2025 Lexus LC 500 Convertible Review: Buy It, Before It's Too Late

Some cars, you question whether they should exist. The Lexus LC 500 is one such example, a supercar-styled V8 grand tourer from an automaker better known for its stalwart sedans and mass-market SUVs.

As on the day of its unveil, it holds true today: the LC 500 is an astonishing visual feat. That Lexus not only decided to build its luxurious GT coupe (and then convertible), but managed to translate so much of the original LF-LC concept into a production model, remains impressive. Prices have drifted up somewhat in the intervening years, but the fact that you can still get a base-spec LC 500 coupe for $101,200 (plus destination) is, frankly, unbelievable.

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The LC 500 Convertible, which followed on in 2019, commands a mere $7,200 premium. Despite early skepticism as to whether the rakish rear design of the hardtop could be coaxed into open-air motoring without losing the silhouette magic, the end result belies such doubts. Up to four colors are offered for the four-layer soft top, operation of which is triggered by a switch hidden under a panel in the center console.

I am, generally, not a convertible enthusiast; I still think the LC coupe has the aesthetic edge. Still, there's no denying that anything that brings more of the LC's other (rare) feature – its naturally aspirated V8 gas engine — into the cabin has to be considered a good thing. In an age of turbocharging and electrification, the Lexus' futuristic looks wrap around a powertrain that feels positively old-school.

The burly 5.0-liter V8 delivers 471 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque, via a 10-speed automatic transmission, to the rear wheels. It's enough for 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds, Lexus says (the coupe, 200 pounds lighter, does the same run in 4.4 seconds).

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There is, of course, the LC 500h: a hybrid version of the coupe. In theory, its twin electric motors should offset the performance dip from the 3.5-liter V6 gas engine. Problem is, not only is its total power down– 354 hp — I've never really liked how the LC 500h drives. Push hard, and things feel lumpy, seldom as swift as the 4.7-second 0-60 time would suggest.

Nor does the hybrid sound like the V8, and that's a shame. Admittedly, below the roughly 3k rpm mark, the LC's engine is fairly restrained: a soft, warm burble as you cruise around. There's no air suspension, just adaptive variable dampers, but the Lexus doesn't really need it. Ride quality in Normal or Comfort mode — switched between via a knob protruding from the right side of the instrument cluster — is compliant enough.

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Spin that knob around to engage Sport S or S+ mode, however, and keep your right foot buried, and things get louder and a lot more interesting. One of the lingering surprises of driving the LC is just how tail-happy it can be. That's not to say it's impossible to drive fast, sensibly, in a straight line, but just that this is not the buttoned-up Lexus you might expect. On the right road, with the right provocation, there's plenty of scope to be silly.

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A limited-slip differential is optional on the regular car, and standard on the Bespoke ($5,400) trim. Get higher in the rev range, meanwhile, and the LC's standard active exhaust system unlocks the full volume of its meaty bellow. This may be a grand tourer at heart, but it's one that roars through the turns as you clack the cool, crisp magnesium paddle shifters and marvel that all this exists at all.

Lexus' cabin remains a deeply pleasant place to be, as long as you're in the front seats. The big change — and big improvement — recently involved swapping out the old infotainment system, complete with little-loved trackpad, in favor of a 12.3-inch touchscreen running the same Lexus Interface as other recent models from the automaker. There's wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, too, but this new software is such a bump in usability, you might not immediately jump to smartphone projection. Even the voice control system is surprisingly capable.

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Leather seats are standard, with heating and ventilation, with semi-aniline versions offered as part of the Touring Package ($5,300). That also includes a heated steering wheel, windshield wiper de-icer, the 13-speaker Mark Levinson audio system, and an upgraded version of Lexus Climate Concierge — which effectively tries to predict when you might be too warm or too cold and adjusts cabin and seat temperatures accordingly — that can blow hot or cold air around your neck.

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As ever — and hardly unusual for convertibles of this sort — the rear seats and trunk are seriously compromised. Lexus describes the LC as a four-seater, but that really means "2+2" and the "+2" needs to be vestigial in their build. Kids, sure, but actual adult humans? With a mere 28 inches of backseat legroom, only as punishment, maybe.

The convertible's 3.4 cu-ft trunk, meanwhile, makes the 5.4 cu-ft of the LC coupe look capacious. Well, not really, but it does leave you glancing enviously at Mazda's diminutive MX-5 Miata: that's getting on for three feet shorter than the Lexus, and yet offers a 4.59 cu-ft trunk.

The EPA says you could see 15 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway, or 18 mpg combined (that's for the LC 500 Convertible; the coupe gets the same combined number but 16 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway). They're achievable if you're reserved in your throttle application. Lean in, though, and you'll be reminded why naturally aspirated V8 engines have fallen from favor, at least in economic terms.

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The LC 500h hybrid, incidentally, is rated at 29 mpg combined. Impressive, certainly, but I still wouldn't pick it. Now, a fully electric LC with dual e-motors? That would be quite a different matter, though so far Lexus has shown no inclination.

Quibbling about trunk space (look, just throw that extra bag in the back seat) or fuel economy rather misses the point here. The fact that Lexus still offers the LC feels like a minor miracle: across all variants, it sold fewer than 1,500 examples in the U.S. last year.

That it survives — and even got a recent cabin tech upgrade — is a testament to just how capable and compelling a car the LC continues to be. It sounds tremendous, it drives far more enthusiastically than you'd expect, and it looks like a concept that rolled off the auto show stand and onto the street. The perfect recipe, you might say, for a halo car.

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How long will Lexus indulge us? The LC is, in auto-world terms, no spring chicken; its most covetable drivetrain is absent electrification. Meanwhile, a Lexus LFR — expected successor to the genuinely iconic LFA supercar — continues to simmer in development, widely predicted to be a potent V8-hybrid combo. Though hardly likely to compete with the LC on cosseting, it should be more than sufficient to renew Lexus' engineering and performance bonafides.

All LC 500 bets, therefore, are off. If there's a lesson to be taken from Lexus' grand tourer, perhaps it's that taking risks is something we should be doing more often. Here's hoping it sticks around to continue teaching us that for years to come.