds magnificent while doing so. In light of which, why did the last LC I drove leave me cold?

This is a two-tonne car with a 10-speed automatic transmission. It was never designed to hassle Porsche 911s across the moors, or at least it shouldn’t have been. So I was expecting a beautiful, cosseting, comfortable ride, but found it to be busy, bordering on harsh on poor surfaces, and for me that undermined the car’s appeal.

Could I live with it? Had these things dropped in value as far as I’d expected them to, I absolutely could. But since they still command such strong money, it’s a flaw I would not be willing to accept lightly. On the other hand, given they have held their value so spectacularly well until now, there’s every reason to assume they will continue to do so – and that makes an LC 500 a compelling used purchase.

Besides, the only other Lexus I really want to own is an LFA, and one of those will set you back three quarters of a million quid these days. Judged against that, a 10-year-old LC looks a bargain.