2012 Lexus GS Spied

2012 Lexus GS Spied at the Nurburgring

The 2012 Lexus GS has been spied testing at the Nurburgring ahead of a likely debut at Pebble Beach in August.

It’s not exactly a huge surprise that there’s a 2012 Lexus GS pounding around the Nurburgring in disguise, or that we managed to grab spy photos.

Well, there is perhaps the question of ‘Why test a saloon car at the Nurburgring at all?’, but that’s another argument. But after the Lexus LF-Gh got teased ahead of, and then revealed at, the New York Motor Show in the Spring, it was clear Lexus were planning to revamp the GS.

We did get a but sidetracked with the GS in Concept form, because when Lexus were teasing it ahead of NY they told us that it was “…a redefinition of the luxury grand tourer, with a “clean sheet of paper” approach to design”, which sounded almost exciting.

It sounded like Lexus had plans to make a really interesting coupe version of the GS – a proper ‘Hybrid GT’ we hoped – that would make us think again about our antipathy for hybrids.

The Lexus GS is our favourite Lexus because it uses its hybrid powertrain to demolish roads rather than polish the green halos of the pretentiously pious, so a swoopy coupe GS with more power and more equipment sounded enticing. But it was all a complete tease.

What Lexus were planning was the 2012 GS and, as far as really matters, what we got at New York was a Lexus GS with a new grill and some nips and tucks, rather than either an appealing coupe or a comprehensive 2012 GS redesign.

And what we have in the spy photo of the GS at the Nurburgring appears to be almost exactly the same as Lexus presented in the LF-Gh at New York, from the squarer headlights with LEDs to the shouty grill. All that’s changed is a bit of almost pointless padded camouflage.

If you want to know just what the 2012 Lexus GS will look like you can wait until its likely reveal at Pebble Beach next month and a likely release date in early 2012.

Or look at the Lexus LF-Gh Concept photos below. You won’t be far off.