Automakers show different ways of appreciation to their loyal customers. Some treat them to special events. Some give them discounts on their purchases. Some do a combination of both. Then there’s Lexus, which not only treated one of its loyal customers with a car of his own, but an actual one-of-one creation built and developed specifically for him. The car in question is a Lexus LS 600h, although it’s more formally known as the Lexus LS 600h L Centenary Celebration Edition. It was built for Barry High OBE, who had just celebrated his 100th birthday and whose landmark centenary is the official inspiration behind the one-of-a-kind Lexus LS 600h L.
Apparently, the celebrant is one of Lexus’ most loyal customers, a distinction he earned for his loyalty to the Toyota-owned Japanese luxury brand. In the last 16 years alone, the man has reportedly bought as many as 25 Lexus models from the Lexus Cheltenham dealership alone. There’s no word on how many Lexus models he’s owned over the course of his life, but the fact that he’s been purchasing from the same brand for years was all the reason Lexus needed to honor him with his very own one-off LS 600h L that’s about as exclusive as Lexus model is going to get. The car itself didn’t come cheap as the celebrant reportedly spent close to £100,000 for it. That converts to about $128,000, which is right around the price of the standard model.
A pretty cool story for a pretty cool man
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While it would have been cooler if Lexus had spotted the bill entirely and gave the car to Mr. High for free, asking next to nothing for all the one-off treatments to the model is a good alternative to show appreciation to a man who has done the same for the brand for a quarter of his life.
The one-of-a-kind Lexus LS 600h L Centenary Celebration Edition is based on the previous generation of the LS 600h L, but even then, the number of exclusive features it has makes it that much more desirable than a stock version of the current-generation model. For instance, the one-off limousine comes with bespoke pin-striping, chrome badges, and special “100” script on the wings. Lexus also asked the celebrant to pick the exterior and interior colors of his personalized ride, of which he chose metallic silver on the outside and cream leather inside.
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No performance upgrades were given to the car, but that shouldn’t matter since its new owner is unlikely to be looking for any speed thrills with his new ride. Besides, the man already has a chauffeur that drives him about wherever he goes. Still, the LS 600h L Centenary Celebration Edition is no slouch as it features a hybrid powertrain made up of a 5.0-liter V-8 engine that combines with an electric motor to produce a total output of 445 horsepower, allowing it to sprint from 0 to 62 mph in just 6.3 seconds.
All told, Lexus did do right by its loyal customer by honoring him for his unwavering loyalty to the brand. Dean Cordell, the senior sales executive at Cheltenham Lexus, even told Gloucestershire Live that the company “wanted to do this for him” and it was “made into something special for him.”