Originally Posted by MSN Autos

In certain parts of Los Angeles, unless you're behind the wheel of a really exclusive ride, your car won't warrant a second look. So when I pulled into the parking lot of a trendy shopping center in moneyed Malibu in a preproduction 2008 Lexus LS 600h L hybrid, I wasn't surprised that the big and bold Lex got lots of looks.
But I was amazed by the number of people—and not necessarily car people—that approached me to ask about the Lexus during a long weekend of test driving it. "Is that the new hybrid?" A woman driving an expensive European convertible wanted to know, for example, when I stopped in Malibu for an afternoon cup of coffee.

While I lived in L.A. long enough to know that image is everything, and the long wheelbase, $100,000-plus LS 600h L certainly projects enough exclusivity and eco-chic style to impress even jaded Angelenos, I found that in this case beauty is much more than skin deep. It's really what's under the hood and inside the LS 600h L that makes it stand out.