YOU’D SMILE TOO
Natasha Adams’ 1990 Lexus LS 400
STORY | Stein Broeder
PHOTOGRAPHY | Marc Shap
The joy that her 1990 Lexus LS 400 brings her is palpable. That’s because she has built something unique: a true automotive mashup, a luxury sedan meets an off-road machine in a way that wasn’t intended. That’s what makes the car so special. Her determination to make the Lexus her own manifested itself in something that feels familiar yet is entirely new, like a new song that you know you’ve never heard before, but it feels like life wouldn’t be the same without it.
Adams is an entrepreneur, enthusiast, and a builder. She has organically built a large social media following by starting an all-girls off-roading group called Hardline Ladies. In addition to her Lexus, she also has a 1974 Chevy Nova SS and a 1991 Jeep Comanche. By trade, she is a car technician at a small two-person shop in Southern California that specializes in cars from the 1930s to the 1960s. Not your typical shop. Her love of cars and all things that “go” started early.
An innate desire to drive everything.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I loved playing with little cars. I loved playing with planes and trains. I loved all things with wheels, really. And then when I got older and learned how to drive, it was like, freedom,” says Adams.
And then she learned about off-roading. As she ventured further and further off-road, it became necessary to learn how to fix her car when no one else was around. This started a natural progression to installing the modifications needed to help her go even farther and really push the limits.
The story of the Lexus LS 400 began in 1983, when Toyota set about to compete in the luxury car market. This first model took over five years to build with a total cost of over $1 billion. The story of Adams’s Lexus starts with a desire to do something really different—but hers only cost around $600. That’s what she paid her cousin for the car.
The LS 400 is the very first big-body luxury car Toyota ever made, and most people who modify the car end up lowering it. Naturally, she decided to lift it. And as things go with car modifications, things snowballed from there. The pandemic also aided in the build, since she was stuck at home and had nothing but time on her hands. The Lexus sits on Wrangler YJ wheels (Lexus and Jeep share a bolt pattern), which she wrapped in 31-inch BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2s. She ended up getting a sponsorship from Flatout Suspension, which built her fully custom rally-spec coilovers.
“But once you strengthen one thing, you expose weak points, so the work continued and included a trophy-truck-styled front skid plate and belly plate that extends from the radiator to behind the transmission,” because, as Adams puts it, “It’s the desert and I’m going fast.”
Additional off-road modifications include tubular lower control arms and a notched frame for full adjustability of said arms, boxed-and-plated shock mounts, a fully custom tubular front bumper, antigravity battery, a welded differential, and more. The interior is color-coordinated and custom built and includes an OMP Racing off-road steering wheel with quick disconnect, Hunsaker offroad seats, Pro Armor harnesses, and a fully custom half-cage.
The exterior features colorful Ivan Stewart livery and highlights the car’s Toyota origins. By design, the engine is still fully stock. Adams swears by OEM parts and service from Lexus. The engine has over 230,000 miles on it, runs like new, and is the one thing Adams doesn’t thrash—hence the skid plate. And the driving experience? It performs just as well on the street as it does off road. That’s why it’s also a daily driver. It is a Lexus after all.
“Oh, it’s smooth. Like butter,” says Adams with a huge smile.
Getting started in the male dominated sport of off-roading wasn’t as smooth, however. After a few unpleasant experiences, she decided to take matters into her own hands and formed Hardline Ladies. She wanted to share her learnings with other like-minded women, from how to fi x a suspension in the wilderness to which modifications make the most sense. The group heads out together every two months, sometimes in the desert, sometimes in the forest, and sometimes camping out overnight.
“It’s just a group of girls having fun, learning together, and supporting each other,” Adams said.
Having fun and helping others: that’s what Adams does. The community she is building enables others to learn and grow, just like she has on the journey building out her Lexus.
Maybe that’s why she can’t stop smiling
