In America, women posing with cars has been an admired art practice since the 1920s. Just as the automotive styles have changed over the years, so has the photography. Regardless, Alexis Ruan aka “Miss Lexiss” is here to prove the form is more captivating than ever.

Miss Lexiss exemplifies that famed Southern California shine in her content and personality. She has produced beautiful shots with some of the world’s top vehicles, both in front and behind the camera.

As her social handle might suggest, Alexis can be seen cruising the streets in an ultra-sleek Lexus IS 300. However, on the heels of a busy week at SEMA 2024, she set the e-brake long enough to chat with Playboy’s Gabriel Santiago.

Follow along as the two discuss ins and outs of being an automotive influencer and the car culture at large.

Playboy: Let’s start at the beginning—where are you originally from?

Miss Lexiss: I’m from Long Beach. That’s basically where I grew up most of my life. I also moved around a little bit. I moved to the Inland Empire previously before moving back to the Los Angeles area for my last two years of high school.

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Playboy: How did you first fall in love with motorsports?

Miss Lexiss: That has a bit of a backstory. In 2019, I started car modeling and met my boyfriend who was already in the automotive industry. From there, a friend of mine worked at an agency and asked me if I wanted to go on tour with Toyota Racing! Just like that, I was going to the Formula Drift events across the U.S.

At first, I didn’t know any drifters. I didn’t know anyone, but that changed quickly. Gridlife in Atlanta was my first real event. I ended up meeting a bunch of people early in my automotive career like Ken Gushi. Ken even took me on a cool ride along out there. That was really my initial experience in motorsports.

Playboy: What was your first car?

Miss Lexiss: A 1996 Toyota 4Runner. That was my hand-me-down car to get to school and whatnot. Then, my first car that was actually for me was my 2004 Lexus IS 300 that I still own to this day. I refuse to get rid of it. I love my car so much—I won’t be getting rid of it anytime soon.

Playboy: You’re also one of car culture’s most dazzling influencers! How did that initially come to be?

Miss Lexiss: That also goes back to 2019. My boyfriend, who was already in the car industry, introduced me to different friends and vehicles to model for. That kicked off my social media presence. Since then, I’ve just been trying to grow and learn all I can!

Playboy: What is your favorite form of content to create?

Miss Lexiss: Personally, I really love car modeling. That’s been my niche the last five years. Unfortunately, COVID and closures put a pretty big halt on that. Everyone was home and nobody wanted to go out. There were no car events, so not seeing people for a few years definitely put a dent in it, but I’m glad that has passed.

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Photos have been my thing just because that’s what Instagram’s platform started as. Nowadays, with all these video forms and other mediums, I’m just trying to keep up with the curve that seems to always be moving with social media. That makes it fun, interesting and different.

Playboy: The Altezza is a beloved vehicle of mine. Can you describe to me the best features of yours?

Miss Lexiss: I love my inline 6. I have driven a lot of cars, and I feel that for an ‘04, the IS 300 is so ahead of its time. It’s nimble. It handles really well. For being stock power, it has juice. I love the car. I don’t need anything crazy. For what it is, again, it’s really ahead of its time. Sure, I like the memory seats it has, but I just love how it drives.

Playboy: You were at SEMA 2024 in Las Vegas—what were you up to there?

Miss Lexiss: I was really busy working, but when I did get to walk around, it was amazing seeing the Toyo Treadpass, the Fast and Furious THROTL R34 and a bunch of other things. It’s fun to see all the enthusiasts there. You have the truck people, you have the restomod crews, you have the JDM stuff. It was everything under the sun, but in one place. It’s especially cool to meet different people from all over the industry and the world.

Playboy: Lastly, can you tell me about your experience as a female thriving in a male-focused industry like automotive?

Miss Lexiss: It has been a rollercoaster for sure, but more fun than anything. Early on, I was pretty discouraged. I had a lot of people telling me, “You don’t have a build, so that means you can’t possibly be a car enthusiast. You’re just a car model, so you don’t really like cars.” However, working in automotive professionally and networking with so many industry notables has definitely improved things. It’s like football—you don’t have to be an NFL player to love the game.

At times, it was rough because every time you get an opportunity, there’s always someone saying, “You only got the opportunity because you’re a female and because you’re pretty.” So, in the last five years, I’ve definitely learned to have thicker skin. Still, it’s been really nice seeing so many other women evolve through the automotive industry. 15 years ago, this wasn’t a thing. It feels so much more inclusive now. It’s definitely nice to see, and I can’t wait to see where it’s at in the next five years!

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