Michael.

It's was the lowest point for Lexus IMO, they just lost complete focus and started producing utterly dull designs across the range, even the LS400, come LS430 looked awkwardly proportioned and the smaller mid range ES series ended up looking like a car imitating a praying mantis... The SC430 did take the take though... especially when it came to the story behind it's design phase: "The design team at Toyota's luxury division talked the bosses into sending them to the French Riviera for several weeks to study the "elegance, beauty, class and richness" of the surroundings to come up with the motivation to shape the sheet metal of the new 2002 Lexus SC430 hardtop convertible. But the trip was well worth the time and money because, the designers said, they got "visual inspiration" from the luxury yachts in the harbor and incorporated "some of the character lines" from those yachts into the body of the SC430. Don't know exactly which yacht so inspired the design crew. The finished product gives off hints that boats carrying the BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Porsche logos must have been in port the day the stylists spent time along the water ogling the sea-going craft"

Awesome work Jooles... good idea to give it to the pros, quick and easy! Such a fiddly job DIY, even with the right tools. You'll let me have to take it for a spin now its got most of its new feel back! (rear is generally not as crucial I've found but still makes a difference)

Haha eww god. I hate those Z40 Lexus convertibles so much... lovelyyyy engine and gearbox, horrendous body style.

A rather tidy 740i pre facelift was parked outside work today and it hit me how good they look. Just curious to see what members have an E38? I know theres a few now. Post a pic of yours if you can!

Hahaha touche

Mmm that is sweet. A good quality unmolested example.

Very lucky. Wow, what do you think happened with the diff mount? Such a strange thing to go...

Sweet! Good to see the oil came through customs all okay.

wow bugger, I thought they were just reflections until I read your comments

Damn, an interesting piece of NZ motorsport history. I never really knew what happened in detail with Evans incident, just knew about the vague details. Yet again another good share Josh!

Considering 95% of this would be a bolt on and swap over job it's pretty easy. Quite a fun process if time and funds allow.

Mmm looks much nicer indeed. Good stuff.

I recall, if they weren't fitted then it doesn't apply. Best to check the current LVV page on cats & emissions though. That said, with engine conversions they can get a little OCD... when I cert'ed my 1UZ V8 in the E36 the guy didn't bother as it had new cats and was running the stock computer tune so he said it would be running pretty cleanly.

^ Hahah wow, I remember this too! That has just oppened up one dusty corner of my mind.. must be back in the days of the Sega Mega Drive we had in the early/mid 90s

One thing people often miss is the target market and era they were designed in, the designs back then were for middle - upper class baby boomers with conservative values.. so such boxy big and dull saloon cars were just perfect for their tastes. The Japanese love that 60-80s American styling too... Just look at the Toyota Century V12 and earlier V8, it's a new car that has 50 year old styling! That said the new LS design has moved away from being so conservative and is a little more edgy like most big V8 sedans

Original LS400, aka Celsior in the JDM market. I read a fantastic book about the whole story written by an author that had unseen documents and interviewed some key figures involved during the developmental stage in the 1980s. I just love it's relentless attention to detail, the quality inside and out is exceptional, and the subtle exterior detailing holds many interesting features. "The Japanese behemoth pumped more than $1 billion dollars into project F1. The F in this case stood not for "Formula" but for "Flagship." At its height, F1 employed 3700 of Toyota's top engineers, split into 24 engineering teams. They built 450 mules and 900 test engines and logged more than 1.5 million development miles -- incredible numbers, by any standard. Toyota bet that gasoline would once again be cheap and plentiful, so it started work on the F1's heart, a 4.0-liter, 32-valve V-8. Producing 250 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque, the engine was very potent by the standards of the day" My favorite would be the 1997-8 facelift 2nd Gen complete redesign with the VVTi engine making the car good for a 0-60 sprint of 6 seconds flat. One quick barge.

DO WANT

These are $145 on Trade Me

Those Esprit are rather alluring, especially the S4 type 918

Hear hear! Have your seats seen the TLC they need yet??

Haha nice! Always new ways to spend more on the old M3 eh!

These are the best 4x4s around. Awesome machines!

Ha. I'd love to watch someone try work that mechanical door release level & slide underwater in a panicked situation. *snap*

Probably not given they also have breather holes at the top. So should have got some water in them.