Toyota Lexus LC500 - Stephen Hladek

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2020 Toyota Lexus LC500 

Stephen Hladek

Instagram: @_daledallas

Photographer: Zack Hendershot

Instagram: @itwitchdaily 

I'm from Northern California originally and eventually made my way to Florida for graduate school about a decade ago. I work as an Anesthesiologist Assistant. I keep patients safe, comfortable, and alive during surgery. My other hobbies include sports, travelling, and hanging out with my son.

My father was always working on cars when I was growing up and I think watching him gave me the idea later to start taking things apart. He had multiple Corvettes, Datsuns, Mazdas, and MBs when he was my age, so perhaps it's in our blood. We are both artistic by nature and I think that drive to create is a big reason why I like to build cars. 

I am not a fan of any one manufacturer, per se. I needed a daily driver, first and foremost, but I wanted a two-door coupe. It needed to be reliable long term, easy to maintain, comfortable, relatively powerful, and fit a car seat in the back! I wrote out literally every car on the market and it was a tie between a ZL1 1LE and this Lexus. You really cannot beat the styling of these LC500s, both inside and out. They're also rare, and if you're going to spend that amount of money, I think you should stand out. The reliability of the Lexus V8 is legendary. In addition, a 5.0 in a Japanese sports car these days (and really in anything) is a rare breed, so it had some novelty.  

I like building cars that are unique. I saw a navy blue bagged LC500 years ago online and thought it would be insane to add my style in that same fashion. I have always liked the LC but I really just thought it would look awesome slammed. 

Overall, this is the best car I have owned. Factoring everything in, it's easy to drive, cruises effortlessly on the highway, is comfortable, very nice inside, and extremely unique. It's a satisfying feeling when enthusiasts come up, and I mean people that really know cars, and say "wow, I've never seen anything like this. I love it." It gets a lot of attention and is not the kind that's constantly asking for a street race. And I enjoy that. 

I have never been very active in the car scene. Modding cars have always been something I did for myself and not to really interact with others. Not to say I haven't met some amazing people and friends along the way. It allowed me to network beyond my work friends indefinitely.  Recently, I have started to attend shows with the goal of introducing the scene to my son. If I can gain so much satisfaction from this hobby, I'd like to do all I can to show him that. 

My R35 was built very similarly, and I always felt a little empty without the car after it was hit and totalled.  Driving a piece of artwork and a project like this fulfils me in ways that few things do. 

What makes this car unique is its low production number coupled with the air suspension and stance of the wheel/tire set-up. Nobody has used aggressive fitment with the body resting on the tires. It gives the car a more fat and aggressive stance than the cambered cars resting on a frame. I have to daily this car too, so keeping the camber to a minimum was a goal. The rain here in Florida can be unpredictable and heavy. The wheels are also different. I wanted blades on this car as opposed to the mesh or spoke style everyone else has done. 

What do you think?

Please leave your comments in the comments section at the bottom of the page

Spec List

• Airlift 3P with polished dual Viair compressors
• Airrunner struts
• Carbon Addict full carbon body kit
• Carbon Addict carbon overlays
• Rotiform 21 inch 3 piece TMBs

Danny at Slammered Inc in Pompano Beach did the air setup and struts. He's a great guy to do business with, very professional, honest and everything gets done timely. I had picked out an offset and size for the wheels and we discussed a plan. Unfortunately, the tires were a little too meaty and we had to size them down considerably with trial and error. It was great having someone in contact consistently. Shout out to Mrs Slammered as well.

I installed all the rest of the kit myself. Toru from Carbon Addict graciously helped me with the de-chroming of the car with carbon fibre. 

Future Plans

Future endeavours for the car include open exhaust and potentially building a supercharger kit.  I haven't decided if I want to replace the stock tips yet.  And I think the power level is just fine but I can see myself getting bored with it in the future. I may do underglow or a different spoiler, too.

Tip

There really isn't much about these cars other than being rare. I tried to buy one new from Lexus in late 2021 and was told they would not accept a down payment for a custom vehicle because "the factory quit making them several months ago."  Just be prepared to look in other states for a good deal because there aren't many cars available for sale.  

Dream Car

My dream would be to get another R35. I think a garage full of modern Japanese classics would be fun. 

Please leave your comments in the comments section at the bottom of the page

'The future is bright as long as we can still Smell the Fumes'

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