Glossy wood, available in light bird's-eye maple or dark burled walnut, graces the steering wheel, gear selector, and console and streaks across doors and dash. Wooden flaps conceal the audio unit and navigation system. A leather-padded armrest tops the console; lifting it reveals a handy storage bin. The cup holders work great.

Despite sophisticated electronic gear and power-motivated controls, the SC 430's cockpit is commendably simple and well-organized. The driver faces a steering wheel that tilts and telescopes with switches for the cruise control. Immediately ahead are three chrome-ringed binnacles housing round analog gauges, with crisp white-on-black graphics and vivid red needles. The gauges are easy to read except fuel and temperature, which compete with the gear indicators for attention. Switches for windows and door locks dot the padded armrest on the driver's door. To the right, above the console, horizontal modules hold audio and climate systems, plus a video screen for the navigation system.

The automatic climate system offers independent controls for the left and right sides of the cabin. It has its own, separate LED display for temperature and air flow. It's easy to read and operate. It's a smart system that gathers information from temperature sensors around the cabin. For example, lap vents automatically deploy when the top is open to compensate for solar heating.

The 240-watt Mark Levinson stereo delivers amazingly good quality sound. The radio, cassette player, and six-disc in-dash CD changer brilliantly reproduces sound through a seven-channel amplifier and nine speakers, including an eight-inch subwoofer. It maintains full harmonic richness and high audio resolution even when you're at speed with the top down. It's easy to operate in spite of its sophistication, so you don't have to study the owner's manual to figure out how to use it.

A toggle switch beside the climate system opens the top. First, the transmission must be in the Park position. Then press the switch, and the side windows dip, a trunk flap rises, and the roof quickly folds in half and slips into the trunk. Then the flap closes and windows descend into the doors.

Lurking behind the front seats are a pair of smaller, form-fitting rear buckets rigged with integrated headrests and three-point safety belts. But don't mistake the SC 430 for a four-seater. Those back buckets are painfully upright and only large enough for Barbie and Ken, the dolls, that is. Better to use them as a relief storage shelf for the diminutive trunk.

The SC 430 is not the best car for picking someone up at the airport as trunk space is lacking, but the same is true for other luxury sports cars. The SC 430 offers 8.8 cubic feet of luggage space. Removing the spare tire expands it to 9.4. Dropping the top eliminates the trunk as a serious storage area. On the bright side, the Lexus offers considerably more luggage space than you'll find in the Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet or Cadillac XLR and slightly more than what's provided in the Mercedes-Benz SL 500. Yet it's a bit less than what's available in the Jaguar XK8.