CarBrandLogos archive · Lexus · 1998

LexusRX

The car that turned SUVs from trucks into tall estates, and sold millions doing it.

Photo: © M 93 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

The story

A defining chapter in Lexus history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Lexus RX, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Before the RX, a luxury SUV meant a body bolted to a ladder frame, with the ride and steering that implies. Lexus took a different reading of what buyers actually wanted, which was the height, the view and the space, not the ability to tow a horsebox across a field. The RX 300 of 1998 was built on a unibody platform derived from the Camry, with a transverse V6 and front-wheel drive as standard. It drove like a tall car because it essentially was one.

1st.Lexus.RX · IFCAR · Public domain

2007-2008 Lexus RX 350 Sports Luxury wagon 02

Design and engineering

This was treated at the time as a slightly odd compromise. It turned out to be exactly right. The RX became Lexus's best-selling model in North America almost immediately and has stayed there, outselling the saloons that the brand was founded to build. Practically every luxury crossover since has followed the same recipe.

2007-2008 Lexus RX 350 Sports Luxury wagon 02 · OSX · Public domain

2007-2008 Lexus RX 350 Sports Luxury wagon 03

In production

It was also the vehicle Toyota used to move hybrid technology upmarket. The RX 400h of 2005 was the first hybrid from a luxury brand, using the electric motor to add performance rather than only to save fuel, which reframed what hybrid drive was for. Japanese-market versions were sold as the Toyota Harrier until the two lines diverged. Successive generations grew, gained a third row for a while, and adopted the spindle grille, but the underlying idea has not changed since 1998.

2007-2008 Lexus RX 350 Sports Luxury wagon 03 · OSX · Public domain

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1997–present

Body

5-door SUV

Technical specification

The RX, in detail.

Production: December 1997 – present
Class: Compact crossover SUV#Luxury vehicles; Compact luxury crossover SUV (1997–2003) ; Mid-size luxury car; Mid-size luxury crossover SUV (2003–present)
Body style: 5-door SUV
Layout: Front-engine, front-wheel drive ; Front-engine, four-wheel drive
Manufacturer: Toyota

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