Jim Mateja, the auto writer for the Chicago Tribune, wrote, “Have you had it up to here with all that’s been said and written about the Japanese outwitting the domestics at every turn? Then you’d better not read on, or you’ll upchuck. Yes, they’ve done it again. The SC400 is the benchmark against which all other sports coupes must be judged.”
USA Today raved, “fantastic looking car.”
Autoweek magazine declared, “Still the right touch. Lexus follows its initial success with a sports coupe, the SC400, that sets to make a mark in styling, technology and the market place.”
Road and Track magazine stated, “The styling of the SC400 belongs in the annals of design eccentricity. The resulting coupe-long hood line, round nose, short rear deck, sleek windows and roof line retain a fluid look offset nicely by crisp character lines.”
The Automobile magazine headline read, “The new SC400 soars, never bores.” They went on to write, “It should not shock anyone that the company that redefined the luxury automobile two years ago is able to redefine an entirely different type of car so soon thereafter. This is a shocking automobile by any measure. The SC refutes all the little niggles that struggling Lexus competitors raised about the LS400. This season, the world’s luxury carmakers won’t have to go to a movie house to see The Silence of the Lambs; they will be able to get their horror thrills on the test tracks and in the tear-down labs with the SC400.”
“Sing praises to our God.” Psalm 81:1 (NLT)
The challenge for the SC400 was that the luxury coupe market had shrunk from over 200,000 sales a year in 1983 to a little over 100,000 in 1991.
(To be continued in “Great Car, But Will the SC400 Sell?)