It wasn’t until 1998 that Lexus had its first rear-wheel drive sedan to take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and BMW 3-Series.
The first generation Lexus IS was sold in Japan as the Toyota Altezza, which exclusively featured highly strung 4-cylinder engines instead of the IS’ inline 6-cylinder motor. The Altezza/IS popularised, for a while, clear tail-lights with chrome surrounds.
