Since Mike Keckster was a kid, he loved the ultra-smooth design of the Lexus SC. And he’s not wrong. I’ve got a few years on him, and I was about 11 or 12 when the Lexus SC originally came out. At that time in the early 90s, there were a lot of significant & exciting design changes happening in the automotive world. Big poly bumpers, flushed-out window trim & tail-lights, fluid headlight assemblies (vs generic sealed beam), etc.
The 80s angles & wedges were all the sudden out, and swoopy curves (like those of the Lexus SC) were in.
It felt like we were really moving into something new. Think: 964 Porsche (big bumpers), FD RX-7s, Z32 300ZXs, Eclipses, Talons, MR2s, 240SXs, MK4 Supras, 3000GTs, Stealths… even Previas, Geo Storms, MX-3s, Celicas, and all the EG Civic Hatches/coupes/Del Sols. Granted I grew up on the Florida coast where all the ‘beautiful people’ drove luxury cars, but Lexus hit the luxury market hard & was shaking things up at this time… rattling the Euro luxury brands with a new style. When the Lexus SC came out, it looked like liquid metal! It was a design statement.
Cut to a quarter-century later, and Michael Keckster (also Florida raised) was baggin’ mini trucks.
He got the itch to bag a new vehicle, but not a truck this time. The requirements were: V8, coupe, not American.
The Lexus SC400 landed back at the top of his list…
Bucky at Super Star Customs did the rear quarter panels on this Lexus SC. But for the rest of the body… there’s a guy in Europe, known as Rare8888 that made his own (1-of-1) carbon fiber kit for his own Lexus coupe. Michael & this guy somehow hit it off, and the guy said he would make a 2nd kit for Mike. Obviously – it wouldn’t be cheap. Shipping alone from Europe was over $1500 bucks, but Michael haaaad to have it. So under the wrap, are custom carbon fiber bumpers, fenders, and skirts.
Custom infinity lights were made for the headlights & tails by Kyle Martinez.
They’re absolutely insane.
The vast majority of Lexus SCs came with a light tan interior…
And as you can imagine, it aged rather poorly in most real-world circumstances. Mike somehow had a big credit/coupon for Joanne Fabrics lol… so he bought a bunch of brown fur & rode around with a full Chewbacca-swapped interior for a good while. Eventually though, he scored this rare black factory SC interior & switched everything over.
Finally… the wheels… the icing on the cake.
Michael always wanted to do an OEM+ style wheel on his Lexus SC. He thought about trying to make a set of 3-piece wheels out of period-correct OEM Lexus wheels. But the largest diameter Lexus made at the time was a 16″, and that just wasn’t gonna work, even with stepping-up.
So Mike got with Tommy at InfiniteWerks to see about doing a custom set. Mike & Tommy played with the design details over Zoom until they landed on these: A custom InfiniteWerks wheelset, inspired by the original early-90s Lexus wheel designs. The wheels are 19×11 in front, and 19×12 in the rear… with 7” lips all around (center caps were made locally). The tires are 245/35 front & 255/35 rear.
Text by Wooley Photos by Ben Battles
