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Latest Lexus LC500 Inspiration Series coupe sports a carbon-fiber roof, rear spoiler

The Lexus LC500 has been treated to a spate of Inspiration Series limited-edition models, and the 2021 LC500 coupe Inspiration Series has just been announced. This fifth such effort sees the LC500 don a carbon-fiber rear spoiler, a carbon-fiber roof, a limited-slip rear differential, a performance rod with damper for the rear suspension, and assorted visuals. The 471-horsepower naturally aspirated V8 is unchanged. Unlike the already-announced 2021 LC500 Inspiration Series convertible, which features a sky-like palette consisting of a blue exterior and a white leather interior, the 2021 LC500 Inspiration Series coupe goes dark with an Osdiian (black) exterior including black 21-inch wheels. Inside, there's black Alcantara with brown accents. Equipment includes a head-up display, 915-watt Mark Levinson audio system, and a SmartAccess Card Key. As with previous Inspiration Series models, including last year's Nori Green Pearl example and this Flare Yellow job from 2019, production is limited to 100 units for the U.S. market. Pricing has not been announced, but you can expect this stealth Lexus to roll into dealerships later this winter. Related video:

TMG still developing Lexus LS Sports 650 [w/video]

If you're going to make a super sedan, you'd better do it in Germany. That's where Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz do it, along with third parties like Alpina, Brabus and G-Power, among others. Deutschland is the epicenter of the movement, regularly churning out the most powerful four-door rockets in the world. It's also where one of the racing divisions for Toyota has been hard at work on the TMG Sports 650.
Toyota Motorsport GmbH started with a Lexus LS and turned it into a 641-horsepower, twin-turbocharged super sedan it revealed late last year at the Essen Motor Show. But though we haven't heard much about it since then, the team behind Toyota's F1 and Le Mans efforts are apparently still hard at work on the project.
Speaking with Lexus' own UK blog, TMG chief Alastair Moffitt revealed that the project started way back in 2010, shortly after Toyota shut down its F1 program and left the racing team with nothing to do. The 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 was initially producing as much as 800 horsepower, but has since been refined to 650 so that it could theoretically be put into production and onto the road.

J.D. Power: Vehicle dependability at all-time high, Lexus and Porsche lead

Each year, J.D. Power and Associates surveys original owners of three-year-old vehicles to find out what kinds of problems they have had experienced over the last 12 months, and then it uses this data to create its annual Vehicle Dependability Study. This means that the models in the 2013 study are 2010 model year vehicles, and J.D. Power rates each make as well as the top individual models based on how many problems were experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100).
Debunking the idea that carryover models are more dependable than new or updated models, the 2013 study found that the average carryover model experienced 133 PP100, while all-new or redesigned vehicles for the 2010 model year had 116 PP100; vehicles that received minor changes fared the best with just 111 PP100. The overall average for all makes was 126 PP100, which is the lowest figure since the findings were first issued in 1989.