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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For me the only problem this car have is the back seats, come on! remove them, make space for luggage.
Also the interior color of this one is too dark.
It’s cool in that way that cars which debuted amidst derision and tackiness, are now, thanks to the calming effects of time, totally acceptable.
The Aztek was not cool. Now it’s fiercely rad. Pacers, no way. Now? It’s a mad rush to see one. SC430 was just a declasse sub (albeit with Tercel reliability) for those that didn’t know class enough to get an SL. Now, it’s f*cking BADASS. And yes, as the writer noted, they’re a bit McMansion with the gauche woodwork, yet, some McMansions are a lot more fun than my no-insultion, iffy-plumbing cabin in the woods. Searching CL ads in 5..4..3..2..
Fun fact: this was the last production car in the U.S. offered with…
a cassette deck.
Ugly and poor ride are pretty big flaws in a luxury GT car. Some of the ride issues are dealt with by ditching the run flats, but this will never be as beloved as the SC400 or the LC500.
I’m also masochistic enough I’d take my chances with an X100 XK8, which would at least be pretty and comfortable while I wait for the tow truck.
These were fantastic when they came out, and they still are.
The bs Top Gear take is one in an ocean of stupid opinions from that show.
Love all the SC430 hate in here.
It’ll keep the price down, and when the right one comes along I can pick one up. It’s still a RWD V8 convertible. Swap out the runflats and the exhaust and it rides and sounds great. It’ll be infinitely more reliable than any other convertible not named Miata. And maybe I’m old… but it looks great.
I know it’ll be ages before I can afford the LC 500, so may as well get the precursor.
Though I am firmly a hater, I totally respect your taste. Some people like it and they should be able to enjoy it. You do you, says the former owner of a purple Ford Probe.
Idk man. If it’s just supposed to be a comfortable summer cruiser and not a titillating ride, then efficiency comes into play and 22 highway mpg is terrible.
At that point just buy a Buick Cascada lol.
Remind me why when they were sold together why the Thunderbird by jag out sold the Toyota sc.
No one wanted the sc then and top gear put this lack on its show.
The Thunderbird was also almost half-price ($35k vs $61k), which probably helped.
A little cowl shake is ok, unless it’s Simon.

The only practical, sound, and useful advice I have gleaned from Top Gear is that jet dragsters probably have no place in my life.
I bought a brand new Ford Fiesta because of the review Top Gear made. What a piece of crap.
While the show was entertaining, I’ve realized over the years how backwards they were for actual advice.
It was an entertaining show for a while. In the US it was amusing to watch the eloquent Clarkson HOON lots of metal we never got here. Hammond was a bit too manic for my taste. And I hated how they portrayed James May. It often felt like bullying.
And it quickly became apparent how contrived a lot of their competitions were.
I prefer the original SC300/400. Timeless car.
I consider Top Gear to be an informative source of automotive reviews in the same way I consider MTV a source of music – meaning pretty much not at all.
In this case though . . . I won’t argue with them. I’m sure it’s a perfectly cromulent vehicle and it’s serviceability is stellar (insert anemic hooray here), but it’s ugly and it’s shaped like an Audi TT or a VW Beetle, which is another couple of cars I just can’t take seriously.
P.J. O’Rourke once described an MGA, with it’s top up, as looking like “a hamster wearing a baseball cap”. That phrase runs through my mind every time I see an SC430.
If you insist on driving an MGA with a roof over your head as well as with nothing impeding God’s view of the top of your head, then obviously you need both a roadster and a fixed head coupe. What are we, savages?
I never wanted a Boxster, but I’d have considered a Cayman at some point if I could get one with a moonroof. I get why it wasn’t offered; higher CG blah, blah, blah.
Coming from a country that was still producing the Reliant Robin at the launch of SC430, I’m genuinely surprised Lexus didn’t try to bury them after that god awful hit piece.
Well May and Clarkson actually agreed? That makes it a lock. They were evaluating a new on the market vs other cars of the time you are evaluating a 15 year old car and cutting it some slack. And for all your claims of a good deal at a reasonable price I see no price. So what is a reasonable price for a 15 year old car that wasn’t that great?
I had an 05. It was a great GT car. It drove comfortably, had a v8, and maintenance was never an issue. I don’t think it was THE WORST. I feel like the design aged pretty well and looking back at it now I don’t think I’d pinpoint that this car was from the early 2k. As elder millennial I wouldn’t mind owning one again, although this time I’d probably do a tasteful vip-style flair to it with those VIP wheels and airride because I never got to do that in my 20’s lol.
It looks better as “interesting old car, I wonder what year it is?” than “WTF are they thinking? Who’s going to buy THAT?”
