Here’s a Future CC you will likely never see–the wonderful but totally disregarded when new Lexus IS300 SportCross. When they debuted, I blasted into the local Lexus showroom and questioned my favorite Lexus saleslady, MaryAnn, for details. I got the brochures, I got the specs, and I thought Wow! What a car. But the market disagreed, and the SportCross is sadly forgotten today. But I loved the lines, and am pretty darn mad that such a great car was totally ignored, while folks bought stupid ugly crossovers like the CR-V instead of this fine Super Sports Wagon! But what a lovely wagon. Seeing this one about five minutes before a major storm that trapped me in the local Books-A-Million made my day.
Love these. Keeping a wagonette like this otherwise stock but swapping in a twin-turbo/six-speed would make for a fun sleeper.
Some of the best Japanese cars of this era were those cars which were primarily made for Japan and only later brought over to the states, like this rebadged Altezza (or the first-gen CR-V and RAV4). If only the current IS were as characterful…
Haven’t we learned yet? The very realization that a car junkie who takes the time to read various car blogs means that any make and model that really turns them on has just doomed that model to failure in the marketplace.
The mass car buying audience love four wheeled appliances, or bad taste option packages. No car manufacturer would dare base their model lineup on what WE like – that’s a fast track to being doomed as a nice manufacturer. At best. At worst? Insolvency.
Lexus has made mistakes. Letting this car die is, in my opinion, one of them.
But what is the “Lexus Image,” anyway? Overblown, big, soft sedans? The Japanese Brougham of the 21st Century? That is the image that Lexus cultured, and with which it remains saddled to a large extent today.
And sells a lot of cars, and makes a lot of money, from customer who know (and care) nothing about cars but want to look successful. Without Lexus, what would real estate agents drive?
Oldsmobiles? Oh, wait……
Well, they began differently, as sort of a high-quality, high-tech European alternative, but I think they couldn’t sustain the value equation and failed to bridge the gap in prestige. Cars like the 97 Lexus GS were a good answer, but meeting the E36 challenge was one they ignored for too long, and with a rising yen and difficulty netting the sort of profit margins the likes of BMW and Mercedes enjoyed, they could only invest so much in their cars. Even the ES’s frameless glass had to go.
Combined with weirdorama cars like the ’01 SC and underwhelming ’05 IS, the image rapidly became geriatric. But mainly, I think it’s just a matter of economics not playing in Japan’s favor.
Might they be trying to change that, though? I’ve seen a lot of advertising lately highlighting their “F Sport” lineup – particularly the IS-F, GS-F, LFA and the upcoming RF. That, plus the return of a coupe to their lineup (the RC) makes me think that someone realizes they can’t be “the brougham channel” and expect to return to prosperity.
With the exception of maybe one of two GS-Fs, I still only see newer RXs and ESs, both on the road and filling dealer lots.
I’m seeing quite a few CT200H hybrids around, and I like how they look. I assume it’s the Lexus version of the Prius C, which is also popular and a sharp looker.
That rear window and roof treatment on the CT200h reminds me of the ’59 GM turret tops, especially when seen in person. These are definitely not Broughams.
It the Lexus version of the regular Prius: same platform, same drive train, different skin, interior, and better chassis tuning for a sportier driving experience. The trade-off is the loss of a couple of mpgs.
That’s amazing. I drive a 2010 regular Prius, and just took a long look at a CT200h in the parking lot. Yes, the interior space does looks about the same, but that’s about all I can see in common. It looks shorter, even if it’s not.
They’ve come a long way on platform variations from just trim, creases, grilles and lights.
The first real estate agent I worked with, in the pre-Lexus era, drove a Cressida. With a 5 speed. I thought she was pretty cool. By the way although the IS sedan of that generation was available with a manual trans in the US, the “sport” wagon was auto only. Go figure. Lastly, I haven’t seen any more of the hideous IS convertibles than these wagons, so IS buyers seem to stick to the safe middle ground.
I saw a “hunchback” IS convertible earlier this week. Of course it was being driven by a white-haired man who looked about 75.
