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Lexus IS300 SportCross.

The look of things that were, yet the look of things to come.

Lexus calls its newest addition to the luxury-car lineup a 4+1 machine with a “new silhouette” that places “unique design ahead of maximum utility.”

A lot of high-falutin verbiage to avoid calling SportCross what it is, a station wagon. What 4+1 means is that you get four doors and a hatchlid. Ford for years has tried to get consumers to think of wagons as sedans by calling them five-door machines. Since the arrival of the minivan, station wagons have taken on a negative connotation, so if the automakers feel they must play word games, so be it.

But “unique design” and “new silhouette?”

For goodness sakes, it’s a wagon.

What’s interesting, however, is Lexus’ boast about design taking priority over maximum utility. Like saying your vehicle is a styling knockout, only it can’t climb hills.

What Lexus means is that the IS300 is a small rear-wheel-drive wagon that will hold four people and their possessions, though the two designated to steerage might make frequent requests to pause at the roadside rest stops to renew circulation in their legs.

For ’01 Lexus introduced the IS300 sports sedan. For ’02, it adds a pair of new stablemates, an IS300 sedan with 5-speed manual and sports suspension and the SportCross. The manual and SportCross will be limited-edition numbers, with about 5,000 of each available.

Like the IS300 sedan from which it is derived, the SportCross is alert off the line, fairly agile in corners and turns, cushions occupants to keep them from bouncing around in the cabin, but comes with a cargo hold for luggage or clubs rather than a minuscule trunk.

While built off the same 105.1-inch wheelbase as the sedan, SportCross is half an inch longer and more than an inch taller.

IS300 sedans are aimed at performance enthusiasts of all ages, and the SportCross we tested is aimed at youth who may enjoy vehicle performance but who also call on that vehicle to tote mountain bikes and skis to enjoy personal performance.

Basically, a Lexus source said, “SportCross is for those younger families who want a sedan but need more versatility and yet don’t want a sport-utility or a minivan.”

The 3-liter, 215-horsepower, 24-valve V-6 borrowed from the sedan packs ample power to get and keep moving. The 18 m.p.g. city/25 m.p.g. mileage rating is good considering the performance potential, though if 18 could be kicked up to 20 m.p.g. without losing scootability, what a package this would be.

SportCross rides and handles like most Lexuses. Smooth and quiet on the lull-you-to-sleep side. Nice to have four-wheel anti-lock brakes and traction control as standard, along with Brake Assist that automatically brings ABS into play in a panic situation (sudden deceleration) if the driver fails to hit the pedal hard.

But there are a few gripes, one being that Sport Cross doesn’t offer all-wheel-drive. For a performance machine designed as a wagon workhorse, it would be nice to enjoy AWD roadability on wet and snowy roads as well as on dry pavement for optimum road manners for aggressive motoring.

But, we were told, parent Toyota has no AWD system that will work with this engine/transmission. “Love to have it, but it’s not feasible now, especially considering the low volume planned,” an insider said. Want AWD? Check out the RX300.

One other feature lacking for the handful of enthusiasts who might want it is a 5-speed manual like the one offered in the sedan. Instead you have to settle for “E” shift, one of those pretend clutchless manuals in which you slip the lever into a notch in the console and then press buttons on the back of the steering column to upshift, on the front of the steering column to downshift.

Also, Lexus has installed a gauge hidden behind the steering column that gives you an instant miles per gallon re ng as you drive. Though you rarely can see the gauge, when you do you find that if you cruise at 30 m.p.h. on a flat surface while feathering the gas pedal, you get 40 m.p.g. If you don’t, you won’t.

Also, the speedometer is in increments of 20 m.p.h., which positions 80 m.p.h. and 100 m.p.h. where you normally find 50 and 60 m.p.h. Makes you feel like kicking the pedal to get the needle in the right spot. And the gauge/controls backlighting is a reddish orange that those glued to a computer screen all day may find a bit blurry when getting in the vehicle at night after work. Blue is more visible and soothing to the eyes.

Noteworthy features include not only rear seat backs that fold to increase cargo space, but a front passenger seat back that does as well should you need room for long items such as skis. And the hard cover on the passenger seat back lets it serve as a work station or mini table top when folded.

The cargo hold has a flat floor with a cover that lifts to expose the spare as well as small, but appreciated, storage space. The hatch opens wide to make it easy to load or unload. There’s also a first-aid kit along the cargo wall. You may or may not like the aluminum shift knob and pedal covers.

Base price of the SportCross is $32,305. With the leather interior package, which includes power and heated driver/passenger seats, you tickle $35,000, which brings you into the same range as the Lexus RX300 sport-ute.

Lexus insists older consumers with bigger families will opt for RX300 while younger buyers with smaller families (and mountain bikes) will favor SportCross. Also, Lexus adds, SportCross is geared more toward performance first, utility second while RX300 leans more toward utility first and foremost.

Standard equipment includes front- and side-impact air bags as well as side-impact air curtains, four-wheel disc brakes, 17-inch radials on alloy wheels, automatic climate control, cruise control, rear window wiper/defogger, AM/FM stereo with cassette and nine speakers, in-dash CD player, tilt steering, power windows/mirrors/locks, rear power outlet and rear spoiler.

As noted above, while SportCross borrows the look of the station wagon, it also suggests the look of things to come, so-called tall roofed wagons or multipurpose vehicles the industry is developing with the room of a minivan; the all- or four-wheel-drive of a sport-ute; and the ride, handling and mileage of a family sedan.

SportCross design hints that such a vehicle may be in Lexus’ future. Before it started selling the then-radical looking RX300 sport-ute/wagon/sedan, Lexus brought a concept to the Chicago Auto Show to serve notice that a dramatic departure from the norm was coming. Perhaps SportCross serves the same purpose. Lexus officials insist, however, that “nothing is planned at this point.”

Stay tuned.