Videos Top Gear: The Lexus LS vs the German and British competition.

[Kowalski]

Top Gear: Just how smooth the V8 engine in the Lexus LS really is?

You will have to watch the video.

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Unbelievably smooth isn't it?

I've done a search, to find out what happened to each car later on and these are results:

1990 Jaguar XJ Sovereign 4.0 V8



The vehicle details for H656 FKV are:

Date of Liability 23 10 2007
Date of First Registration 01 08 1990
Year of Manufacture 1990
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 3980CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed Vehicle
Colour SILVER Vehicle
Type Approval null

1990 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL



The vehicle details for H593 TNH are:

Date of Liability 07 10 1995
Date of First Registration 01 08 1990
Year of Manufacture 1990
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 4196CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour SILVER Vehicle
Type Approval null

* Please be aware that if the vehicle has recently been relicensed or a SORN declared, these details may not yet be updated on the vehicle record. *

1990 Lexus LS400



The vehicle details for G615 EPE are:

Date of Liability 01 07 2008
Date of First Registration 19 04 1990
Year of Manufacture 1990
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 3969CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status
Licence Not Due
Vehicle Colour RED
Vehicle Type Approval null

BMW 735i

I can't find anything about what happened to G661 YRD
__________________________________________________

The review was originally broadcast in 1990.

Date of Liability means the last time the car was used - Written off in a crash, hidden in a barn or the owner at the time sold it to the scrapyard and the car became crusher material or perhaps turned it into a banger racer and subsequently be scrapped. Either way, the car is no longer on the road.

Only the Lexus still is on the road, though.

 

[Kowalski]

What is "SORN"?

This is what SORN is according to the DVLA?

Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) means that, by law, DVLA must be informed when a registered keeper does not re-license a vehicle because it is not being used or kept on a public road.

A SORN declaration is valid for 12 months unless you re-license, sell, permanently export or scrap the vehicle before the 12 months have expired.

The legislation that covers SORN is the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002.

So perhaps there might be a chance the Mercedes is alive???

 

[Bruce]

The original Lexus LS: a landmark in automotive evolution. Of course, that is only my opinion, but there's plently to support it. Japanese classic for sure.

Great video by the way.

 

[BarneyBoy]

The Inconvenient Truth, eh?
Pretty good 1st try, I'd say. Had the others scrambling off to do some research into NVH...

 

[Kowalski]

The Inconvenient Truth, eh?
Pretty good 1st try, I'd say. Had the others scrambling off to do some research into NVH...

I dare to say that given the choice of the Lexus LS400 vs the other rivals in the video, I would take the Lexus.

 

[Kowalski]

The original Lexus LS: a landmark in automotive evolution. Of course, that is only my opinion, but there's plenty to support it. Japanese classic for sure.

Great video by the way.

Thank you for watching.

It really is one of the most important cars in Automotive history; it finally meant the Japanese could make Luxury cars as good as the ones from the European brands.

The original Lexus LS gained the status of "Future Classic", at least in the UK. The car had plenty going for it, but it was far from the sales success Lexus hoped it would be, Alan Partridge didn't help either... so the LS400 became a rare but very special car, a Japanese classic for sure.