TheGrandTour(Er)

Clarkson, Hammond and may have left top gear, but some things never change: the Lexus Rc200t will always be the coupé king.

What defines a gran turismo? Two doors, sleek lines from a toned two-door body, superb comfort and spec and a powerful engine? All true, but one’s default initial reaction would be to think “it must only be German or Italian”. Except you’d be very wrong.

Predictably, the Lexus RC200t EX ticks all of these boxes, and thanks to its Japanese origins, adds another key characteristic: sophistication. Bristling with technology, the all-in RC200t features equipment as standard that its competitors can only offer as optional extras. And we haven’t even started talking about its design…

STUNNING COMES AS STANDARD 

They say ‘we eat with our eyes’, but the same can be said when drinking in the sculpted lines of an impossibly sexy coupé. The Lexus RC’s (for Radical Coupé) athletic stance starts atthe nose, which houses the signature spindle grille, comprising chrome-plated vertical bars on which the large Lexus badge is proudly placed. Good genes help, too, bearing in mind the RC200t shares its DNA with the RC350 and the monstrous five-litre V8-powered RC F (the latter not for sale in South Africa). The self-levelling head lamps are separated from the LED daytime running lights; and combined with integrated fog lights, these provide an aggressive yet elegant front view of the car.