Daring Rescue: Lexus GX Gets Helped Off Scary Trail
Even on video, the grade this Lexus LX was stuck on looked super scary. In person, it must have been totally nuts.
The Lexus GX might not be as capable as its Land Cruiser-based sibling, the LX, but even in stock trim, it’s hardly a soft roader. These are still capable machines, and the one in this video from Matt’s Off Road Recovery looks to have been built for the trail. Of course, given name of the account that posted the clip? It’s save to say that things didn’t go so well for the driver of this luxury SUV, and the rig wound up stuck on a 70-percent grade of loose rock. Seriously, this situation looks like a metaphor for sketchy.
Truth be told, I prefer paved tracks to rocky trails, but thanks to the nature of my job, I’ve done my share of off roading. And one thing I can say is that hills never look as steep on video as they are in person. The best perspective here is likely from the drone shot, though I can’t imagine even that picture does it justice. At the beginning of the video, Matt says, “we’ve been here before on another job that was terrifying — and I expect this one to be just as terrifying.” Fortunately, he still sounds nice and frosty.
For the record, Matt’s rescue rig looks amazing. While the running gear has obviously been swapped for beefy off-road bits, the body was sourced from a Chevy Corvair wagon, which is the rarest from the General’s family of 1960s rear-engine models. It was only produced from the 1961 to 1962, and even at old-school domestic car shows, it’s a bit of a rarity — enough so that I’ve never seen one in the flesh. And as serious as it looks, getting the Lexus unstuck proved to be no easy feat.
Even the Corvair wagon struggles for grip at some points, though with some careful winching and plenty of team work, the Lexus gets to the top of the hill — which is a relatively flat 20 degrees. After that, it’s all about getting back down a super-steep hill without sliding off the ledge. Because while it might give your rig the best zero-to-60 time ever, it’s not the kind of thing you want to be on board for. While there — somewhat strangely — aren’t any prices for towing services on Matt’s official site, you can bet this wasn’t a cheap operation. Though something tells me the Lexus driver was happy to pay…
Photos: YouTube
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