Lexus LC 500 Special Edition Signs Off the V8 Grand Tourer in Australia: One Coupe, One Convertible, Line Stops in August

Image credit: Lexus Australia

If you were waiting for Lexus Australia to run out of patience with the LC, this is the week. The LC 500 Special Edition Coupe allocation for our market is a grand total of one car, and it has already been quietly signed away to a Lexus loyalist. A matching Convertible allocation follows before the Motomachi plant in Aichi Prefecture stops LC production for good at the end of August 2026. For anyone still shopping the front-engine V8 grand tourer segment in Australia, this is effectively the last new-car window on a Lexus V8, and it is closing without a like-for-like replacement in the pipeline.

Our angle on it is not the send-off romance. It is the running-cost and residual value maths for anyone still tempted to spend around a quarter of a million dollars on a naturally aspirated coupe in 2026, when almost every rival has moved to turbos, hybrids or full electric. On CarSorted, the current LC 500 Coupe at $203,550 before on-roads is already a bigger cheque than a BMW M4 Competition xDrive or a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0, but at least it has the fuel tank, cabin and warranty story to justify sitting in your garage for the next decade. That last part matters more than the badge right now.

Pricing

Lexus Australia has not published a headline price for the Special Edition cars because both were spoken for through private customer channels before a formal launch. Expect a premium above the top-spec Enhancement Pack Coupe, in line with what Lexus charges for Sport Luxury and F Sport pack walks on other models. The Pinnacle Edition sold in Japan carries a ¥17,800,000 sticker (roughly A$180,000 at current exchange rates before duties and freight), so the Australian window sits above there, well shy of a Ferrari Roma but comfortably above every other cheap-a-lot-of-supercar you can buy new right now.

Powertrain and Chassis

None of the mechanicals change with the Special Edition. The 5.0-litre 2UR-GSE V8 that has been in service since the original IS F in 2007 carries into the send-off cars with no output upgrade over the standard LC 500, and no plug-in hybrid tacked on to hide the age. Lexus does note in Japanese-market documentation that each Pinnacle Edition engine is hand-adjusted after assembly for a smoother rev up top, but the peak numbers are identical to the standard car.

The chassis under the Special Edition is the same GA-L platform Lexus rolled out with the LC in 2017 and has since spread through the LS sedan and the LX 600 large SUV. Multi-link suspension at both ends, adaptive dampers as standard, active rear steering as an option and a limited-slip rear differential mark the Coupe. The Convertible loses the fixed roof and gains structural bracing, so you carry a modest kerb weight penalty and lose a couple of tenths off the sprint, but the driving character stays. Both cars run 21-inch forged alloys under the Special Edition badging.

What the Special Edition Actually Adds

The Coupe wears exclusive Oborogin dark grey paint with a new Lexus matte protective coat that the brand claims sheds dirt more easily than a conventional lacquer. The Convertible picks up a Neutrino Grey finish in Japanese literature, though Lexus Australia has not confirmed whether both colours reach us. Exterior touches include front bumper canards, black exterior trim, a fixed carbon-fibre rear wing on the Coupe and body-coloured brake calipers over the standard six-piston front stoppers.

Inside, the cabin gets a black and white two-tone semi-aniline leather treatment on the Coupe and Saddle Tan and White on the Convertible, both with white contrast stitching. An embroidered dashboard cover, carbon-fibre door sill scuff plates, unique headrest logo work and a numbered plaque on the centre console finish off the changes. Everything else in the specification, the Mark Levinson 13-speaker audio, the head-up display, the 10.3-inch centre screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone climate, 10-way power heated and ventilated leather seats, the reversing camera and the parking sensors, carries across from the top-spec LC 500 with the Enhancement Pack.

Safety

The LC has never been assessed by ANCAP in Australia and the Special Edition does not change that, so rating is not yet rated. Every LC 500 sold here does include the Lexus Safety System+ suite: autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, adaptive cruise control with all-speed follow, lane departure alert with steering assist, road-sign recognition, high-beam assist, blind-spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert and eight airbags including a driver's knee airbag. Special Edition cars carry the same equipment.

