Another in a series of my reviews that appeared in the online version of African Americans On Wheels, a now defunct automotive magazine that was included as an insert in the Sunday newspapers of major cities.
Lexus (Toyota) nailed it with generation GS, a feat they were never able to duplicate. The style, the power, and even the accompanying advertising campaign: “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” Not one to let a good opportunity pass, we took the Lexus from our Arlington home up to visit my wife’s family in Connecticut. The GS400 is one of those cars that you can just enjoy whether you’re moving or not, so the miserable traffic up the Northeast corridor bothered us less on this trip than on any prior trip.
If you’ve never experienced the aural feast of a well-balanced 32-valve V8 engine, let me just tell you it’s intoxicating. Every chance I got, I revved the engine just to listen to it, sometimes getting dirty looks from my mother-in-law as a response. The most memorable story from the week was on the drive home. On the leg of the trip where my wife was driving, we were traveling through Baltimore on I-95 at around 10PM, and I was just sitting back enjoying the scenery (or not, if you’re familiar with this part of I-95), and noticed that it felt like we were going fast. In a car like the Lexus, 65 MPH feels at least half that fast because it’s so smooth and quiet. Therefore, if it is “feeling” like we’re going fast, we’re probably not going anywhere close to the 55 MPH speed limit. I leaned over to look at the speedometer, and saw that we going well over 100 MPH, and not intentionally, either. I made her use cruise control the rest of the way home.
The below review ran on June 22, 1998, with the same manufacturer photo as above.
Three-hundred horsepower, 32-valve V8, 0 to 60 in under six seconds, 17-inch low-profile tires on five-spoke alloy wheels, and a five-speed automatic transmission with manual control via buttons on the three-spoke steering wheel. Sounds like the ingredients of an exotic sports car, doesn’t it? As the Germans learned many years ago, power and razor-sharp handling should not be limited to cramped, phallic-looking two-seaters. And now, with the all-new Lexus GS400, Toyota’s luxury division has learned that four-door sedans can ignite the soul.
While the Lexus LS400 has always been a premium sedan, the GS300 has been the sports sedan of the family. However, it was only available with a six-cylinder engine and felt underpowered. In addition to a complete redesign for 1998, Lexus also added a GS400 model by dropping in a slightly more powerful version of the 4.0 liter V8 found in the LS400. It turns the GS from an also-ran into a full-fledged competitor of the BMW 540i and Mercedes E430. The styling is daring, far more rakish and distinctive than its predecessor. It sits low, with a long 110-inch wheelbase and short 189-inch overall length. The front features a unique quad-headlamp design, with the outer lamps wrapping around the front fender next to smaller inset driving lamps (this theme is echoed by the taillights). The roof curves dramatically into the stubby tail, which distinguishes the GS from most other four-door sedans. I noticed several people doing double-takes as I raced by.
Inside are all of the features you would expect in a $50,000 car, including cushy leather seats, real wood inserts, side airbags, and vehicle skid control. The designers should be commended for providing probably the easiest to use climate and radio controls in a high-end luxury car, as well as for placing the CD-changer of the excellent Nakamichi stereo (optional) in the glove box instead of the trunk. Most impressive are the optional high-intensity discharge headlamps, which cast a wide, bright white light even with the high-beams off. As my wife commented, “It’s like having your own street light.” It’s worth every cent of the $500, and hopefully will be standard equipment on all cars someday.
Complaints: the trunk is small for this class, and the small rear window and high rear end hamper rear visibility; skip the optional rear-spoiler, which further hampers visibility.
If you’re dying for a Corvette, Porsche, or Ferrari but need room for the family, give this car a look.
For more information contact 1-800-872-5398
SPECIFICATIONS
Type: 4-Door Sedan
Engine: 300-horsepower, 4.0 liter V8
Transmission: 5-Speed Automatic
EPA Mileage: 17 city/23 highway
Tested Price: $48,709
Whatever happened to HID headlamps, anyway? They were popular for a while, but seemed to disappear. Were they just too expensive?
More than a little reminiscent of the E-Class of the same time, but I’d take the Lexus any day. I used to sit in Lexuses (Lexi?) when visiting the Portland Auto Shows, but never got to drive one. Lucky you!
I still can’t believe how clear the memory of it is 22 years later!
Great cars even today, a good mix of “golden age” Toyota/Lexus, RWD dynamics, and V8 power that still feels relevant now. Wouldn’t mind one myself!
This car represents the “Golden Age” of Toyota in the same way the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Aire represents the “Golden Age” of General Motors. In theory, they had the same mission, four door mid-level luxury sedan with just enough additional flair and craftsmanship to make it worth the premium pricing but packed with enough features to also be a “Value Leader” when compared to the broader market (Mercedes in Lexus case and Cadillac in Chevrolets case). I never owned one but I always admired the first and second generation Lexus GS for its style and performance. There will never be another Toyota (and perhaps any other brand) ICE-only sedan with this much presence and built this well.
The unfortunate issue the GS had was that the market had moved on by 1998. The first luxury Crossover ironically Lexus own RX300 was beginning to hit dealerships for the 1999 model year. The front wheel drive ES300 sedan was the Lexus sales leader, cheaper, and was just as well built if not more so as the GS.
The Lexus GS’, other unfortunate issue was that BMW owned the RWD sports-sedan segment in 1998 and was also designing some of its best exterior bodies ever.
Even by 1998 leasing was king. So who cared if the GS was more durable than any BMW over the long-haul when owners were turning and burning every 36 months?
