The Lexus LFA is a very rare piece of automotive history with a production run of just 500 cars over two years.
Through Bring a Trailer, one of them (chassis number 184 of 500) recently changed hands. With the current currency rate, $808,000 USD, or around $997,000 CAD, was the winning bid.
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The number of Lexus LFAs is what?
During production at the Motomachi facility, LFA Chief Engineer Haruhiko Tanahashi is pictured with a piece of foamcored CFRP material in front of the LFA body.
The LFA went on sale for Lexus on October 23, 2009. Lexus chose its customers carefully in the second quarter of 2010. [46] December 2010 saw the start of production. With a starting price of $375,000, just 20 cars were constructed each month for the global market’s total of 500 cars (340,000). Each car has to be ordered specifically for the customer. [47]
After the LFA was debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show, Lexus unveiled a website with a “LFA configurator” that let users choose exterior and interior colors, brake caliper colors, seats, steering wheel leather, and other interior designs.
[48]
[49] Over 30 billion different combinations were available in total. [49] At Toyota’s Motomatchi plant in Aichi, Japan, a committed production team of engineers and specialists hand-built each LFA. [50] [51] [52]
150 vehicles were first offered for sale in the North American market via a two-year lease arrangement. This was done to stop owners from profitably reselling the car. [47] To conduct test drives to potential purchasers and show off the car’s capabilities at Auto Club Speedway, racing driver Scott Pruett was hired. At the end of 2009, Toyota Motors USA’s Lexus division ceased taking orders. At that time, they intended to start talking to the lessees about a purchase plan. Later, Lexus reversed course and permitted outright purchases, but only if the buyer signed a contract giving the dealer the first option to acquire the LFA back if the owner decided to sell it during the first two years. The used LFA might be purchased back by the dealer for the lower of fair market value or the original sticker price. [53] The only Lexus outlet in Park Lane, London where customers could order the LFA for the European market was an outright purchase. [54]
Haruhiko Tanahashi, chief engineer of the LFA, in front of an autoclave for curing CFRP components
Each LFA was given a plaque with a unique number that identified its position in the production run during its manufacture. Each LFA V10 engine bore the expert’s signature from the assembly process. [51] The LFA was produced from December 2010 to December 2012 at a rate of 20 units per month. The final vehicle, which had the Nrburgring package and an exterior finish of white, was completed on December 14th, 2012, marking the end of production. There was no planned successor when manufacture halted. With a limited staff, the LFA plant in Motomachi carried on producing parts. [55]
How many Lexus LFAs are there?
Despite the Lexus LFA’s seven-year hiatus from manufacturing, the luxury manufacturer still sold three brand-new copies of the supercar in 2019.
Even more astonishing, with two sold in 2018, that translates to a 50% rise in LFA sales year over year. Only 178 of the 500 LFAs that Lexus produced for sale in the United States.
On Friday, Lexus released its annual sales figures for 2019. The sale of three LFAs was obscured by the numbers. How? It’s simple to explain that.
The LFA had a startling $375,000 retail price when it was brand-new, and that’s assuming a dealership didn’t mark it up. Numerous LFAs went unsold for a variety of reasons, including the outrageous pricing and the fact that some dealers added absurd markups. The cars may then serve as showpieces to get customers into their showrooms, which may have benefited the dealers.
It’s simple to understand why people are interested in the LFA. Toyota’s Formula One program provided technologies that Lexus utilised to create a road vehicle. It is propelled by a 4.8-liter V-10 engine that produces 334 pound-feet of torque and 552 horsepower. The 9,000-rpm redline and Yamaha-tuned exhaust tone are what make this engine wonderful, not that portion. A vintage 6-speed single-clutch automatic manual transmission delivers power to the rear wheels. The car’s body was made of carbon fiber by Lexus, which is the key factor in the exorbitant asking price.
What number of LFA remain?
According to the listing, the owner of the dealership, Arlington Lexus in Palatine, Illinois, bought the vehicle after it was delivered to the business. However, according to the listing, it has only 72 miles on the odometer and has spent the most of the last nine years on display in the dealership’s showroom. The LFA’s final sale price of $808,000 reflects a profit of $433,000 over its initial sticker price of $375,000 plus any initial dealer discount. Sometimes it makes sense to keep a brand-new car for almost ten years.
Many dealerships kept their LFAs as showcase items to draw customers into their showrooms. Five brand-new, unregistered LFA vehicles were still available as of January 2020, even though production on the model finished in December 2012 and the final vehicle arrived in the United States in February 2013.
