Imagined Three-Door 2025 Lexus GX 550 Feels Like the Ultimate V6 JDM Luxury SUV

When the Japanese automaker announced late last summer that its iconic Toyota Land Cruiser was returning to the Americas, it also revealed it would be a bargain in the US compared to its predecessors. The catch was simple – instead of the J300 full-size Land Cruiser, fans are getting the all-new J250 Land Cruiser (Prado or LC 250 in some markets) twinned with the 2024 Lexus GX 550 instead of the Lexus LX 600.

Naturally, that sparked an ample debate about who's better. Toyota and Lexus, on their part, worked hard to separate the models. So, the Land Cruiser got a retro-modern design reminiscent of the original with round LEDs or the 1980s versions with squared lights, depending on the chosen grade. Meanwhile, Lexus decided on a fresh design statement for the GX 550 and also equipped it with a 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 good for 349 hp instead of a 2.4-liter hybrid turbo inline-four (326-hp i-Force Max) like Toyota does.

Still, you can't work your way around the pricing difference so easily, even though some of the Land Cruisers reach the GX pricing when comparing the top with the base tiers. Instead, if anyone wants a solution, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has found a workaround for this potential MSRP-related conundrum – the first-ever three-door 2025 Lexus GX 550.

This idea comes courtesy of the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube, who have imagined the CGI looks of the hypothetical 2025 Lexus GX SWB (short wheelbase) after previously doing the same thing for the 2024 Land Cruiser. While the latter probably dreamt of fighting all Jeep Wranglers and Ford Broncos on and off the trail, this Lexus GX 3-Door could easily take on the likes of Land Rover's Defender 90, which starts from $56,400, exactly around the pricing range of the Land Cruiser.

According to the channel's host, Lexus could quickly get rid of two doors and the third row of seats by cutting into the chassis of the 2024 Lexus GX – and the resident pixel master put that imagined design project into the proper perspective by making the rear doors and rear-most seats disappear before our eyes. Naturally, the traditional color reel is also present and accounted for, along with a quick comparison with the previously rendered three-door Toyota Land Cruiser.

Back in the real world, anyone interested in the 2024 Lexus GX 550 can select no less than six grades – Premium, Overtrail, and Luxury with + versions for each – from $64,250 and going all the way up to $81,250 without the destination charge and other fees or optional goodies.