LC Coupe

Make
Lexus
Segment
Coupe

Toyota has been a disappointment to high-performance car enthusiasts for a long time, but the Japanese automaker has been doing its best to reverse that perception. Cars like the GR Supra and GR Yaris have shown that the famous brand still has what it takes to make exciting cars. Toyota has also been working on making hydrogen cars sound good, as well as performing well in motorsport, and improving the sports car now known as GR 86.

But Toyota's luxury arm Lexus hasn't released anything truly special in a while. The whole world has been clamoring for a high-performance version of the Lexus LC, but confirmation of such a model has not been forthcoming. Fortunately, there seems to be evidence that the LC F is happening, as a Toyota patent for a twin-turbo V8 engine has been unearthed.

The patent has been filed here in the US, and past rumors have suggested that a twin-turbo V8 would be destined for the LC, but this news both shatters and revitalizes our hopes for an LC F. See, one would expect that the patent would be filed in Japan if it were for an engine that is destined to fill the bay of a car being sold globally, such as the LC F. Since it's been filed in America, the strong possibility exists that the engine is destined for a vehicle produced in the US, and the only sort of car that would fit the bill and require a powerful V8 would be something like the Toyota Tundra.

In fact, as promising as this patent looks, the deeper you dig, the more you start to wonder if there's any hope for a Lexus LC F after all. An extract from the patent's wording says that this patent and design could be for a V6: "Incidentally, the foregoing embodiment has been described using the V-eight engine as an example of the internal combustion engine [described]. However, the number of cylinders arranged in the cylinder block is not limited in particular. For example, the internal combustion engine may be, for example, a V-six engine."

We'll have to wait for word directly from Toyota before we can confirm anything, but at this point, it's too soon to make any bets on where this new engine will be fitted.