Regardless of whether it's a high-end luxury sports car manufacturer or a company specializing in cheap and cheerful family haulers we're talking about, every single one has to have a least a token crossover in its range these days. Lexus is a manufacturer that's already well-known for its stunning crossovers, but at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week it's just revealed what it describes as a new "flagship crossover" in the shape of the LF-1 Limitless concept.
Conceived at Toyota's Calty Design Research in Southern California, the LF-1 Limitless is designed to slot above the current RX in the Lexus portfolio, and deliver even more flair to the range than even the likes of the GX and LX models.
Vehicle manufacturers, especially Asian companies, seem to love naming their design concepts, and Lexus is calling its current approach to design "molten katana," as it is supposed to represent a legendary Japanese sword in automotive form. There's no getting away from the fact this is an achingly futuristic design, but its long, sleek lines are definitely heading more towards the realms of a low-slung grand tourer than anything resembling a mud-plugging SUV.
The futuristic styling cues include somewhat Tesla–like door handles, which reveal a Lexus logo in the negative space, a roof spoiler split in the middle, door mirrors that have been shaved off, and a spindle grille that's been the centerpiece of recent Lexus front ends that's now a three-dimensional design in this iteration.
As far as the "Limitless" part of the name is concerned, it appears to refer to what will propel a vehicle like this. At the moment, there doesn't appear to be a definitive powertrain for the LF-1. But as all Lexus models are to be electrified by 2025, a production version of the LF-1 Limitless could be a hydrogen fuel-cell, a PHEV, an EV or even a fuel-efficient petrol engine.