But, I think if I were going for an anachronistic car that looks better now than it did new, I’d track down a 2005 Ford Thunderbird.
I don’t think the SC430 looks dated at all. It looked great at launch and it has aged very well. Better than me, at any rate.
I couldn’t even read this whole article. Time has changed nothing. It’s still ugly as sin due to the ichthyological styling and the stupid fucking Toyota obsession with coating burled wood in a gloss finish. Ewwwww.
I don’t care in the slightest if it’s great car when it’s just so aggressively ugly.
Like Jags dont have shiny wood?
My BIL had a Jag. He thought it had a nice interior until he got into one of my Audis. Jag was just as guilty Toyota in that respect. Thank you for mentioning it.
Youu have the correct take. The SC430 took the worst style elements and put them into one package. Tacky and dated interior finishes, an exterior that was channeling Neo-Baroque sensibilities of malaise era “personal-luxury coupes” of the late 70s, like the Chrysler Cordoba, or Zimmer Quicksilver.
“Ichthyological” great word
Thank you! 🙂
I learned a long time ago that many Asians have an appreciation for fishlike styling that I do not and never will share. I can respect it, but why Toyota thought they could foist it upon us, I’ll never know. Just look at that face. It’s a stupid fish face.
Some Korean cars were incredible offenders (my opinion) early on, but they fixed that PDQ.
I’d consider a Hyundai or Kia hybrid of some sort these days. The first four generations of the Sonata (especially G4) were ugly, but the fifth generation (2004) felt like they figured out how to make a decent looking car.
Gloss finish wood looks weird on everything except a Chris-Craft or Garwood boat.
Agreed. Don’t forget classic Rivas.
Really, gloss wood looks good on most boats because it’s spar varnish or urethane versus the McDonald’s table quality Toyotas uses. Further, Toyota/Lexus puts it on too thick to try to compensate for cheaping-out on the thickness of the veneer itself. I have always been repelled by most of their wood for reasons like these. We had a Sienna Limited that had the same crap and I hated it from day one. I’m sure it holds up well, but it looks atrocious to my eyes.
The first statement is immediately shown to be false by the very next statement. It would be hard to imagine a time when “nouveau riche” was less appealing. Top Gear was 100% right. The SC430 is a collection of tacky decisions, poorly executed, that is neither fun to drive nor pleasant to ride in. I very much appreciate a GT car that is more about cruising comfort, and love the first-generation SC and the current one. The fact that the middle generation is such an abhorrent mess is actually kind of amazing.
Well said! It’s a little bit astonishing how perfectly I agree with you. Like I could kick back and just let you handle it.
I almost feel trolled by this article. LOL!
I have an ’05. Also have a ’91 Miata, an ’88 Saab 900T convertible, an ’88 BMW 535is and a ’64 Buick Riviera so COME AT ME BRO in terms of car guy credentials..
The SC430 is a fantastic car. Comfortable, looks great (IMHO) and it rarely breaks. Give that big beautiful V8 some gas and roll down the boulevard. And when the top is up you could never tell it’s a convertible from the inside. Rock solid.
I hated them when they came out. Picked mine up for cheap money and it’s my go to for when I want a relaxing ride. Love it.
Btw- these came with run flats that rode horribly. Ditching them for regular tires improves the ride exponentially.
I am quite pleased that top gear were rude. All my cars are either not working or being photographed in exotic locations ( the Bentley has been to Croydon) the weather is just right so I bought a Lexus SC 430 last Friday. It is Beige, 106,000 miles, one owner FSH and a new MOT. It cost £3000. I sort of like it.
It made for a cool Super GT car, because how out of place it looked, but man is it from the used bar of soap design school.
Top down it looks fine. Top up… awkward as a Nissan Murano Crosscabriolet
Until a REAL Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet pulls up. Then the SC just looks good.
So you need to buy one of each & have somebody shadow you with the Murano. Like a medium-attractive person having an ugly wingman.
The SC430 is the Mercedes SL-class done right. The back seat is at least as good as the SL, and the quality/reliability is MUCH better 😀
Somehow says old money to me. Probably also 75+ and living in Florida.
Donut just did a video of the SC430 with the exact same premise determining if it really was the worst car in the world. They came to a pretty similar conclusion, though I still don’t think it’s the smart money choice for a luxury convertible.
I think I’ll pass. I’m almost 40, so while this is cheaper than a mistress, I couldn’t put up with the midlife crisis on a budget jokes. And it is too old to attract a decent mistress.
Citroëns attract the best mistresses. Or so I have been told.
You need classier mistresses
I think I want my GT reliable, and my mistress indecent. Otherwise, why bother?