To what extent does a paint job become more important than the car itself? It’s a fascinating question if you frame it the right way and, in the case of the Lexus LC Structural Blue Edition, the paint job is the defining feature. Now, we’ve seen some automakers make bold claims about the lengths they go to in the name of exclusivity, but what Lexus went through to successfully create what it calls the “Structural Blue” paint finish is over and above everything we’ve seen in the industry in quite some time.

The patience and commitment that took place in Lexus to really perfect this specific shade of blue is why a lot of people are talking about it more than the actual special edition car itself. There’s a good reason for that because the process involved in creating this shade not only takes a ridiculous amount of time but also involves processes and exact specification requirements that are hard to believe. But hey, the price of all that research and development is something that no other automaker can boast. Lexus’ Structural Blue paint finish, which first made headlines at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, is now a real thing, and it’s arrived in the form of a special edition Lexus LC that fittingly bears its name.

Continue after the jump to read more about the Lexus LC Structural Blue Edition

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What makes the Lexus LC Structural Blue Edition special?

The unique paint color of the Lexus LC Structural Blue Edition stands head and shoulders above every other feature the special edition coupe has. That shouldn’t be a surprise considering how long it took Lexus to successfully create the specific shade of blue it was going for. Just in case it’s not clear, the Japanese automaker took 15 years to finish the project of creating this exact hue. In all that time, it even had help from their Tec Centers in both the USA and Japan, not to mention from VIAVI Solutions Inc.

So, why exactly is the Structural Blue paint finish special? For starters, Lexus says it took inspiration for the color from a most unusual source: the shimmering wings of a Morpho butterfly, a species of butterfly that’s famous for its metallic-looking colors.

For its part, the Structural Blue paint finish features a special kind of pigment that has no less than 40 separate layers, including a 15-micrometer layer between the primer and clear coats. The exact specifications are incredible, as are the components that help make it unique in the eyes of everyone. Consider this: the Structural Blue paint also has nanostructures in the paint that help generate iridescence, a unique characteristic that creates the impression of the blue paint finish changing shades depending on the amount of light it’s subjected to. All told, the Structural Blue paint finish is capable of reflecting 100 percent of the light that comes in contact with it, a staggering number, given the fact that most conventional pigment paints can only reflect less than 50 percent of incoming light.

The characteristics of the Structural Blue paint finish is impressive enough in its own right. But, it’s far from being its only notable element. The process involved in actually creating the color is just as daunting. Lexus says that all in all, it takes eight months to simply create the paint, and in that span, it includes 12 production steps and more than 20 quality inspections, with 300 billion nano-structure pigment flakes applied to every special LC. Once the paint is created, Lexus still can’t expedite the production process because of the sophistication of it all. In fact, in a given day, the Japanese automaker can only create two models of the LC Structural Blue Edition.

Speaking of the actual car, it’s important to mention the other features of the LC Structural Blue Edition since Lexus isn’t selling the paint by itself; it’s selling a car dressed up in that specific paint. And so, the special edition coupe also features carbon fiber scuff plates and a set of 21-inch forged allow wheels in the exterior. Likewise, the interior of the coupe is dominated by what the automaker describes as a Breezy Blue color combination made up of fine leather upholstery and contrasting mid-blue semi-aniline leather. Orange trim was also thrown in to get a nice break in color while on the tech side, the special edition LC gets as standard notable features like Premium Navigation, Climate Concierge, Lexus Safety System+, and a Pioneer sound system.

The Lexus LC Structural Blue Edition is already available now, though it’s not clear if it’s going to be made available in the US market. Lexus spokesperson Nancy Hubbell did tell Motor1 that the company is looking into that possibility, but offered little in the way of confirming anything. “We don’t have any announcements at this time," she said.

In the meantime, the special edition sports coupe is scheduled to make its public debut at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show.

References

Lexus LC

Read our full reading on the 2018 Lexus LC 500.

Read our full reading on the 2018 Lexus LC 500h.

Read more 2017 Tokyo Motor Show news.