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Lexus introduced the Japanese version of a large luxury sedan to American motorists. For those with a sporting bent, there now is a luxury sports coupe from the Toyota Motor Co. division.

The 1992-model Lexus SC 400 coupe made its official debut in Lexus dealerships across the country Saturday. David White, general manager of Indianapolis’ Tom Wood Lexus agency, said last week that he was expecting a demonstration model.

The SC 400 is coming off the starting blocks like a rocket. With racy aerodynamic styling, high-tech mechanical features, and a full complement of luxury appointments, the coupe is a full-bore sports car in luxury-car clothing.

Under the hood is a 4.0-liter, four-cam, 32-valve V-8. Inside this 150-mph motor car are features like leather upholstery, stereo and power electronics.

“We expect our client base to be similar to the (Lexus) LS 400 (sedan) buyer,” White said, “These are people from the corporate executive and professional ranks, but ones who want more of a sports-type automobile.”

Carrying a $37,500 base price, the SC is a sporting proposition no matter how it is approached. The styling came from Toyota’s Calty Design Research Center in Newport Beach, Calif., which strove to achieve a series of unique flowing curves. The stylists created an almost circular front end composed of a soft fascia mask, cornering lamps, projector headlamps and dynamic hood surface lines.

“It’s an extremely gorgeous automobile with a lot of sports-car sex appeal,” White said.

The four-passenger coupe is smaller than the LS 400 sedan by about 5 inches. The wheelbase is 105.9 inches and the overall length 191.1 inches. In comparison, the LS has a 110.8-inch wheelbase and is 196.7 inches long.

The only thing interchangeable between the new Lexus coupe and the sedan is the engine. The 250-horsepower aluminum V-8 in the SC is the same engine that powers the LS 400 four-door. With four overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder in the best Indianapolis 500-Mile Race tradition, there is power and torque at hand. But the coupe is lighter than the sedan, so the V-8 gives the two-door a lot more zip.

The coupe can go from zero to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds, which puts the luxury two-door right up in the class of some rather respectable muscle cars. This acceleration is brought about by the four-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission specially geared for the coupe. Yet despite the power and performance, the fuel mileage rating makes the car exempt from a gas-guzzler tax.

The rating is 18 miles per gallon city, 23 highway.

Motoring in this thing is, of course, the embodiment of ease. All four wheels are independently sprung via lightweight aluminum suspension members. With fine-tune suspension geometry and spring rates, the ride is designed to be both smooth and stable.

The coupe is rear-wheel driven, the preferred method of propulsion when dealing with high horsepower. A V-8 will work with a front-drive. But on full- throttle acceleration, torque steer begins to come into play, and so does wheel spin as the static weight of the engine begins to shift away from the driving wheels.

The SC 400 competes in a luxury market already occupied by the LS 400, but White doesn’t think one car is going to pirate sales from the other.

“I think it’s (the coupe) a different type of car that will appeal to a different type of buyer,” he said. “The sedan buyer is looking for a little more room, while the coupe buyer is looking for something sporty.

“They’re both luxurious, but I don’t think there will be a whole lot of cross selling between the sedan and the coupe.

“With this car they didn’t do what a lot of manufacturers do, and just make a two-door out of a four-door. It’s a totally different car than the sedan. The only thing that shows is the same engine.”

For the first full year of production, which wil l be 1992, Lexus will build 20,000 of the coupes for the United States. This is about 50 percent of the number of sedans they will build. White projects that once production gets up to speed and the car becomes more readily available, it will account for about 20 percent of the Wood agency’s sales.

“For the first few months we’re not going to do it, due to the lack of cars,” he said. “It’s going to be awhile before there is any inventory, because we’ve got the first three to five months already sold.”