In 1989, the Lexus brand launched with two cars, the ES 250 and the LS 400 flagship sedan which would stick around for the next 36 years and counting. The story goes that at the time, Lexus was set on building a machine with quality to beat European rivals at a lower price point. According to the automaker, the inception of the LS marked the culmination of a major development program that involved thousands of designers, engineers, and technicians over a six-year period. This “Circle F” (for flagship) project was launched by the then-Toyota chairman Eiji Toyoda and led by the hugely experienced Ichiro Suzuki as chief engineer.
