Lexus LS Name Reborn On Wild Six-Wheeled Luxury Van Concept

The Lexus LS, the big saloon Toyota’s newborn luxury wing was introduced to the world with back in 1989, is on its last legs. It was dropped in Europe last year after annual sales figures that barely registered, and a runout Heritage Edition has just been unveiled for North America. While it still chugs along in Japan, don’t expect it to get a replacement.

Not in saloon form, anyway. Lexus clearly still isn’t done with the LS name, because it’s repurposed it so it no longer stands for ‘Luxury Sedan’ but instead ‘Luxury Space’ for this, a six-wheeled super-luxury van concept.

Lexus is no stranger to the burgeoning posh van segment, offering the LM in various markets around the world (great for playing Mario Kart in), but the LS Concept takes it to the next level, not least by upping the wheel count by 50 per cent.

That quartet of titchy back wheels isn’t a mere gimmick. Lexus says that they help maximise the available floor space for rear passengers who, in the concept, get to travel round in two rows of hugely comfy-looking reclining seats.

There are equally cushty looking benches in the middle and front, with the frontmost set able to swivel around so you can hold Important Business Meetings in the LS. Not while driving, obviously. And speaking of driving, it’s handled by a yoke-style steering wheel like the one recently introduced on the production RZ crossover.

But wait, there’s more – Lexus has revealed not one, not two, but three concepts with the LS name. Unsurprisingly, none of them are anything like any LS that’s come before. As well as the van, there’s the LS Coupe, which isn’t really a coupe at all but a big, BMW X6-style ‘crossover coupe’.

That’s not particularly interesting, but what is is the LS Micro, a tiny one-person box on wheels designed for whizzing autonomously around crowded city centres in luxury and privacy. We’re trying to imagine a world in which celebs are ferried off to glitzy awards galas in these, and coming up a little bit empty.

Unfortunately, if any of this trio is likely to hit production even vaguely resembling the concept, it’s probably the Coupe-that-isn’t-a-coupe. We’ll be keeping our fingers firmly crossed for a roadgoing six-wheeled luxo-van, though.