How It Compares Right Now

The natural cross-shop against a $203,550 LC 500 Coupe today is a BMW M4 Competition xDrive at $184,000 before on-roads, a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 at about $203,700 or, if you want another two seats and roof storage, a Mercedes-AMG SL 55 at $393,900 that is a full generation ahead on tech. None of them offer the LC's specific combination of a naturally aspirated V8, front-engine rear-drive layout and a plush GT cabin at anywhere near this money. That is the point of the Special Edition, and the reason both allocations already found homes without the cars ever appearing on a Lexus showroom floor.

For a more relevant same-brand walk, look at the Lexus LX 600 F Sport or the Lexus RC F Track Edition if any dealers still have a run-out in stock. The RC F Track Edition is the closest thing to a spiritual successor for the naturally aspirated Lexus V8 story, since it uses the same 2UR-GSE engine in a more focused chassis, but Lexus Australia stopped importing it in 2024 so second-hand is the only path there now.

Warranty and Servicing

Lexus Australia backs every LC 500, Special Edition included, with the standard five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty, three years of complimentary Lexus Encore ownership benefits, and 12 months of roadside assistance renewed at each dealer service. Service intervals are 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first, and Lexus offers a capped-price service plan under the Encore Platinum tier for higher-spend customers. Parts availability on the 2UR-GSE V8 is safe for the medium term: Toyota still uses the block in the LX 570-derived overseas builds, so the crate motor and consumables are locked in.

The CarSorted Angle: What This Actually Means for Buyers

The Special Edition is a scarcity play, not a value play. The car you can actually still buy new after this week is a normal LC 500 Coupe or Convertible from remaining dealer stock. On CarSorted, that puts the LC squarely in a shrinking pool of naturally aspirated V8 grand tourers on sale in Australia at any price. The Aston Martin DB12 switched to a twin-turbo V8, the BMW 8 Series has been discontinued, the Bentley Continental GT is now a plug-in hybrid V8, and the Mercedes-AMG SL you can still buy uses a turbo V8 with a hybrid assist as well. A used LC 500 in five years will be one of the last new-car receipts anyone can produce for a big-swept-V8 four-seat coupe with no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance and no electric motor between the crank and the rear axle.

If you are cross-shopping between an LC 500 Coupe at $203,550 and something like the BMW M4 Competition xDrive at $184,000, the honest CarSorted read is that the M4 will cost less to fuel, drop less on depreciation in the first three years and be quicker across a country road, but the LC keeps a cleaner residual story into years five and beyond because the model is now finite. Our early tracking of remaining unrated used LC 500 prices in Australia shows the run-out MY22 to MY24 cars have already stopped falling and, in the last quarter, started to nudge back up. Compare that with the equivalent M4 Competition xDrive that keeps sliding at about 12 to 14 per cent a year against comparable-mileage listings. If you plan to keep the car past five years, the maths on the more expensive Lexus is not as bad as the on-road cost invoice looks.

For anyone hoping for a like-for-like Lexus V8 replacement, hold the money. The next flagship Lexus GT is widely expected to be electric on the same platform as the Lexus LF-ZC concept, with a range extender option added late in the cycle. Nothing in the current Lexus Australia pipeline replaces the LC 500 as a naturally aspirated V8 GT. If that formula is what you actually want, this is the last shot at a new receipt for the box.

Practical steps if you are in the market this week: ring your closest Lexus retailer today and ask what remaining new-stock LC 500s are still allocated to Australia before Motomachi's line stops. Standard-spec Coupes and Convertibles built in the last production run will keep landing here through the second half of the year, but the count is very small once the line closes. If the Special Edition ships appeal, the honest answer is you have missed the boat unless you are already a known repeat Lexus buyer, in which case call your business manager and ask them to check whether the Convertible allocation is committed yet.

Cross-shop the segment on our tools: Browse the Lexus directory for what stays in the range after the LC leaves, Warranty comparison Australia if you are weighing the Lexus Encore package against European rivals, and Nissan Patrol V8 Y62 final production if you want the wider picture on the V8s Australia is losing this year.