Car Throttle Says Top Gear Is Full of It, the Lexus SC430 Is a Good Car

I can't believe that the whole Top Gear crew hated the SC430. Maybe James May might have liked the fact that the suspension hadn't been developed at the Nurburgring. But the stigma stuck, and that's actually a good thing if you want to pick up a cheap luxury convertible.

Car Throttle has made it its business to test old cars and find out if they really are as bad as we think. We very much enjoyed a review of the Fiat Coupe, and after Doug DeMuro showed us why the BMW Z8 is increasing in value, we began to question everything Top Gear said.

So, what's the Lexus SC430 all about? Well, it doesn't care about performance, unlike its rivals, the Mercedes-Benz SL 500 and Jaguar XK8.

You're not supposed to drive it sideways. The 4.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 is supposed to be very smooth, a companion on long journeys. For the record, it delivers 282 bhp and 317 lb-ft (430 Nm) of torque. That will get you to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 6.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h).

If you're looking to buy the SC430 and have stumbled upon this story, you probably already know what in the 2006 facelift gave the car better shock absorbents and a revised 6-speed automatic.

You've even got the testimony of an owner, who says the old Lexus convertible is all about the bulletproof reliability. He says you can cruise at high speed with the top down and still hold a conversation, while the seats present incredible comfort. Let's be honest, those are the only things that matter once you get past a certain age.