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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

2021 Lexus LX 570 gets an Inspiration Series run of 500 units

The 2021 Lexus LX 570 will haul its 13-year-old bones into the 2021 model year with the enticements of the Sport Package, along with an Inspiration Series model produced in a run of 500 examples. New features and options for 2021 are Amazon Alexa capability, Nori Green exterior paint, and interior leather colored Glazed Caramel. The Sport Package dials up bodykit add-ons for the front and rear fascias, a sport grille, body-colored side mirrors with chrome accents, and forged 21-inch wheels outside. A black headliner inside broods over semi-aniline leather trim offset with leather in black, Cabernet, or that new Glazed Caramel hue.  The LX Inspiration Series can be had in either Black Onyx or the $425 White Pearl exterior. Outside, it goes heavy on the sinister. A black grille features a black chrome surround, there are black headlamps and taillights with smoked lenses to go with black fog lamps, black trim around the windows and black chrome garnish elsewhere, black roof rails and door handles, and black badges on the back of tailgate. The rolling stock is a set of 21-inch black wheels with black center caps. The limited-edition spent all its fun money on the exterior, the interior left with unique floor and cargo mats, and unique key gloves.  All models come with the Lexus Safety System+ that groups features like Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, Panoramic View Monitor, Multi-Terrain Monitor, and Intuitive Parking Assist. The engine bay retains its 5.7-liter V8 throwing 383 horsepower and 403 pound-feet of torque, shifting through an eight-speed automatic and sending power to all four wheels through a Torsen limited-slip differential. If an LX 570 ever sees an unpaved road, it will have nothing to fear, equipped standard with its Crawl Control system that comes with Turn Assist and Hill-start Assist Control. On sale as of now, prices on the two-row, five-seat LX 570 and the three-row, seven-seat model have gone up by $100. The two-row starts at $86,580 and gets a $1,025 destination charge, totaling $87,605. The three-row starts at $91,580 and gets a $1,295 destination charge, so it starts at $92,875. Lexus didn't mention pricing for the Sport Package or the Inspiration model, both of which are exclusive to the three-row, and they're not on the Lexus configurator as of writing, so speak to your dealer about those if they speak to you. Related Video:    

Lexus LC convertible possibly spied in production form

Following a concept reveal at the beginning of the year and confirmation of production a few months ago, we've finally got a glimpse of what may be the production Lexus LC convertible. The droptop was spied during a photo shoot in Los Angeles. It appears to be wearing the "Structural Blue" hue that made its debut at SEMA a couple years ago. While the concept shown at Detroit looked nearly production-ready, there are small differences between it and this photo car. Close examination shows that this version has a small wind blocker and differently shaped rear seat backs. These pieces match up with the prototype that appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The main difference between this car and the Goodwood example is that this photo car has more finished trim around the tonneau cover. Another difference from the Detroit concept is the fact the rear tonneau has a section finished in the same color upholstery as the interior. Though Lexus confirmed the LC convertible for production, it hasn't given any indication as to when it will go on sale. The fact that Lexus is doing photo shoots of the car has us thinking it will be revealed and put on sale in time for the next model year, making November's LA Auto Show a prime choice. It will undoubtedly be fitted with a choice of the 471-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 or the 354-horsepower V6 hybrid powertrain.