Words by Wooley Photography by Jean-Christophe Pepino
It’s funny. This VIP Toyota Soarer / Lexus SC430 was printed in S3 a few years back. And at the time, I personally wasn’t that into it. The VIP thing is just not my style. But I realize, that there are a lot of people out there who DO like it… a lot. So hey – we ran it for them, ya know? And you don’t necessarily have to be a VIP fanatic in order to appreciate the detail & quality of this build. I mean, that’s what real car culture is all about, right? We immerse ourselves in it… ALL of it. And we take bits & pieces of things that inspire us & leave an impression on us. We end up filtering it, sorting it, translating it… and it eventually becomes a part of our repetour in some way. Anyway – I glad we ran this Soarer (Lexus SC430) back then, because looking at it now… it really is a beautiful car.
Takamasa Kumagai from KSB Japan (K’s Body) chose a Toyota Soarer because he loves VIP styling, but wanted something a little different from the normal VIP chassis. Something with 2 doors instead of 4… and a roof that was optional. When the first Rocket Bunny 86’s started hitting the scene, Takamasa loved the look, and he actually bought the kit to try and adapt to his Soarer. But it proved to be more of an undertaking than it was worth, so he created a mold from scratch – using a more mild arch in the front, in order to really accentuate the rears. The widebody kit you see here is 1-of-1… but Takamasa kept the mold, and would happily produce more, should there be a demand. In fact, he converted his JDM Soarer to the US Lexus SC430 front end, just to try and grab more global attraction.
Z40 Toyota Soarer – 4.3 V8 (3UZ-FE VVTi)
Owned & built by Takamasa Kumagai form KSB Japan (K’s Body)
USDM Lexus SC430 converted headlights, tail lights, & front grill
Modified V-Vision front bumper, rear bumper, & side skirts
One-off overfenders
One-off rear spoiler
Repainted original gold pearl
Custom exhaust by K’s Body
Bold World cup kit
Work Zistance W10M 19×9.5 -13 front 19×10.5 -18 rear (K’s custom painted)
*This wheel is for the Japanese market only. It’s similar to the VS-XX but a center of the disk is deeper (straight walls instead of shallow pit) and it uses step rim.
Endless 6-piston big brake kit
