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]
In This Article...
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.
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 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.
A Lexus LFA is still for sale.
The Lexus LFA is regarded by many as one of the best supercars ever produced. I imagined that since Lexus only produced 500 units, they were immediately consumed. I was mistaken. Despite the fact that Lexus stopped producing the LFA in 2012, Carscoops reports that there are still seven brand-new LFA supercars available for purchase in the United States.
Lexus had stated that it still had 12 LFAs on hand. Five of the automobiles have now been sold. Seven vehicles are still on dealer lots across the nation.
When it was released in 2011, the LFA was a revelation. It took a very, very long time to arrive, but when it did, it astounded many in the automotive press and customers.
That being said, it cost $400,000 to purchase. Potential customers might have found that to be too much. The car is currently available for approximately $350,000, with some excellent models apparently costing as much as $500,000.
All things considered, the LFA featured one of the best V8 engines ever created by a Japanese carmaker. The 4.8-liter V8 produced 352 lb-ft of torque and 552 horsepower. It had a free-revving engine with a chill-inducing exhaust noise.
These cars probably won’t be worth as much as they did when they were first purchased. They’ll probably become collectible cars. However, it appears that not many people are currently prepared to pay for the car. You can pick one of seven cars if you’re one of the few who are willing.
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.
What was the price of the most recent LFA?
The sale of a 2012 Lexus LFA Nrburgring Edition for $1.6 million at an RM Sotheby’s auction in California that took place in conjunction with the most recent Monterey Car Week may be the clearest example of how expensive rare cars continue to become.
The final price far exceeded the range of estimates, which was between $900,000 and $1.1 million. It also exceeded the prices paid for many other valuable vehicles at the auction, such as an original Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing ($1.352M), a contemporary Ford GT ($1.215M), and a Bugatti Veyron ($1.545M).
The LFA Nrburgring Edition is obviously not your average vehicle. Only 25 of the 64 Lexus models were made, and only one of them were transported to the United States. The vehicle was designed to improve the LFA’s performance even more by incorporating more aggressive aerodynamic features, such as a sizable front spoiler, dive planes, and a sizable fixed rear wing.
The 4.8-liter V-10 in the LFA was given a 10-hp boost to 562 hp, while Lexus claims that the 6-speed single-clutch automatic gearbox’s shift times were decreased by 0.15 seconds. This makes it possible for the conventional LFA to maintain its 3.7-second 0-62 mph pace and 202-mph top speed despite the added drag from the aero features.
The Nrburgring Edition also included model-specific wheels, tires, and suspension calibration. The modifications led to a 7:14.64 lap time at the car’s home circuit in 2011, placing the LFA among the top five production-car lap times at the time. But the vehicle also increased the LFA’s $375,000 base price for the 2012 model year by $70,000.
This specific LFA Nrburgring Edition, according to the listing, also includes the uncommon mix of a black exterior and a black inside.
Given that a conventional LFA recently sold for $808,000 on Bring a Trailer, the price paid for this vehicle may not come as much of a surprise. That vehicle only had 72 miles on it, as opposed to this LFA’s 930 miles.
Will the LFA ever resurface?
According to one Japanese publication, one of Japan’s current supercar icons could make a comeback in 2025, but say goodbye to the roaring Yamaha V10 engine.
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.