The Tokyo Auto Salon includes a side event called the Tokyo Outdoor Show, a magnet for products that love some fresh air rough-and-tumble. Last year, Lexus took a trio of vehicles under the “Overtrail” banner, that word a mix of “overland” and “trail.” There was another take on the hydrogen-powered side-by-side Lexus has had on show since 2021, as well as an RX Outdoor Concept based on the Lexus RX 450+ PHEV and a GX Outdoor Concept for more serious overlanding. This year, Lexus applied the Overtrail moniker directly to its Tokyo Auto Salon ride, the 2024 GX 550 Overtrail created with Japan 4×4 parts company JAOS. The automaker has worked with JAOS on race rigs built on the LX 600, competing in the Baja 1000 for at least the last two years.
Lexus talks up the GX 550 Overtrail as “aligning with the vision to contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society,” but we take it more as a sign the brand plans to continue dialogue with the overlanding crowd even with the new model being a more-premium off-roader and the new Toyota Land Cruiser on the way. Remember, the production GX already offers an Overtrail trim sitting on 33-inch tires that starts at $69,250, but it’s not as rugged as the show car — so this wouldn’t be an economical build. The aftermarket parts list for the Tokyo model includes an ABS plastic front bumper with integrated lights, aluminum skid plates, a roof rack, steel tube side steps, a lift kit with adjustable shocks, 18-inch wheels with 33-inch Toyo Open Country A/T III tires, plus fender flares and mud flaps to complete the look.
Back inside the proper salon, Lexus also did a number on its subcompact LBX, the luxury version of the Toyota Yaris and Yaris Cross platform. The LBX Morizo RR Concept indicates racing aspirations, Toyota having applied the racing pseudonym of chairman Akio Toyoda to other offerings like the GR Corolla Morizo Edition. Benefitting from some of the same upgrades Toyota applied to the GR Yaris, the LBX Morizo RR Concept gets the same 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque as the GR Yaris and GR Corolla from the Yaris’ turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder, output run through the new direct-shift eight-speed automatic transmission to a full-time AWD system. Hinting at the performance potential is kit like a revised front bumper, yellow accents on a blacked-out spindle grille, wider wheel arches over 19-inch wheels in 235/45 rubber, yellow brake calipers, and an ochre interior with yellow seatbelts.
