Behold The Beautiful Lexus LC 500 Convertible

Lexus has lifted the lid on the LC 500 Convertible, the open-top version of one of the best-looking cars on the market today.

The new canvas roof, artfully sculpted to disrupt the wonderful coupe’s sleekness as little as possible, doesn’t offer much rearward visibility but it does retract in 15 seconds at up to 31mph to reveal a cabin that, in this cream-on-blue spec at least, looks like it’s been taken from a yacht.

It all presents a beautiful sight whether you catch the silhouette, the front three-quarter or straight down into the 2+2 cabin. We’re a little bit in love with the nautical theme of blue stitching on cream leather with blue leather accents. It makes us want to don some shorts and a boater hat.

Out of sight the body has been strengthened by a rear suspension tower brace made of die-cast aluminium, as well as magnesium and aluminium under-body bracing.

The naturally-aspirated V8 at the front is unchanged from the rewarding 470bhp unit in the hard-top LC 500, revving to 7300rpm and giving you the most fun after 4000rpm. It’s an engine to cherish while we can. Drawing the roof back will let drivers hear it all the more clearly, aided further by a sound generator that transmits organic intake noise through the dashboard into the cabin. Transmission duties are passed to the also-familiar 10-speed auto from the tin-topped LC.

There’s a wind deflector for minimising cabin buffeting, but just to be on the safe side the stereo alters its “acoustic design” whether the roof is down or up. Likewise the on-board Lexus Concierge system automatically makes changes to the climate control, seat heaters, neck-warmers and steering wheel heating. Now that’s service.

Prices will take a jump from the £78,150 of the basic LC coupe. Expect a mid-£80,000 start point if the car even makes it to the UK when production starts soon.