By Leftlane Staff
Tuesday, Dec 6th, 2005 @ 10:30 am

The intrepid Hans G. Lehmann has caught a highly disguised prototype for the Lexus IS 500 Coupe in testing. The luxury division of Toyota first debuted its new Lexus IS compact sedan at the Geneva Motor Show, but the story doesn’t end there. Lexus is said to be developing a coupe version of the IS designed to rival the BMW M3 and Mercedes CLK 55. The IS 500 is expected to deliver around 300 horsepower via a 4.3 liter V8, according to the report. It’s unclear why it would receive a ’500′ designation, since Lexus naming is based on engine size. However, automakers are known to stray slightly from convention, as is the case with the 3.0-liter BMW 325i. (Show right is a computer rendering, also by Lehmann). While a 300 horsepower V8 could successfully challenge a current BMW M3 or AMG CLK, the next iterations of these cars — the V8 BMW M3 and CLK 63 AMG — will offer significantly more grunt. The new M3 is expected to cost a fair bit more than the current E46 M3, so it will be interesting to see how Lexus prices this new hotrod IS coupe. Lexus is also rumored to be planning an IS convertible, which will debut in concept form at the 2006 Detroit Motor Show.

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