The carbon-fiber-bodied LFA was intended to be a halo vehicle for Lexus, elevating the company’s reputation while leveraging some of parent Toyota’s Formula One expertise.
A 5.2-liter V-10 with a 9,000-rpm redline and 552 horsepower and 334 lb-ft of torque powers the vehicle. An automatic manual transmission with six speeds and a single clutch is attached to the high-revving engine.
Despite that magnificent V-10, many people have trouble grasping the concept of a Lexus supercar. In comparison to the rest of the Lexus series, the $375,000 base price appeared absurd. That could help to explain why even the modest 500-unit production run was difficult for Lexus to sell.
According to the listing, this vehicle is one of just five Pearl Yellow versions made for the American market. Though sources disagree on the precise number, less than 200 automobiles were imported into the United States.
Even more than other recent LFA sales, the sale price was high. A brown LFA was posted for sale at a dealership in January with an asking price of $680,000, while a silver LFA sold for $720,000 at an auction earlier this year.
Which car is the most uncommon?
The 25 Most Expensive Cars in the World
- Ferrari’s 250 GT California SWB Spider from 1961. Price or estimated value: $17.2 million.
- Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita from 2009.
- Lamborghini Veneno from 2013.
- Pagani Huayra BC from 2017.
- Oldsmobile F-88 from 1954.
- Ford GT40 from 1964.
- Icona Vulcano Titanium, 2016.
- Pagani Zonda Revolucion from 2013.
The LFA failed, why?
Last but not least, the price tag of this supercar was the main factor in its failure. The LFA debuted in 2011 with a windscreen sticker that read $400,000 on the market. It cost almost twice as much as a Ferrari 599, the same model.
Why wasn’t the LFA purchased?
Lexus eventually released the LFA after a decade of development and thorough testing, but nobody bought it.
The Lexus LFA is not only an excellent sports vehicle, but it is also an engineering marvel and a stunning work of art. The LFA, the Millau Viaduct in France, and the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland would be among the top 10 structures ever created if engineering were to someday be considered an art form.
Creating the LFA wasn’t simple. Everyone is already familiar with the tale. Over the course of six years, Toyota engineered and designed the vehicle, and just as it was about to be completed, an engineer questioned whether carbon fiber would make for a better body. After undergoing a revision, it took another four years before the car was unveiled at the 2010 Frankfurt Motor Show in its final production form. Toyota famously lost money on each and every one of the 500 LFAs it made despite selling them for an eye-watering $375,000 each. Although the LFA was seen as a commercial failure, its popularity has grown over the past few years to the point where used cars now fetch double or even more than the MSRP.
Therefore, even if it is extremely improbable that the majority of car aficionados ever drive, let alone see, an LFA, we can still daydream about it and enjoy its heavenly engine sound online. The LexusLFA is the most underestimated supercar ever created for the following ten reasons.
Who is a Lexus LFA owner?
Only 50 of the even more rare Lexus LFA Nrburgring models left the Motomachi production line, and Pasin Lathouras is the proud owner of one. When visiting the UK, Pasin, who is based in Thailand, drives the LFA on a regular basis. We spoke with him to learn more about what it’s like to drive and own this storied supercar.
The Uniqueness
The LFA is more than just a typical supercar, despite the fact that it does so obviously. Both the exterior and interior appear to be completely custom-made. Since every single car was totally handcrafted in Japan by a small group of workers known as takumi, the attention to detail is astounding. There’s a slim possibility that you’ll see two LFAs, much less one, at a supercar meet as just 500 of these vehicles were produced.
The Engineering
In addition to having a small number of units produced, the LFA is a marvel of engineering. The first LF-A concept car was unveiled at NAIAS in 2005, but the car’s development actually started back in 2000.
A few years before manufacturing, the development came to an end after continuing continuously for some time. The LFA’s planned aluminum body would be excessively heavy, thus CFRP was chosen instead. It only weights 1480 kg as a result, and when combined with the 552 hp of the 4.8 L V10, you get a vehicle that can accelerate from 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 326 km/h (203 MPH). Yes, that does seem impressive, but not really. But how it delivers that power is what really stands out about it. Which brings up the next point.
The Sound
The LFA is arguably best known for its instantly recognizable, distinctive, and high-pitched sound. It’s frequently compared to an F1 car because of this. The engine’s relatively small displacement need higher engine revs in order to produce adequate power. As a result, the redline can reach 9000 rpm.