The mighty LX gets a complete makeover—and shrinks—for a very young customer.
The Toyota Land Cruiser-based Lexus LX luxury SUV has been with us for a while now, and it is nearing the end of its current life cycle. That's too bad, because the big brute is a throwback to 4x4s of yore—it has actual off-road capability, for example—but the LX isn't done quite yet. In fact, Lexus just built a new one, a pretty nifty kid's version of its largest SUV that happens to be a one-off convertible.
Okay, you got us, the roofless, purple LX Lexus made is a bespoke children's ride-on toy to support a partnership between Lexus and the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. March is unofficially Cerebral Palsy awareness month, and the special drop-top SUV was delivered this week to its new owner, Finley Smallwood. She is only six years old, and the special Lexus will help her get around in a very unique way. How?
Because it can be hard for Smallwood to sit still for long periods of time, the car was modified with special lateral support for her to make stylish Lexus mobility as comfortable as possible. The chair pokes out from the back of the car and has a little six-point harness to keep Finley in place. It has also been outfitted with a joystick that acts as the accelerator instead of having a normal pedal to do that job. The Lexus is therefore both hugely adorable and incredibly thought-out and functional; the real-life LX is only half those things.
The Cerebral Palsy Foundation, which was founded to help further research on CP patients and has been around for more than 60 years, partnered with Lexus to help Finely play and be independent despite her diagnosis. And though we're quite sure the performance of this little one-off drop top isn't time-bending like some modern full-size EVs, it'll hopefully satisfy Finley's desire for a little extra freedom while keeping the current LX going a little longer.
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