Just a quick note, I’ll be away from a computer for the next couple days and will resume posting on Monday.

(Hopefully the GS-F isn’t announced this weekend!)

It’s a bit last minute, but I’ll be heading to the Canadian International Auto Show tomorrow in Toronto, where I’m finally going to get chance to see the Lexus IS-F (among other assorted vehicles).

It’s my first auto show in years, and I’m really looking forward to it. As expected, I’ll be taking a ton of photos of all things Lexus.

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Just another note, the TPP redesign is coming along very well — in fact, it’s turning out better than expected. There’s been some delays, but I think it should be ready by late next week.

Team One, the company behind Lexus’ advertising in the US, recently contacted me about a great opportunity for Lexus owners to show off their cars. Right now, they’re looking for photos of you and your Lexus for an upcoming project, here are the details:

• The photo has to be of you with your Lexus, not just a photo of the Lexus by itself.
• The rule for image resolution, the bigger the better.
• If your image is chosen, you will be contacted and compensated.
• The deadline for this first wave is March 25th, 2008.

You can send the photos to mylexusimages@teamone-usa.com, and be sure to use a valid email address where you can be reached.

(Personally, I’m going to have to wait until the weather gets a little nicer, all of my current photos are of the car only.)

Before launching this site in June 2007, I made up a list of rules that I wanted to follow, and the very first thing I wrote down was “Leave the site design alone for six months.” As a professional web designer, I have a tendency to tweak sites obsessively, but in this case I wanted to focus strictly on content, make sure I could keep the site going, really just get used to having a daily updated site. (I did break the rule once, when I switched the color scheme from blue to grey, but that was fairly minor.)

But now, a little more than seven months since the first post, the site is read by 1,900 people every day, and it’s time to take it to the next level. To that end, I’m currently developing the next version of The Passionate Pursuit, something much deeper and ambitious than what exists right now.

Rest assured, the change won’t be drastic by any means, and daily Lexus news will continue to be the primary focus. Rather, the new version will be a natural progression, with an emphasis on building up a significant Lexus information database (like the Lexus Body Kit series, but much, much bigger). There’s other improvements as well, but I don’t want to give away the whole surprise.

The new version is still about two weeks from completion, but I thought it might explain why I’ve only been covering the major news lately.

Right from the very start, 2007 was a year of controversy for Lexus.

In January, the Detroit Auto Show saw the introduction of the IS-F and the F-Sport line. The F-Division is meant to be Lexus’ answer to Mercedes’ AMG and BMW’s M-Division, and it was a move that was criticized from all angles over the next eleven months.

There was some excellent news in April, when the LS 460 was named the World Car of the Year, beating out Audi TT and BMW Mini. The new LX 570 was introduced at the New York Auto Show, marking its first redesign in ten years.

Read the rest of this entry »

2007 is almost over, and having given myself up to a period of reflection, I thought a recap of the year’s ten most popular stories would be in order. Without further ado:

10. Additional Footage of the Lexus LF-A at Nürburgring

This Youtube footage of the Lexus LF-A zooming around Nürburgring was one of my first posts to be picked up by the major auto websites, including Autoblog & Autoblog.it.

9. Two Tuned Lexus Models from the Upcoming SEMA 2007

I did some snooping around and managed to dig up two previews of the Lexus tuned models that were featured at SEMA this year. Too bad all the GS models were 430s, and not 460s.

Read the rest of this entry »

With comments picking up and some of my older posts drawing in daily traffic, I have added links to the latest comments and most popular posts to the sidebar, underneath the category links.

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Though I’m sure it’s probably automated, my site has been linked to from a Wall Street Journal article dealing with strategic thinking, in the related blogs section at the bottom. Not a full-on mention, but it certainly brightened my day nonetheless.

At first, the latest part in my Lexus Body Kit Series seemed to be taking the same road as my last feature, the ES 350, which yielded no kits at all. However, it turns out that there are a couple body kits for the GX 470.

Two of the kits come from Toyota, built for the Japanese-GX 470 equivalent, the Land Cruiser Prado, yet despite the manufacturer, both are rather underwhelming, and the remaining kit by Jaos is equally so.

Beyond the limited body kit availability, something about the GX seems to defy modification. To be honest, it’s one of my favorites in the current Lexus lineup, and I like it just the way it is. Still, I would definitely fit the factory spoiler, given the choice:

My initial thought was to pass over it without mention, but the more I think about it, it’s quite surprising that the ES 350 has absolutely no body kits.

Why is that?

I think the major reason has to be that the ES 350 is no longer available in Japan, where most Lexus kits come from. The previous ES models were available there (as the Toyota Windom), but was discontinued with the ES 350’s release in 2007. Now the ES is sold only in North America, the Middle East, Korea and Taiwan.

Also, it stands to reason that most people who would consider a body kit in the first place would gravitate to the sportier models in the Lexus lineup, like the IS or GS. It can’t be denied, the ES 350 is a family car through and through, with an emphasis on comfort rather than performance or sportiness.

Still, there are a couple personalization options, available direct from Lexus, who offer a rear spoiler (which needs to be bolted on, and is therefore permanent) and side-body moldings:

The next part of my Lexus Body Kit Series is up, this time for the SC 430.

For a car closing in on seven years of production, and a purported sports coupe at that, there’s surprisingly few body kits to choose from, and the kits that are available are low in options, with most consisting of a front spoiler, side step and rear spoiler.

With that said, there are some rather nice kits out there, I was particularly impressed with the T’s Project version: