The exotic vehicle market is a long-running experiment testing how much bonkers capability you need to bake into a car or truck to convince drivers to blow hundreds of thousands—or even millions of dollars—on their transportation. To compete with record-setting Bugattis and Rimacs, Mercedes-AMG once built a truly infamous off-roader: the G63 AMG 6×6. With about 150 ever built, good luck getting your hands on the big Merc today. So would you instead consider a Lexus 6×6 boasting Toyota reliability? If you said yes, your next vehicle might be a minivan.

Do six wheels make an off-roader better?

The military has long built 6×6 trucks. But their purpose was just to carry heavy gear—such as artillery—far off-road. Reviewers of the G63 AMG 6×6 didn’t claim the Mercedes-Benz could conquer terrain a regular G-Wagon on portal axles couldn’t. But it could do it in style. Richard Hammond put the difference succinctly in his iconic Top Gear review:

“This extra axle, these two extra wheels, it changes the way the 6×6 travels over the ground. It undulates. It feels supple.” —Richard Hammond, Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6 review

Toyota has built some legendary off-roaders. The Land Cruiser is an absolute icon, while the 4Runner/Tacoma chassis continues to be many U.S. enthusiasts’ 4WD truck of choice. Maybe it was only a matter of time before Toyota slapped an extra axle and a Lexus badge onto a vehicle to take on the G63 AMG 6×6. It wasn’t especially shocking to see a three-axle concept vehicle in Toyota’s teaser for the upcoming Japan Mobility Show. But there was one surprising thing about this rig: It’s a Lexus “LS” minivan.

There’s a lot to unpack here. In 2024, Lexus debuted a redesigned LM luxury minivan in Shanghai. The “Luxury Mover” is laid out like a minivan but features the tall, iconic, hourglass Lexus grille. It’s aimed at owners who can afford a chauffeur, with the big 48-inch screen pointing at the second-row captain’s chairs. And it’s not completely out of left field—vans such as the Mercedes Sprinter, with extra headroom and comfortable sliding doors, are increasingly common limousine conversions. But this latest concept is out of left field.

The Lexus LS 6×6

First off, minivans are traditionally FWD or FWD-biased AWD. The Toyota Alphard/Lexus LM is no exception. So why two axles in the rear? Are we looking at a RWD minivan? Possibly.

The second intriguing tidbit is that this prototype is an LS-badged minivan. The LS is, of course, the performance sedan that launched Lexus. And it has historically been RWD or AWD with a RWD bias. So is this Lexus’s stab at a minivan on a completely new chassis? Could it even have some off-roading chops? Maybe. That’s because the Lexus LS minivan will almost certainly be fully electric.

The extra axle may just be engineered to help the limo version “undulate” over whatever potholes it encounters. But with the electric motors’ compact size, this could be a true tri-motor. Or it could even be an ultra high-end six-motor vehicle with real-time torque-vectoring similar to the top trim Rivians. Air suspension could even give it some ground clearance in a pinch.

This wouldn’t be Akio Toyoda’s first performance project that executives will just get chauffeured around in. I’m referring to the Gazoo Racing Nürburgring Meister Edition of the Century SUV, which is essentially a trim package.

More likely, that extra axle is just a way for the new LS to carry more passengers and heavy interiors, such as a fancy marble floor. All while it “undulates” over any potholes you may encounter. And to be blunt, that would make it the most honest exotic vehicle. Unlike the Mercedes 6×6, it doesn’t pretend you’ll be jumping dunes in Dubai on the daily. It’s just well-engineered for your chauffeured commute. See the first images of the new Lexus LS minivan in the video embedded below: