In one of the cleverest ads from the 1980s, Lexus stacked fifteen champagne glasses on the hood of its (then new) LS400 sedan...and then placed it on a dynamometer. Taking the LS400 up to a simulated 145 mph (233 km/h), the viewer marvels as the glasses remain exactly where they should be. The ad ends with the Lexus logo and the words, “The Lexus LS400 is designed to stir the soul...and not much else.”
It’s a great bit of advertising and holds up pretty well even today. There is one question that many would-be Lexus owners may be asking themselves today: are the cars still as good as they were back then? Has engineering perfection über alles survived twenty years of market reinvention and product development?
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