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The 1999 Lexus RX300.

The next breed of sport-utility vehicles, or at least wannabes.

The RX300 is what some call a crossover, others a hybrid, which simply means it began life as a car and became a sport-ute/multipurpose vehicle with the addition of four-wheel-drive and a large cabin and cargo hold.

In the case of the RX300, Lexus started with the Toyota Camry blueprint and added a sport-ute-like shell.

The vehicle looks like a cross between a station wagon and a sport-ute that combines the best of each–the SUV’s four-wheel-drive, and, therefore, off-road or poor-weather ability to keep moving, and the station wagon’s carlike ride and handling.

It’s a true multipurpose vehicle that holds four adults and lots of luggage or groceries and gets the fuel economy of a wagon or sedan, not that of a gas-gulping sport-utility.

We (Cars, Dec. 11) spent some time with the RX300 in a Highland Park showroom. Lexus had one on display for potential customers to fiddle with and fondle as long as they didn’t turn the key and try to drive it.

What we found then, that holds true after driving one is that:

The RX300 looks more wagonish than sport-utish, considerably more so than the Mercedes-Benz ML320. And for those who beg a comparison between the RX300 and ML320, the RX300 is built on a 103-inch wheelbase versus 111 inches on the ML320 and is 0.5 inch shorter overall at 180 inches. Mercedes will add a third seat for ’99; RX300 has no room for one.

The RX300 has plastic bumpers and lower-body cladding to help resist rust as well as parking-lot dings from those who never learned how to open a car door. It also has mud flaps to keep goop off the plastic coating on the body panels.

The RX300 roof line is about five inches shorter than that of the ML320 and is easily garageable. It’s also about an inch narrower than the ML320. Though only an inch, cabin room feels more confined than in the wider Mercedes but the interior feels as spacious as that in most sedans or station wagons. The RX300 also is an inch closer to the ground than ML320, so you have off-road clearance, though anyone going off-road in a $38,000 machine better be in search of the proverbial pot of gold to justify travel over rocks, brush and broken trees. Low step-in means easy entry and exit.

The gearshift lever is low in the center of the dash, a novel location that frees the floor for a 3-in-1 center console housing a purse-holder tray, a slide-out stowage compartment above it and a slide-out stowage compartment with two cupholders above that. The console top has a set of popup cupholders for the rear seat.

In the top center of the dash, a screen provides digital displays of such things as time, temperature, average fuel-economy and heat/air conditioning settings. Eventually, the space may house an onboard navig ation system. There is so much information on the screen it is a chore to read and decipher it all.

The seats are wide, supportive and comfortable. Cloth is standard, leather with heat and memory optional. Power sunroof, in-dash CD player and programmable garage-door opener are optional, too.

One word of warning on the power sunroof. When six inches of snow are on the roof, don’t–repeat, don’t–open the sunroof to cool the cabin. We refuse to say who did such a thing and found himself (or maybe herself) buried in snow all the way down to his (or maybe her) mustache.

And when the sunroof is open, a metal lip pops up, supposedly to keep breeze from blowing in the cabin. But the lip causes way too much wind noise. Now that we’ve been able to turn on the key and attack the roads we found that the one and only engine, a 3-liter, 220-horsepower, 24-valve V-6 borrowed from Camry, is lively enough to step quickly into traffic. And it’s Toyota quiet,t o.

Teamed with 4-speed automatic, the RX300 is rated at 19 m.p.g. city/22 m.p.g. highway. That compares with 17/21 from the 3.2-liter, 215-h.p. V-6 in the ML320; a larger, more powerful, less fuel-efficient 4.3-liter V-8 is coming this fall in what will be called the ML430. The RX300’s 3-liter V-6 not only tops the ML’s V-6, it also is considerably better than all those 13- to 16-m.p.g. city and 16- to 19-m.p.g. highway ratings on the 4WD sport-utilities that are built on truck platforms and ride and handle like trucks.

The RX300 comes in front-wheel-drive or full-time all-wheel-drive. We tested the full-time all-wheel-drive machine for a week and had it on the day of the most recent snowstorm. Excellent foul-weather road ability without slipping and sliding and the ability to plow through those mini-hills of snow between lanes without being pushed to the side.

