ISxx0C: The upcoming 2-door Lexus IS gets a name

[jruhi4]

For most people in the U.S., the primary significance of 15 April 2008 was Tax Day, that dreaded deadline by which you must file (and, in some cases, pay) your personal Federal Income Tax. On that date, however, Lexus did something equally significant: they filed applications with both the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Canadian Trade-Marks Office for IS250C, IS300C and IS350C trademarks.


For the terminally curious, the specific filings are:



United States:
IS250C: Application No. 77448695
IS300C: Application No. 77448728
IS350C: Application No. 77448711

Canada:
IS250C: Application No. 1391370
IS300C: Application No. 1391371
IS350C: Application No. 1391376

This bit of news is significant on a number of levels. For one thing, it kills speculation that Lexus would consider the upcoming 2-door variant of the Lexus IS a separate model line with its own IC prefix, as some past rumo(u)rs had suggested. More importantly, the filing of an IS300C trademark increases the likelihood that Lexus has answered our prayers and decided to build a 3GR-FSE-powered 2nd-generation IS300 for North America to plug the huge 102-hp and 92 lb/ft of torque gap between the IS250 and IS350.

Also noteworthy is the lack of an IS-FC (or IS-CF) filing of some sort. Does this mean that there won't be a 2-door variant of the IS-F? Or that it will wear the same IS-F moniker as the sedan? Or that Lexus will file for this separately, at a later date? Time to trot out the worn-out "time will tell" cliché...

Our thanks go to my.IS Canadian national Moderator k3vo for bringing this significant piece of news to our attention in a couple of posts in the General Discussion IS Convertible Spy Photo thread.

[longnights]

This story is now on Autoblog, listing my.is as the source.

[DonCorleone]

Awesome story!

[cryptkeeper]

This has taken Lexus far longer than it should have. I hope they come out looking good so, that way, I can finally get my coupe and stay in the Lexus family. What is everybody thinking as far as timelines, maybe sometime in 2009 as either a 2009 model or a 2010 model or possibly earlier?

[silverCELICAgt-s]

Hopefully, they'll make a IS F coupe as well:

[Schr0eder]

Hahaha, and hopefully it doesn't look like that!

[T i h o r]

I might just have to trade in my 335i for this!

[Polac_Rudie]

Can't wait =) If it happens, I'm trading in my first gen.

[cryptkeeper]

Then again, what are the chances that these come out as hard top convertibles? I hope they are smart enough to realize many people would prefer just a coupe compared to a hard top convertible.

[meta1]

I'm thinking next generation IS. At the potential dates mentioned, that would put the current generation into its 4th or 5th year. At that time it would mean time for an upgrade in the body style. We shall see.

[richter]

Originally Posted by cryptkeeper

Then again, what are the chances that these come out as hard top convertibles? I hope they are smart enough to realize many people would prefer just a coupe compared to a hard top convertible.

Agreed, coupe with no convertible and no sunroof/moonroof... and a effing manual for Pete's sake...

[91mr2sexy]

Now this is interesting. The coupe should be more aggressive with a lower stance and shorter greenhouse. It's a curious thing Lexus doesn't offer a manual transmission for the IS350. Perhaps the IS300C will also have the 250s M/T option?

The RWD GR engine series use the RA series M/Ts.
The 1GR (4.0L) uses the RA60 and 61.
The 4GR (2.5L) uses the RA62.

I see no reason why the 2GR or 3GR couldn't use them either. Perhaps with all of the issues in the Tacoma's M/T, Toyota doesn't have enough confidence in their own manual transmissions to put them in a higher grade IS? I drove a M/T FJ, and the shifter felt a little sloppy and vague.