Lexus LS 400 - a short history
In 1983 the then Toyota chairman Eiji Toyoda started a project called the F1 or "Flagship No. 1 vehicle” project, it was to produce a world-class luxury sedan for the international market. The F1 project was not given a time scale for completion nor did it appear to have any budget constraints, as a result the vehicle was entirely new it did not use parts from the existing Toyota parts bin. The final cost of the development was more than 1 Billion US$
The result appeared in 1989 as Lexus’s flagship model LS 400, a smart, luxury design notable for a number of key design and engineering elements: a whisper-quiet cabin, vibration insulating rubber engine mounts, a steering wheel with an airbag, a Nakamachi premium sound system and a power-steering system that vastly improved handling.
The car was an immediate hit, much to the chagrin of Mercedes, whose S-Class was more expensive, less luxurious, and, it would turn out, less reliable.