A Little Luxury for a Good Sport

Builders of sport utility vehicles are wallowing in a profound identity crisis.

Nothing is what it seems because there isn’t much truth in automotive labeling. There hasn’t been this much badge swapping and body snatching since the ‘20s when Cadillac made a cheapo named La Salle. And when Brewster & Co. was building Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts in Springfield, Mass.

So, gentlemen and gentle ladies, lick your pencils and start your scorecards:

The ’96 Acura SLX is a nipped, tucked and uplifted version of the Isuzu Trooper, whose base model is $8,000 lower on the food chain. Honda dealers offer Passport off-roaders that sell down the street as near-identical Isuzu Rodeos. Is that a soft and suburban Olds Bravada you see before you? Or a sporty and utilitarian GMC Jimmy? Which, in turn, is cloned from a Chevy Blazer.

Ford--which began creating cars by cosmetics in 1938 when it recycled a Model 91 into the first Mercury--is extending its habit with a Mercury Mountaineer that in another life is the Ford Explorer.

And as a rose is a rose, a ruse remains a ruse with the 1996 Lexus LX450 emerging from the sheet metal and heritage that for 40 years has belonged to the Toyota Land Cruiser.

Critics of badge swapping have been shriller than Pat Robertson on wife swapping. Particularly when the only changes are pure camouflage; a new logo, a reshaped grille, and wheels from Beverly Hills Motoring Accessories instead of Barney’s Discount Tire.

Yet there are points in favor: The sport utility rage has lasted longer than most, but could fall on its nose in the years it takes to create a new vehicle. Better to cash in on the craze now, say manufacturers, than spend 36 months burning billions of dollars only to find demand for sport utilities has gone away.

The critics’ counter: Mongrelizing a marque bilks owners of impressing fellow PTA members with their auto savvy in buying a distinctive vehicle. As in Range Rover or Jeep Grand Cherokee that are copied by no man. Also the AAV (all activity vehicle) advancing from Mercedes-Benz.

Back to the bean counters: The company says a survey shows that one in six Lexus households has a sport utility vehicle. But these families bought Jeep Grand Cherokees, Ford Explorers and Chevrolet Blazers--with an expensive sprinkling of Land and Range Rovers.

So why not pinch a bunch of Land Cruisers, tune the undersides, tweak the insides, then rebaptize the hybrid?

That way, owners get a Lexus sport utility to park alongside their Lexus sedan; the company improves profits and product variety; and you and I can get all our buying, maintenance, warranty service and repair work done at one famously polite, happy shop.

In fairness, Lexus at least had the wisdom and manners to wreak noticeable changes while offspringing LX450 from Land Cruiser. Most significantly, it recognized that a goodly percentage of Land Cruiser owners are die-hard crossers of field and stream, while few Lexus owners are dyed-in-the-glop off-roaders.

So Lexus has completely reengineered the LX450’s suspension, retuning its shock and spring rates and bringing the ride closer to boulevards and Nordstrom, but further from trails and Yosemite.

Body and frame mounts have been recushioned for quieter, milder travel more suited to Lexus owners. Also, the floor pan has been padded with acoustical dampers so there’s less road and suspension noises to interrupt Chopin on your seven-speaker, 195-watt sound system.

The engine is a 4.5-liter, in-line six developing 212 horsepower and a direct transplant from Land Cruiser. So is the four-speed automatic transmission and full-time four-wheel drive.

So why pay a base price of $47,500 for a Lexus LX450 when you can buy a near-identical Toyota Land Cruiser for $40,000?

A Lexus spokesman explains that a standard Land Cruiser isn’t equipped with such niceties as alloy wheels, third rear seat, leather upholstery, power seats and premium sound.

“But essentially 100% of Land Cruisers are sold with that optional equipment, and that typically equipped Cruiser sells for well over $46,000,” he said.

Leaving a balance of $1,500.

That, Lexus says, is the price of softening the suspension, restyling grille and headlamp assemblies to the chrome accents of Lexus sedans, adding faux wood to doors and console, wiring the interior for a phone and CD changer, and stretching the powertrain warranty to Lexus length--six years or 70,000 miles. With roadside assistance. With free scheduled maintenance for the first year.

The Lexus badge, reputation and country club appeal are thrown in.

No matter additions, subtractions or variances, the LX450 is quite the elegant cart horse. No surprise, for the Land Cruiser is a hugely capable mudder with an enormous discipleship whose fervor equals the passions of Jeepsters and Range Roverians.

We found the ride a little spongy on the black stuff, with too much flop in the steering for hard and serious direction changes. But the in-line six puts out enough power for lusty acceleration and stouthearted highway running. Even for a 2.5-ton sport utility.

With 11 inches of ground clearance, leaving the vehicle is rather like being a kid falling out of a booster chair at Denny’s. And a city-highway average of 14 mpg is certain to fuel environmental briefs for electric cars.

Soft on the highway, of course, translates to even more flopping and wallowing when daring into muddy hills on a damp day when the only off-roaders were horses and riders from the Santa Monica Trails and Park Assn.

Yet the lurching passage was tolerable, even safe, mischievous fun with the suspension rocked to its limits and the vehicle climbing obstacles close to its 33-degree approach maximum. And with low range engaged and driver ringing the engine-room telegraph for 275 pound-feet of torque, this vehicle could tug its way out of the La Brea tar pits.

One problem. This is a luxury vehicle and partying in the boonies is inherently mucky. Coming out of the mountains with carpets dripping clay, dog prints on all that soft leather, muddy smears down woodwork and 16-inch aluminum wheels reduced to 16-inch rounds of milk chocolate, the sense is of having trashed a suite at the Ritz-Carlton.

Worse, it’s a $15 cleanup at any carwash.

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1996 Lexus LX450

The Good: Well-executed, upper-class rebadging of the harder working Toyota Land Cruiser. Enough power to get in trouble on highway, out of trouble off-road. Priced only a smidge higher than similarly equipped Land Cruiser.

The Bad: Little tall for graceful exits. On-road ride could be tightened a notch.

The Ugly: Your gas bill.

1996 Lexus LX450

Cost

* Base, and as tested: $47,500. (Includes dual air bags, rear heaters, leather power-adjusted seats, fold flat jump seats in cargo compartment, automatic transmission, seven-speaker concert sound system, alloy wheels, remote entry and alarm with panic button, air conditioning, moon roof, simulated wood trim, full-time 4WD.)

Engine

* 4.5-liter, 24-valve, DOHC, in-line six developing 212 horsepower.

Type

* Seven passenger, four-door, front-engine, four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle.

Performance

* 0-60 mph, as tested, 11 seconds.

* Top speed, estimated, 110 mph.

* Fuel economy, EPA city and highway average, 13 and 15 mpg.

Curb Weight

* 4,971 pounds.