How do you transport $1,000,000 dollars of cocaine in a single car? Use a 1991 Lexus LS 400:

…nine kilograms of cocaine were found in a 1991 Lexus with Arizona license plates.

“This is close to a million dollars in cocaine,” Jones said Friday, holding up long plastic-wrapped logs of cocaine that had been concealed in the frame of the Lexus. He noted that the dealers had drawn smiley faces on the stash.

“They’re not real happy right now,” the sheriff said.

Now that’s one expensive (and heavy, and unfortunate) car modification.

Flickr user anlee took in the Everton Family Freedom Festival on July 4th, and managed to snap off a photo of a heavily modded ES 300, complete with scissor-doors:

I guess dropping the frame, upping the wheels, getting the custom paint job and snapping on a body kit just wasn’t enough. (Not sure about that front bumper, it looks enormous!)

Here we have an LS 460 dropped low on a set of Sevas Forged Wheels:

Not a very big fan of the multi-mini-spoke rim, and the sheer size of these wheels overpower the car, but they do have a certain charm. I especially like the look of these wheels in motion, they give off an interesting effect.

Even though I’m a fan of stock rides (with the exception of some nice rims & tints), it’s impossible for me to avoid drooling over Kelvin Tohar’s VIP’d (AutoLuxury) 2000 GS 300:

I’m practically in love with the Junction Produce body kit, but I’m just not feeling the insanely tilted rims, which is due to squeezing 19-inch Scara rims and Falken tires under a severely dropped suspension. It’s part of the look though, and it’s not something that comes cheap:

The VIP style is quite tempting, but Kelvin warns that it isn’t cheap. Even though you can pick up a used GS 300 for around $15,000, the right parts will cost you nearly double that.

You can check out the full article and more photos @ Superstreet Magazine.

While I have strong doubts that Lexus will ever release a RX Wagoneer edition, one 400h owner isn’t about to wait to see. Discovered by Autoblog.it, this one-off wooden body kit was created by Italian tuner firm Castagna Milano for someone very rich and equally eco-obsessed:

Most of the reactions to this unique body modification are decidedly negative, but I’m not sure I share that opinion (I’ve always had a soft spot for the Wagoneer). With the RX model being Lexus’ most ubiquitous, it’s a real challenge to stand out in the crowd, and that’s certainly not going to be a problem here.

Click Read More for some additional shots, including a photo of the fully customized interior.

[Source: Autoblog.it]
Read the rest of this entry »

Wald International, a Japanese tuning company, has been one of the premier body kit & modification developers for Lexus since the LS 400. The new LS 460 is their latest subject, which they treated with a very distinctive reverence:

Save for the rims, the USF40 Executive Line body kit is nothing overly flashy, and is a much more subdued look than would be expected. Of course, there’s more to it than that, as this bodykit replaces both bumpers and sideskirts, as well as adding both a roof and trunk spoiler. This package would retail in Japan for approximately ¥270,900 ($2,200USD). Add in the modified brakes and rims shoots the price up substantially to ¥2,395,000 ($19,600USD).

Wald also offers interior mods, including a full wood to carbon fibre conversion kit.

[Via: Nihon Car]