If you opt for the FWD version, you can get traction control for $300. Small price to pay for the ability to maintain contact with the pavement.

We had one gripe with the machine on dry pavement, however. When taking a corner sharply, the front end tended to dip. Turn hard to the right and the left front would dip, turn hard left and the right front would dip. Ideally, when making a hard turn, you want the front end to stay level.

Now that we’ve driven the RX300, we can’t help but feel it has a split personality. It looks like a cross between wagon and SUV on the outside, but in the cabin you feel as if you are driving a mini-van.

The windshield is large and offers a panoramic view–like a mini-van. Ride and handling are smooth and carlike–like a mini-van. It has room for four to five adults or two adults and three or four kids–like a mini-van. It holds all those people plus all their gear–like a mini-van.

Lexus officials had told us they expect women to favor the RX300 (the reason for the purse tray) and men to want the more rugged LX470 true sport-ute. After spending several days in both, we would agree. The RX300 seems more like a more stylish, far better equipped replacement for the mini-van than a four-wheel-drive wagon disguised as a sport-ute.

It doesn’t look like a Mom Mobile–like a Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager, Ford Windstar or Chevrolet Venture–but it feels like one. We recently drove a Mercury Villager mini-van, and the RX300 behaved much the same. Very civilized, very tame. Multipurpose seems a better label than sport-utility.

This is the type of vehicle Cadillac and Buick plan to bring out, a four-wheeler with more style and fuel economy than an SUV, that can go off-road, but doesn’t have to visit the pump every other day.

Wagons became stodgy and were replaced by mini-vans, which became stodgy and were replaced by sport-utilities, which aren’t stodgy but spend far too much time refueling.

Now it’s time for hybrids to be an alternative to the sport-ute for those who want better mileage with insurance of four-wheel or all-wheel drive.

Stodgy, no. But this isn’t your go-anywhere, do-anything machine. It’s not meant to be. It’s your go-anywhere-in-style-without-bringing-the-gasoline-credit-card-along type vehicle. When you buy an SUV, you add brush guards and a skid plate, with the RX300 you purchase a chamois.

This is a comfortable, pleasant-handling, smooth-riding, convenience-laden alternative. A station wagon with style, a mini-van with all-wheel-drive.

Many have asked how it compares with the Mercedes ML320. The two are different animals. The RX300 is more carlike. If the highway is closed, you pull around the barricade and keep driving in the Mercedes; you follow the detour signs in the RX300.

The FWD RX300 starts at $31,550, the full-time all-wheel-drive version at $32,950.

Standard equipment includes air conditioning, power seats/windows/locks, rear seats that slide forward or fol down for added storage, 16-inch all-season tires, spring-held hood, dual air bags, front seat-mounted side air bags and four-wheel disc brakes with anti-lock.

Options aren’t cheap–$1,860 for a premium package whose main feature is leather seats, $1,050 for an in-dash CD player, $1,000 for a power sunroof/ portable shower and $112 for floor mats. A $112 charge for floor mats on a $33,000 machine? Shame on Lexus.

>> 1999 Lexus RX300 © 1998 Chicago Tribune Wheelbase: 103.1 inches Length: 180.1 inches Engine: 3-liter, 220-h.p., 24-valve V-6 Transmission: 4-speed automatic EPA mileage: 19 m.p.g. city/22 m.p.g. highway Base price: $32,950 Price as tested: $37,392. Includes $1,860 for premium package with leather seats, driver’s memory seat, electrochromic inside/outside mirrors, programmable garage-door opener and air-filtration system; $1,050 for in-dash compact-disc player with auto changer; $1,000 for power tilt and slide glass sunroof; $420 for heated heats; and $112 for floor mats. Add $495 for freight. Pluses: Much different character than rival Mercedes ML320. What more SUVs soon will be, combination sport-ute/station wagon with all-wheel-drive, four-wheel ABS and ample interior room for five and their luggage with the ride and handling–as well as the fuel economy–of a sedan. Minuses: Stiff prices on options, and the gall to charge $112 for floor mats in an almost $38,000 luxury vehicle. In sharp cornering front end tends to dip or dive. >>