Lexus LX570 is the luxury version of the Toyota Land Cruiser, which in itself quite luxurious as we found out in our test drive. But in the land of glamorous vehicles that we call Dubai, where sometimes, even gold plated Maserati will not turn heads, have created this bespoke Lexus LX570 with its roof chopped off.
The very first, the very idea of a 4×4/SUV was a convertible, but somewhere along the way, automakers aren’t making convertible 4x4s but in Dubai, anything is possible when it comes to cars, so they build their own custom convertible SUV.
The price is a bit silly at 1.3 million Dirhams which translate to 37,055,133 Pakistan rupees but considering the craftsmanship; we think it’s fairly reasonable as a new Lexus LX570 is already very expensive from the factory.
The engine and power figures remain the same with the 3UR-FE 5.7-liter V8 petrol engine that produces 362 hp and 530 Nm of torques.It seems as though the only change is that its roof is gone.
imagine going to northern areas in this convertible
The problem with convertibles is that the front is connected to the back with only the floor. This, as you can imagine, is bad for vehicle stability and rigidity. A convertible will typically be heavier than the coupe version of the same car, due to the additional reinforcement needed. I wonder if they bothered to do any of that with this thing, or just chopped the roof off and called it day.
You are right, but those problems are for monocoque shells. An SUV has a ladder frame ‘neath it, it is more like a truck.
Oh right. I forgot that the Lexus retains the Land Cruiser’s body-on-frame construction. So I guess chopping the roof off wouldn’t make much difference, since the ‘body’ is a separate unit lowered onto the chassis?
Other factors are also in play. When we talk about convertibles, we mean those fancy cars which are only useful on a sunny day in a moderate climate – and are not built to last.
Whereas an SUV has a far more rugged and overbuilt chassis. An SUV can lose a lot of its stuff and still manage itself.