"Bespoke" is a term you don't hear a lot in the mass-market car business. It means "made to specifications of the buyer". Rolls-Royce and Bentley make a lot of money creating bespoke versions of their vehicles.
Lexus' Bespoke Build is a new thing for 2022, and it's available on my favorite car. Readers who've been with me over the long haul have read me gushing over the LC 500 for five straight years now. Half a decade has not dampened my love for this car in the least. It makes me feel at age 66 the way the first Jaguar E-Type made me feel at six.
In my case it's the LC 500h hybrid I love. I know all the arguments for the LC 500 and its 471-horsepower V8 (the speed! the noise!), but I don't need my car to go vroom-vroom, the V8's 0-60 is only 0.3 seconds faster (4.4 vs. 4.7 seconds) than the hybrid and more than ever, 27 miles per gallon city/35 highway is better than 16 city/25 highway. Even as gas prices float back to earth, burning dead dinosaurs and pumping their immortal hydrocarbons into the air is something we should do as sparingly as possible.
The good news for all of us is that Bespoke Build is available on both the LC 500 and LC 500h, though not on the convertible. Using an online configurator, you select from a list of options (paint, spoiler, roof, accent, wheels, interior, seats, display and audio) to create an individualized car unlikely to be duplicated by a routine factory build.
In fairness, most of the selections (all of the paint colors, most of the interior choices, the 915-watt audio system) are available on all LCs, either in packages or a la carte. There are a few unique items, though, including wheel, roof and spoiler options---none more unique than the "Manhattanhenge" interior color seen here on our test vehicle. And there are combinations of options possible in the Bespoke Build series that can't be duplicated outside it.
There is a cost to all this. The base price of the 2022 Lexus LC 500h is $99,050. Because a Bespoke Build is a special order, there's an immediate charge of $3,690. On our car, the Manhattanhenge and Alcantra interior was $3,600, the head-up display $900, the 13-speaker, 915-watt Mark Levinson surround sound system was $1,220.
The unique-to-Bespoke Build cars Air Wing rear spoiler add $2,750. Carbon fiber scuff plates (available on regular LCs) are $600 and the Carbon Fiber roof (not available on regular LCs) is $2,400. With $1,075 delivery, processing and handling fee, the as-tested price of this particular 2022 Lexus LC 500h Bespoke Build is $115,285.
So, is it worth it? Well, that's really up to you. Lexus only sold 1,888 LCs last year. The odds of running into one just like yours is pretty low to begin with. That said, though, I've always believed the Lexus LC 500 and LC 500h are going to be collectibles. So, limited editions of a collector car are even more valuable. I'm surprised Lexus didn't offer a Bespoke Build-only exterior paint color. But if there are items in the Bespoke Build configurator that you'd love to have, and the $3,690 special build fee is worth it to you, then by all means go for it. The LC 500 and LC 500h are once-in-a-generation automobiles.