Of course it was being driven by a white-haired man who looked about 75.
Trouble is, *we* are going to be that white haired 75 year old some day.
They were relatively popular in Sweden. I’d reckon the Sportcross totaled a third to a half of IS-sales. A popular lifestyle vechicle. It was either that or the Audi A4 Avant or the BMW 3-series Touring. They were very popular with the aspiring middle class…
I guess that times and paradigms change pretty quickly. I don’t know the difference between a five door hatch and a wagon. Really don’t care. I drive a cube which marks me as clueless on style.
I do know that I like this car and that, once again, Syke nailed it.
At the time, I thought the SportCross looked like a softer edged version of the new Mazda Protégé 5 wagon.
Well, same spirit, same Japanese market focus, same era in the car market. I really love both, actually (but the Mazda desperately needs some hot cams, a header and proper rust proofing).
I like it too, it looks good and you can see out of it. I guess station wagons just are not what people want these days. Guess we can’t blame the car manufactures for building what sells, they are in it to make money. My real estate agent drove a new Jetta.
Loved the looks of these, it’s a pity they didn’t sell better and weren’t available with the 6-speed. I think these first-gen IS models were better competition for the 3-series of the day than either of the subsequent two generations of the car.
Sportwagons do seem to pop up here and there, but always die out. Just like the Cadillac CTS Sportwagon – out of left field, it’s a Caddy wagon, and a damn good-looking one. In fact for a while it was the only legitimate wagon from any US carmaker. But, of course, it was dropped from the new car. Considering BMW only gives us wagon options sporadically, and when they do, they have the smaller engines, the only truly sporty wagons available are usually Audis. Sometimes M-B smiles on us (E55 wagon anyone?) and Volvo gave us the lovely V70R for a while. But it’s definitely a niche market.
It’s also a very Euro-centric market. One looks at those stamped, flat black window frames, partial cloth seats and clear taillights (has anything ever turned into a cliche so quickly?) and everyone scurried to the BMW dealer for a 2.5 liter 325i wagon with automatic and AWD or to the Audi dealer for an A4 with destructomatic front control arms.
I actually am not the biggest fan of these. The upswept lines at the rear make the wagon roofline look like an afterthought. To me it looks like something Suzuki would’ve made.
I also never really thought this generation IS, while decent looking in sedan form, wasn’t premium enough to fit in with Lexus’ other cars.
I think that’s what makes it charming. Suzuki’s never really done much for the US market, but they make a great car, and this IS is very Japanese, though not necessarily in a tinsel-y way like a Crown or Mark II.
The materials used are also pretty first rate, along with the hardware; I think you might mean it’s not very European.
Crossover: A marketing term that means “ugly wagon.” But they sell. Because people are idiots.
And thus was the Sportcross, V70, non-allroad A4 Avant and CTS wagon killed off. A shame.
I bought a A3 in 2008 and didn’t even know these existed. Maybe too expensive or just lack of advertising. Oh well
By 2008, they didn’t exist. The sportcross model was only available from 2000 to 2005 on the 1st-gen car.
Also, according to the wonderfully unreliable wikipedia, it looks like the manual transmission became available on the wagon in ’02. *That* would be the one to have.
So what kind of storm trapped you in the store?
Just a good-size summer rainstorm. No tornadoes! 🙂
My wife LOVES these. I’m not sure if these were available in the same ticket-me yellow as the sedans, but if so (and if we ever see one!), we might just have to buy it on the spot.
So I just checked ebay, and there’s a nice-looking green SportCross with a CLOTH interior. Strange, eh?
Not to my mom, though: in 1998, she custom-ordered a GS300 with cloth seats. It was the only way she could avoid the “optional” (but almost mandatory) xenon headlights. For some reason, the color of the xenons reminded her of the black-out headlights back in her war days.
Yep, this is the only Lexus I’ve ever liked. There is a small number of them up here in Vancouver Canada. I dream of owning a pristine yellow one. The shade of yellow is similar to BMW’s Dakar yellow. Nice.
There seems to be some Alfa Milano up swept butt influence here. Works for me!
