SPY PICS: Lexus LC Coupe

It won't be a fire-breathing, carbon-covered, V10-powered LFA replacement, but the upcoming Lexus LC is shaping up to offer sports car buyers something different, and potentially something very sexy.

Lexus has already confirmed its intention to build a belated replacement for its SC sports car based on the jaw-dropping LF-LC coupe concept and this spy photo taken by Daniel DeRosa and posted on SteeringNews.com, shows that the car's development is well advanced.

Judging from the photos, the design isn’t as radical as the LF-LC concept from 2012, but there's no mistaking the vehicle's sporty proportions. Because the camouflage is so dense, it's difficult to make out the front-end features, but it's fair to say the new coupe adheres to the brand's angular L-Finesse design language.

Short overhangs front and rear, a long bonnet – to house a belting new hybrid-boosted V8 perhaps – and a sizeable wheel/tyre package hiding massive disc brakes suggest that self-confessed rev-head and Lexus/Toyota supremo, Akio Toyoda, wants to take the fight to BMW and Mercedes.

It's not clear whether the new sports car will debut a brand-new engine but the 3.5-litre Lexus V6 is well overdue for a replacement, and a hybrid V6 powertrain would easily be able to meet stricter emissions regulations while smashing out at least 350kW.

That said, there's also speculation the standard LC 500 could pack a 350kW V8, while the subsequent LC F will add hybrid power to slam out more than 400kW.

Expected to offer 2+2 seating, the new LC coupe will enter production late in 2016 as part of a new product assault that will see a new model deployed every year until 2020… Which begs the question, what other models are coming?

Apart from the long-awaited GS F,new LS limousine and a convertible version of the RC Coupe, there's talk of a compact SUV to slot in underneath the mid-size NX, as proposed by the LF-SA concept, and the company is understood to be working on a small sedan to rival the Audi A3 sedan, based on the next Lexus CT hatch.