The Altezza was a 4 door sedan brought to market in 1998, and sold in the U.S. under the Lexus brand. The Altezza was a entry-level luxury sports car, that has a bigger emphasis on performance than previous Lexus models. The Altezza was very popular among tuners abroad, not just for the easy tunable engine but the possible engine swap with the Supra's 2JZ-GTE engine. This particular upgrade has been known to produce over 1000HP. The Altezza also gained a reputation as the real heir to the Hachiroku AE86 legacy.

A large number of after market tuning parts are available for the Altezza, and it is a great choice for a tuning base. In Japan, the Altezza came not with the non-turbo 2JZ engine, but with the four cylinder 3S-GE engine. Because of the lack of power produced by this engine, aftermarket companies have developed Supercharger and Bolt-On Turbo Kits to increase power. Tuners have also skipped the idea of working with the 3S-GE altogether and swapped the engine out with a 1JZ, 2JZ, SR20, RB26 for better performance results. Exhaust, Aero, Suspension, Interior, and other performance parts are available from the JDM aftermarket to increase the performance potential of your SXE10.

The Gita name designates the Hatchback/ Station wagon models.

After a redesign in 2005, the new model Altezza was re-named and released as the Lexus IS in both Japan and around the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_IS