Lexus hasn't had a great run with convertibles. The SC430 aged into oblivion and the IS convertible was enough of an eyesore to send you to the optometrist. The LF-C2 concept is Lexus' attempt to pay for past sins by lopping the roof of the RC F. But first it has to engineer a roof, because Lexus prides itself on the fact the LF-C2 doesn't have one. Wait, what?
Seriously. Lexus says that, "As a roadster concept, the LF-C2 concept does not have any kind of top covering the cabin." That's, y'know, a problem for anyone that has to deal with the Earthly miracle known as "weather". But it's a concept, and there's no doubt we'll see a production version within a year fitted with some kind of top.
In the meantime, we get an exterior coated in vaguely offensive gold coating that infiltrates the inside of the 2+2 through a waterfall dropping between the rear seats that wouldn't look out of place in Lowrider Magazine. The rest of the exterior is more of the same styling cues from Lexus, just pinched, pulled, and exaggerated to put some distance between the concept and the standard RC F.
The quad chrome exhausts are one of the only highlights, detracted by the front end, which is a mess of angles and textures and swoops and strakes. Even the wheels are a bit of a disaster, until you get up close, where they get even worse.
You could call the interior minimalistic, but that'd be an insult to Dieter Rams and the entire nation of Sweden. It's remarkably plain for a concept car, with a shifter, a clock, a screen, and a horribly drab steering wheel that we're still not sure features touchscreen controls.
But port all the bits from the RC F inside, add the 300 hp V6, and sort out the roof – articulating hard top or cloth – and Lexus has a perfectly acceptable convertible that someone could put a bow on for Mother's Day.