Some things only grow apparent with time. From niche albums that have since been recognized as vastly influential to the true weight of giant world-shifting events, it’s often difficult to take a step back and look at the bigger picture when you’re still living in it. Through this dimension, the Lexus SC 430 has proven itself an enduring drop-top flagship, albeit one with a complicated cultural history.
In 2012, two hosts of the biggest automotive program in the world declared the SC 430 to be the worst car in the history of the world. The judgement of “Top Gear” laid into the styling, the ride quality, the sheer cost of the thing, and the vulgarity of the wood veneers. By the standard of 2012, maybe Clarkson and May’s opinion seemed valid, what with the SC only having ended production two years prior. However, it’s been almost 13 years since the BBC released that DVD special, and a funny thing’s happened since then: The inverted bell curve has come back around.
[Full disclosure: Lexus Canada invited me to Cambridge, Ontario as part of an event celebrating 35 years of the brand in Canada with a plant tour, and models new and old to drive. Accommodations and catering were provided by the manufacturer, and I drove myself down and paid for my own gas. -TH]
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always felt something nouveau riche about the look of the SC 430. From details like the odd banana-shaped spoiler and ornate Y2K-futurist mirrors to the general flowing, ovoid forms, every deliberate element combined to create a very new money, new millennium look. It still contrasts sharply against the starched beltlines and elegant simplicity more commonly found on other grand tourers of the aughts, but ditching the dinner plate alloys helps heaps. Plus, now there’s something nostalgic about early 21st-century conspicuous consumption, and I’d be amiss to mention the impact Mean Girls had on the legacy of this convertible for younger generations.
In the wake of car styling seemingly growing more overwrought with each passing year, the appearance of the SC 430 is now little more than a slight oddity, but it does serve a functional purpose. It looks like that to keep the breeze from nicking your hairpiece. Even with the windows down and no wind deflector blocking off the symbolic rear seats, the SC 430 is a cocoon of calm at sensible boulevardier speeds. Even at 50 MPH, you won’t be holding onto your hat like your life depends on it, and that overarching sense of feeling your blood pressure drop extends to the rest of the driving experience.
As the name suggests, the SC 430 features a 4.3-liter naturally aspirated 3UZ-FE V8 under the hood. This all-aluminum quad-cam unit may only pump out 288 horsepower, but you know what? That’s sufficient, especially given the understressed feeling of the powertrain. Sure, it can still snap its Crocs into sport mode and skip toward the horizon if you really put your foot down, but the highlight here is single-malt refinement. An idle quiet enough to not stir a sleeping kitten, a six-speed automatic transmission that operates with the confident fluidity of a veteran waiter effortlessly balancing seven Dr. Peppers on a single tray, and steering with enough weight to give you a sense of what the front tires are doing but never so much as to feel like changing direction takes work.
Ah, but what about that ride quality the two men from the television complained about? Well, this SC 430 is a facelifted model from after Lexus softened off the edges a touch, but I can say that the predominant factor here is an abundance of cowl shake. It’s no secret that cars with removable roofs suffer in rigidity to give you a dose of vitamin D, but even relatively minor road imperfections raise this thorn in the SC 430’s crown. Admittedly, the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season tires on this one probably aren’t helping as much as a true comfort-focused touring tire would, but even then, you’re faced with a decision: Leave or live with it.
I reckon it’s worth at least considering the latter, because once your mind gets accustomed to the slight shimmy of the structure, you can lean back in a leather throne and take in just how well-made the interior feels. I’m not just talking about the softness of the materials or the micron-measured tolerances between trim panels, or the fact that every button you press feels substantial. I also want to give a shoutout to how some of the biggest items that date the cockpit can simply be hidden. The radio controls are hidden beneath a panel of veneer, and the navigation screen can do the same if you so choose. Those are the sorts of touches that make you wonder how the screen-heavy cars of today will age, a potential issue largely addressed near the turn of the millennium.
Is the cabin perfect? No. The rear seats are more conceptual than they are practical, you forget just how badly decades-old navigation screens wash out in the sunlight, this particular shade and sheen of wood has a whiff of McMansion to it, and trunk space with the folding hardtop retracted is downright laughable, but crank up the surprisingly good Mark Levinson sound system and those quibbles fade into the background beneath bass notes and groovelines.
Of course, then there’s perhaps the biggest reason to buy a second-hand Lexus. The SC 430 isn’t quite as composed as a period Mercedes-Benz SL or as eager as a BMW 645ci, but unlike the German competition of the 2000s, the Lexus will still be going with more-or-less just regular maintenance. There’s no hydraulic suspension to leak, no chronic reports of valve-stem seal issues … it’s just a nice drop-top cruiser that works as expected. Think about it: When was the last time you saw a broken SC 430 for sale?
It’s fair to say that nearly 13 years ago, the SC 430 probably wasn’t most people’s first pick for a grand touring convertible. However, it’s stood the test of time, so you can now pick one up for seriously sensible money and have a well-appointed summer cruiser with a stellar sound system without having to worry about reliability. Worst car in the history of the world? Under this context, hardly. Instead, it’s where the smart money’s at.
Do you live near Toronto and have an interesting car you want me to drive? Drop me a line at thomas@theautopian.com!
Top graphic image: Thomas Hundal
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These were certainly not the worst cars in the world, but never did anything for me. Still nothing to this day. It’s like those actors you see in many movies but you can’t never remember their names. That’s what this Lexus is. I would choose essentially any other car over this one, it’s like a glorified Avalon coupe.