The mentality of the buyers had changed in forty years since the Chevrolet Bel Aire along with the additional complications of Lexus GS emissions system required by law and computers required for all of the Lexus many electronic gadgets. That is why we still see 1957 Chevrolet’s but not very many 1998 Lexus GS. It was indeed something wicked, at the same time being something on the verge of extinction. But man, it looked good going away.
BTW, I love this “Classic Commentary” Series. These were the cars I grew up with and I have an opinion on almost all of them. Particularly Chrysler, GM, Nissan, and Toyota. I was a automotive junkie back then and knew the industry and the players names by reading the magazines and newspapers of the era. Hope to see more of these.
Very well put and I agree with everything you wrote.
My mechanic recently tried to talk me into buying a somewhat similar GS…a 6 cylinder model. Nearly everything in this review applies to the 6 cylinder, except for the engine sound, the 6 is quite subdued sounding.
I was somewhat tempted by the car, if I remember correctly it was built the final year of the wonderful inline 6 and while it had over 200K on it and an engine rebuild in the not all that distant past….it looked and felt nearly brand new.
So why didn’t I buy it? $6K for a 17 year old car with 200K on the odo to replace a 10 year old car with 150K just seemed foolish.
But considering my twice yearly 2000 mile round trips home….it would have been a great place to spend those long days behind the wheel.
“on it and an engine rebuild in the not all that distant past”
This would make me walk away from it. Original unopened 2JZ with 200k that runs well? No worries. A “rebuilt” one? No thanks. Too many variables (how was it neglected that it crapped out by 200k, who rebuilt it with what parts).
HID Headlights were expensive due to all the extra hardware needed to support the requisite high voltages involved (ballasts, igniters, Xenon bulbs, etc.).
LED has largely taken over the premium lighting category because it is far simpler and cheaper. LEDs also use less power, come in a wide variety of color hues and temperatures, and basically last forever. Other than some extra cooling requirements, LEDs effectively function like incandescent bulbs (indeed, you can get LED replacements for most common incandescent headlight bulbs).
Thanks Tom. That’s what I thought. But, man, those Xenons put off some nice light.
I certainly hope the last forever. The LED’s on my Subaru also wave around like a DS 21. I’m pretty sure a failure will be somewhat different than sticking in a new $8 sealed beam.
An excellent review of an excellent car. Who needs more that 350 words to sum one up so nicely?
Thank you.
Compliments. One tight well written review.
Just spotted in my neighborhood a Toyota equivalent
Just spotted in my neighborhood a Toyota equivalent
Front view
I could never forgive this car it´s awful DLO and the rather derivative front end. The customers liked it though. The predecessor was by ItalDesign and for once they looked as if they designed the car for the client instead of recycling a proposal for someone else (though if it was a proposal for someone else I would not be surprised). Rightly or wrongly the predecessor looked right if not flashy and this car looked wrong but eye-catching.
One day someone will explain how Americans find V6s inadequate and V8s about right. I drive a pokey 1.8 litre 4 cylinder and if it´s not all that fast off the line it never feels anything less than sufficient. A neighbour has a V8 Mercedes CLK 430 and while I suppose it´s nice it seems madly excessive for what is not a big car (and a quick look at Wikipedia says it´s dimensionally the same as my 406.
So here I ask, was the V6 GS really actually legally slow?
The problem was pricing. The previous generation GS300 was priced in V8 territory ($45,700) put powered by a six-cylinder. For this generation, they cut the price of the GS300 to $36,900, which was more in line with the competition.
I’m sure they’re good cars but I always thought that extra black rounded bit on the C pillar obviously attempting to make the side window outline look different from what it really is was totally unforgivable.
It’s like an extra sharpie drawn outline on a hurricane map.
I suspect if all new cars today had window shapes on the outside that matched the “real” shape of the windows, NONE of them would be attractive.
At least the line on the GS was trying to allow the angle of the roof to flow smoothly into the beltline while providing a distinctive look, and not just trying to prove a false, inane point.
My Volvo C30 has Xenon HID headlights. HID’s were a huge step forward in brightness and I generally love them. One thing I noticed was road signs at night illuminated like four times brighter and much further down the road than incandescent. I think it’s because of the spectrum. I also had the dealer check and verify correct headlamp adjustment. Now the bad. As noted in earlier comments they are too complex and parts are expensive. Bulbs cost $100 each at the local parts store and only last around a year and a half. I purchased some online with several hundred positive reviews for about $20 each but they don’t last as long and cause false failure codes. So I don’t like them so much any more. My idea of the perfect headlamp is a full spectrum LED bulb and a return to glass headlamps. Since headlamps are plastic then I would add a laminate to reduce pitting. Now I’m done kvetching.
My BIL picked up a next generation GS430, 2003 model last year. Black on black, sort of a banker’s hot rod if you will.
He loves it. He found a place that has recalibrated injectors for this model which improves both acceleration and fuel mileage. It cost about 1G for the set, but he says it’s money well spent.
I’m looking forward to taking it for a spin next time we get together..maybe a drag race with my LS430? Naww, that wouldn’t be proper.
Only downside with this car is the inboard taillights on these models all seem to want to fade to clear. Bad UV stabilizer in the resin they chose I guess.
To my eyes, this design is more attractive than any of this GS’s successors. My dad still lives his GS300, champagne over tan.
My next door friend has a 1999 GS 400 in the same color and I have drove it a few times and its very nice car