The Handmade Tale

As Lexus marches into the future, increasingly it’s embracing the storied traditions and skills of Japan’s past.

- Arthur St. Antonie

LEXUS AND INFINITI

IT’S HARD TO remember just what a massive impact Lexus and Infiniti had when they appeared in 1989. Until then, luxury cars were either American (read: dated and chintzy) or European (expensive and faulty), and buying one usually meant a forced familiarity with the dealership’s service department.

No one at the time thought a credible luxury car was within the skill set of the pragmatic Japanese. Honda’s then-new Acura division, which entered the market in 1986, had done little to dispel that notion, but then the first Lexus and Infiniti cars appeared, and they changed everything. Everything. These were proper luxury flagships: leather-lined, V-8 powered, and smooth as silk. They were five figures cheaper than the Europeans, and they worked flawlessly in the days when first-year cars were expected to be bug-ridden.

Today, luxury buyers can choose a wide range of cars from a profusion of brands, of which Lexus and Infiniti are just two more players. But 30 years ago, they created a revolution; we look back at how Lexus and Infiniti changed the luxury car world in the winter of 1989.

Aichi Prefecture, Japan – I’M STANDING INSIDE the Lexus Design Dome, the company’s top creative facility, not far from Nagoya, the country’s third most populous city. My smartphone, laptop, and iPad have been temporarily confiscated—they all have cameras, and photography is strictly forbidden under the vaulted ceiling of this secretive safe house for future Lexus concepts. At the moment, though, I’m not trying to sneak peeks at anything off-limits. Instead, I’m staring transfixed at a sheet of burgundy cloth lying on a presentation table.