The Fascinating Lexus Street Rod Story: The Japanese Brand's Wildest Concept Car

Lexus was created after Toyota decided to expand into the luxury vehicle market during the late 1980s.

With reliability already being a renowned characteristic of the Japanese company's products, it needed something truly special in terms of luxury and comfort in order to persuade those who usually preferred a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW to switch allegiance.

That product became the 1990 Lexus LS 400, a luxury sedan that cost over $1 billion to develop.

The flagship model became a resounding success, and in the years that followed, Lexus quickly grew into one of the world's most respected premium brands.

By 1997, the 1UZ-FE V8 that debuted nearly a decade earlier in the engine bay of the LS 400 received a major revision and made its way under the hood of the second-generation Lexus GS.

Apart from the all-new model, the brand decided to showcase its revised V8 on American soil in the most uncharacteristic yet epic way possible.

How it all started

This wild idea was put forward by Yale Gieszl, who, apart from being a powerful executive for Toyota's US branch, was also fascinated by hot rods from an early age.

Gieszl grew up in California during the 1950s, a decade when the hot rod phenomenon was in full swing. Though he was fortunate to own several awesome rides, Gieszl never realized his biggest dream: building a custom street rod.

According to an article published by Autoweek, the executive met close friend and the publication's editorial director, Keith Crain, for dinner in early 1997.

Crain revealed that he just finished building a 1932 Ford-based hot rod and showed Gieszl pictures of the hot rod.

At that moment, the Toyota boss' lifelong dream resurfaced, and he decided to finally turn it into reality by commissioning the creation of a 1932 Ford-based street rod with Lexus power.

Convincing Toyota higher-ups to greenlight the project

As insane as his idea sounded, Gieszl was determined to follow through, so he pitched it to several Toyota employees and assembled a team willing to work on the project.

But before work could commence, he needed approval from the company's decision-makers in Japan.

The official reasoning behind the project was to promote the brand's revised V8 on American soil, and Gieszl reasoned that there was no better way to do that than fitting it into a classic street rod.

Surprisingly, the Japanese decision-makers agreed, giving Gieszl and his team the go-ahead to build a Lexus show car around a 1932 Ford.

The most American Lexus ever created

Yale Gieszl assigned Bryan Bergsteinsson to head the project, and in no time, the latter contacted Hot Wheels stylist and die-hard hot rod enthusiast Larry Wood to help design the car.

Wood delivered a series of sketches, and after everyone agreed on the final design, the mission of assembling the concept was handed down to Chuck Lombardo and his California Street Rods crew.

Though the body panels were essentially new, they replicated those of the original 1932 Ford - a timeless symbol of hot rodding.

Besides adding braces inside the doors to improve overall stiffness, the '32 Ford body was unmolested. But while the body paid homage to an American icon, everything else was custom-built to the usual Lexus standards of luxury, performance, reliability, and innovation.

Built around a bespoke frame with a cutting-edge suspension system

The frame underneath the '32 Ford body was completely custom-built. It was based on stretched-out reproductions of the original rails and received a series of reinforcements like cross-bracing that resulted in an extremely rigid structure.

One of the car's most fascinating features was its intricate suspension setup designed by Toyota racing ace Rod Millen.

At the front, the custom pull-rod system received coil springs connected to pivot arms along with the upper and lower A-arms.

At the rear, the suspension was also comprised of upper and lower A-arms but actuated by more conventional pushrods.

Stopping power was provided by Brembo calipers that hugged drilled rotors, while the steering system was borrowed from the brand-new GS 400.

Powered by a TRD-tuned Lexus V8 linked to a Supra gearbox

As I mentioned before, the official aim of the project was to promote the revised 1UZ-FE 4.0-liter V8, which had just received Toyota's VVT-i variable valve timing technology and a higher 10.5:1 compression ratio.

With these upgrades, the naturally aspirated V8 was boosted to 290 hp and 300 lb-ft (407 Nm), but while that was enough for Lexus' luxurious sedans, the team decided that the Street Rod deserved more oomph.

Therefore, the V8 was handed down to the engineering wizards at Toyota Racing Development (TRD), who started by boring the cylinders and increasing the cam lift.

Then, they fitted an intake manifold from a competition-spec Toyota trophy truck and a new Borla exhaust system. Finally, the cherry on top was the addition of eight chromed velocity stacks that completed the hot rod look.

Thanks to the TRD magic, the tuned V8 displaced 4.2 liters and could easily spit out 430 hp and 360 lb-ft (488 Nm) of torque.

The initial plan was to link the engine with the GS 400's five-speed automatic, but Toyota engineers warned that the clutch pack wouldn't handle the increase in twist.

Consequently, the team was forced to improvise, and in the end, they opted for the bombproof six-speed manual of the A80 Supra, which was more than able to endure the increased torque.

It looked like a classic hot rod but drove like a modern Lexus

With all that power and meticulous attention to detail that went into the chassis and suspension development, the Street Rod looked like a 1950s street machine but drove like a modern Lexus sports car.

Power was plenty, yet the ride was smooth, while the steering was crisp. The car made those lucky to get behind the wheel feel like they were driving a well-engineered, modern sports car.

Finished in a bright shade of red and sitting on custom billet wheels with Lexus logos, the Street Rod was unveiled in 1998 and toured America's most prestigious hot rod events, earning praise everywhere it went.

Though it wasn't the typical factory-built concept car that toured the world's most prestigious auto shows, the Street Rod was created with factory backing. Twenty-five years after its debut, it remains Lexus' most atypical yet breathtaking show car.

We recommend watching the YouTube video below by Rodder Files for a virtual tour of this fascinating ride.