THERE IS SOMETHING deliciously wrong about this metal megalith. Like some giant Platanna it dwarfs a Q7 on the road, renewing the driver’s faith in the sanctity of absolute power – tinpot or not. It reviles every green urging out there with its enormous 2.7-tonne mass, its equally decadent 5.7-litre, that’s right, 5.7-litre V8 petrol engine, and its sheer carbon-spewing bulk.

It’s made explicitly for showing off, promenading wealth or power, or both, and here the Lexus LX570 rules with certainty. It’s Japan’s answer to the Range Rover 5.5-litre Supercharged and Merc’s GL500, with a shape and platform in essence that of the Land Cruiser 200 Series. Lexus finessing, if that’s the word, has been kept to the minimum. In this case, lashings of chrome outside and an interior designed to appeal to the more glitzy, avowedly vulgar end of the moneyed spectrum. Which probably means it’s pitched perfect. Shiny plastic detailing pinched from Yaris and upwards, then glossed with metallic spray, simply underlines the absence of taste. Mixed metaphor is everywhere, from the gigantic, bluff dash face encasing a superb Mark Levinson sound system to the large touchscreen angled for rear passengers rather than the driver, these in turn contrasted with an instrument binnacle made fussy by analogue-like dials that could have Bentley provenance. A freeway-wide centre pod boasts a small fridge under the sizeable armrest to complete the throne-like front row, but the cubby is tiny and storage places notable by their absence. Still, the switchgear mostly makes sense and is easy to operate. Heading backward, the rear seats, leather-clad, electrically adjustable for reach and replete with knee-room, are compromised by a raised floor that ensures passengers might not be comfortable for too long. A third row raised and lowered electrically provides enough space for two younger would-be megalomaniacs, and behind, space aplenty for luggage is accessed by a large, solidly appointed split tailgate. A platform for making speeches to the minions or surveying the lands from high places? If the ultimate luxury is space, the Lexus has it in fields-full. Pity not all of it as well packaged as the best.