Lexus

This GX 460 build is all about overlanding luxury

One of the original purposes of the SUV was to explore the great outdoors. These days however, there's more of them prowling city streets than hitting the trails. With the advent of the crossover, some even say that these are now more like wagons on tall tires than off-roaders.

But Lexus brings back that spirit of adventure with their new concept. Dubbed the GX Overland, it's been beefed up for off-road use and is loaded with camping necessities to go along with it. We don't have doubts about the GX 460's off-roading capabilities. After all, it is based on the venerable Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.

With the intent of going where few have gone before, Lexus jacked up the ride height by a significant amount. It also gains underchassis protection in the form of skidplates, and it even has a pair of rock sliders by the door sills in case the going gets really tough.

Other mods? It rides on a beefier set of all-terrain tires and special alloys. This overlanding GX also has a steel bumper bar by its front apron instead of a full steel bumper. 

Why? That Lexus spindle grill won't make that possible. At the back, it has a spare tire mount that swings out if the tailgate needs to be opened, and there's also a winch for good measure. As for that huge box on the roof, we'll get to that in a bit.

That contraption you see attached to the roof packs a a quick deploying rooftop tent with bed, a large awning, and a shower cube. That tent pops upwards and has enough room for two. Also, the awning deploys on the driver's side and the rear for that extra bit of shade when you're camped out in the sun. Inside, you (or your fellow campers) can watch movies from the seat-mounted screens if the need for catching up to your favorite show arises...if you have good signal, that is.

Under the hood, it's unchanged. It's still the same 4.6-liter V8 engine that's good for 301 PS and 446 Nm of torque. It has permanent four-wheel drive and it still sticks to a tried and tested six-speed automatic transmission.

Lexus isn't mentioning plans to put the GX Overland into production any time soon. Of course, you can always start building your own interpretation of this beefed-up off-roader, provided you have Php 5,968,000 for a stock GX 460 that is.

by Anton Andres