I see one of the IS SportCrosses nearly every night parked in my gym’s parking garage. It’s a dark gray color. I still haven’t figured out who drives it (one of my hobbies there is figuring out who drives what). For some reason I’ve always imagined that a female drives it. No idea why I think that.
A buddy has a non-SportCross first-gen IS (also gray) and it keeps running and running and running. He says he wants to replace it with a new-gen IS but he’s in no rush.
For the record, I think the first-gen IS (non-SportCross) has aged very well, even with the oh-so-1999 Altezza tail lights. The most youthful Lexus to date, without being overly ricey like the upcoming RC.
Fun fact: there are fewer of these on the road than Bentley Continental GTs. The Jaguar X-Type wagon is even more rare!
I strongly prefer the styling of the SportCross to its sedan counterpart. Now that I think of it, someone at Toyota must have really wanted to keep the SportCross alive, as the Venza looks like a scaled-up, pudgy SportCross from the side.
I own a Sportcross and love it. I agree that a manual would be more fun, and it really isn’t a wagon per se, but it is incredibly reliable and fun to drive.
When I bought my V70 6 months ago this was one of the cars I really wanted. Unfortunately they are hard to find and when you do the resale is astronomical. A little before I was in the market for one I saw a green on with around 100k on it in NY that was reasonably priced but I’m sure it quickly disappeared. Looking at the forums these seem to be pretty bullet proof as well. I do like the extra room of the v70 but I would have preferred the sporting nature of the sportcross more.
I guess I\m wrong when I reckon it looks like a JDM Altezza wagon the sedans are common here boyracers love them because of RWD.
Toyota Altezza = First-gen Lexus IS.
I like ’em a lot but the only ones we got in Denmark were 200’s, and you can color me not interested in that one. A 300 would be fantastic, though.
LOVE these cars! I wanted one when new, but the sticker was out of my price range. Bought a Mazda Protege5 instead and have never regretted it; still, I get a little wistful when I see (all too rarely) a Sportcross on the street.
I think it was one of these that I saw on a used lot a few years ago. “Oh, sweet wagon” I thought. Then I looked underneath: rear drive. Then I looked at the insturment cluster, which looks like a sports watch with dials superimposed on the speedo, too busy!. Shook my head and walked away.
Funny about people’s obsession to sit as high as they can in an SUV or pickup. I’m working my way through the Langworth book about Hudson and reading about how the step downs were so radically low, 60″. In the 60s, “family sedan” heights were in the mid 50s. Now the SUVs and pickups that “everyone wants” are closer to 65″ high.
CC effect – just saw an identical red one at lunch. First one I’ve seen in the wild in months!
Just bought a better – and lower – version from the same era.
2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT. Combine AWD with turbos on a bigger platform than the WRX, paint it anthracite black, wrap it in low profiles and stuff it with creamy leather, and you wind up with a more funner car to haul groceries. Any where, any time.
Though I had really wanted a spec B with MT, I’ll take the auto stick any day.
After a decade of “someday”, I finally found and bought my dream SportCross last week. It’s completely stock and identical to the Absolutely Red one pictured above; had to look closely to see if it was! The combination of sports car-like handling, practicality, and Lexus build quality/reliability makes for one beautiful combination, IMO. I’ve been a Subaru wagon guy for years, but I’ve had it with all the constant repairs (leaking 30k mile old head gaskets and a broken transmission gear tooth at 127k were the final straws). The Lexus gets about the same 18/25 mpg, but is infinitely more fun to drive. We have a little Z3 Roadster as well, and the SportCross is just as fun and quick off the line and in the twisties. I’m really looking forward to many, many years with this car that I still can’t believe is in our garage at long last.
Congrats on finding one! Sounds like a fine choice and I hope you enjoy it for many miles.
Great find! Hope you enjoy it. I test drove a first-gen IS sedan when they were new and really liked it.
In delayed CC-Effect fashion I saw a silver one on the highway coming home tonight. Very distinctive in the sea of Teslas, Audis, BMWs, pickups, Accords and CRVs on I-880 in San Jose.