Most cars are necessary. Lexus, for instance, needs to sell those compact crossovers and midsized sedans to compete in the luxury marketplace. It does not, however, need an opulent grand tourer. That did not stop the Lexus LC 500 from finding its way through production.
The LC, which could not escape the elephant-in-the-room reality that it has no real need to exist, is almost as irrational as the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. The SUVs are where the money’s at, not the luxury coupes.
Yet it exists, and I would argue that there is no new car more exciting to see in a parking lot in a unique color than a completely stock, off-the-showroom LC 500h. It is a design concept meant to show people buying the NX why their car has that unfortunate corporate grille, but somehow it was produced in reasonably large numbers, a car that exists solely for people to be happy to see in a parking lot in 20 years.
It joins the great pantheon of cars with this honor. The Citroën SM is, of course, among the best of the best in this field, but the Subaru SVX, Mazda Eunos Cosmo, and first-generation BMW 8 Series all deserve honorary mentions.
What else belongs in that class? What car that truly did not need to be made lingers in your memory? If you could have an extremely frivolous addition to your dream garage after you got all the things you actually had a use for, what would it be?