LUXURY Liner; This thinly disguised Lexus LS sedan flagship should worry the competition.(News)

Byline: DUTCH MANDEL

It would not be a hardship to take a long, close look at this latest Lexus show car for all the same reasons it would not be a hardship to gaze upon a lithe supermodel.

The LF-sh is gorgeous. For a company whose reputation is based on it being derivative of the world's best, that says something: Lexus is getting serious about creating its own style and design.

Naysayers may point to the LF-sh's flared hips and shoulders, its upraised tail, and say it is a regurgitation of Chris Bangle's flame surfacing treatment that now adorns BMWs. Perhaps. But even a moderately discerning eye will glean this as an improvement to Lexus products, one being defined in-house as incorporating the L-finesse theme. (Don't ask a Lexus person what L-finesse means. If you do, you will hear design gibberish coupled with ethereal speak that will make your head hurt.)

An aside: Isn't it interesting that both Mercedes-Benz and Lexus have followed down the concave-convex-concave surface treatment in their creations? Does this vindicate Bangle, whose once avant-garde design was eviscerated with the launch of the stout 7 Series?

Back to the LF-sh, winner of AutoWeek's Most Significant award at the Tokyo show. The car is significant not just because it represents a shot across the bow of traditional European carmakers' flagships (mere months after Mercedes launches its new S-Class) from the world's wealthiest car company, but because of the power behind it: a hybrid V8. Throw in its homage to Bangle, and it all adds up to big things from Toyota's luxury division.

Without taking a protractor to the concept car on the show stand, few of the LF-sh's numbers and dimensions are available to assuage technical junkies. But what is not being said may be just as important.