Design Shaped by the Winds

Road-going cars are built primarily for safety and comfort, but they’re not a million miles apart from their race-car cousins built for the track. After all, there’s a common enemy standing in the way between them and their final destination: air. But as with most enemies, understanding is the key to reconciliation—which is why “conquering the winds” is becoming one of the most important goals in automotive research and development. The aim is to produce best-in-class cars, not only in terms of proportioning but for speed, handling, and safety. In fact, the technology arising from aerodynamic refinements in Lexus motorsport laboratories is built into every Lexus car on the road.

From the world-famous highways sweeping across vast panoramas of wilderness in the southern foothills of the Italian Alps; past Turin and Milan, the industrial and artisanal heartlands of Italy’s north; around Modena, with its indelible links to motoring history; and on to Imola, the veritable mecca of motorsport. It’s an intrepid and culture-rich 800 km road trip in the Lexus LC500 Convertible, the top dropped so driver and passenger alike can soak up the sun and feel the wind blowing past. This is no mere sports car or coupe; this is a cabriolet that lives to be at one with the wind.