Back in October 2017, Lexus unveiled a brand new paint colour that it says took some 15 years of research to perfect. And now that very hue is coming to South Africa on the LC Limited Edition in “extremely limited numbers”.
Set to arrive locally in August 2018 (no word yet on pricing), the special version of the brand’s flagship coupé features what Lexus describes as “a dazzling, iridescent” new shade of blue.
Called Morphic Blue (although the earlier international press release dubbed it Structural Blue), the Toyota-backed luxury brand says the new pigment is “deeper, more lustrous and more blue than anything seen before”.
The automaker explains that the blue hue is imparted by a light effect created by the texture of the liquid coating. Interestingly, none of the materials used in the coating are blue and no blue dyes or pigments added.
Lexus says the blue finish “shimmers and shadows in sunlight, but glows when exposed to artificial light at night time”. At certain viewing angles, the brand says the colour may resemble a royal blue, and at others may have a more violet tint.
Inside, the special edition boasts a Chrysalis Blue colour scheme that combines orange, blue and white hues and features semi-aniline leather accents and Alcantara. Carbon-fibre scuff plates are also included. As in the standard LC500, a 5,0-litre V8 sends 351 kW and 540 N.m to the rear wheels via a ten-speed automatic transmission.
Lexus says the Morphic Blue paint is designed to “work on the eye rather than on a camera lens”, claiming that it is only when it is seen in the metal that “the amazing effect becomes clear”.
