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.
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Which famous person drives a Lexus LFA?
Did you know that hotelier and socialite Paris Hilton formerly had a Lexus LFA, one of the most stylish supercars ever? We also didn’t. However, you can now own her snow-white 2012 example for $448,900 with just 3,930 kilometers on the odometer.
Marshall Goldman, an exotic car dealer headquartered in Ohio, is offering the vehicle for sale. When Paris Hilton decided to convert her affections to a McLaren 650S Spider in 2014, a Florida owner purchased Ms. Hilton’s car and sold it to the dealership.
This Lexus LFA, which is currently for sale through Marshall Goldman, was formerly owned by Paris Hilton.
According to the legend, the celebrity businesswoman received a brand-new LFA in banana-yellow for her 30th birthday from her then-boyfriend, Vegas businessman Cy Waits.
However, Ms. Hilton loved the Lexus model so much that she went out and bought this shiny pearl-white variant once the relationship ended, according to reports.
Her reality television show featured the vehicle for the couple of years she owned it “Paris Hilton’s book, The World According to Paris Hilton, was included in several of her Instagram postings. She gushed in one of the latter, saying: “I enjoy cruising around in this baby. What a fun, gorgeous, quick automobile! The vehicle also made headlines once when it would not start in a valet parking space in Beverly Hills. The battery apparently expired because Ms. Hilton left the lights on.
The LFA was developed as a performance halo for the Lexus brand, and it was first displayed as a concept car at the Detroit auto show in 2005. A 500-car maximum production run that would last two years began in 2010. The starting cost was $375,000
The vehicle was a remarkable feat of automotive engineering at the time. It had a ferocious 4.8-liter V-10 engine from Yamaha that produced 553 horsepower and had a 9,000 rpm redline, along with a super-stiff carbon fiber monocoque chassis. Jeremy Clarkson of The Grand Tour continues to call it the best vehicle he has ever driven.
Jay Leno, does he own a Lexus LFA?
That is, until the most recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, in which he had the good fortune to drive one.
This specific LFA is model number 500 and the very last Lexus supercar to be produced. Sadly, Toyota has no plans to put the car into production, so it will only be a one-off.
Due to the LFA Spyder’s complete lack of a roof, it can only be driven when the weather is dry. It’s the best way to experience the magnificent sound of the LFA’s 4.8-liter V-10 engine, which is still capable of producing 354 pound-feet of torque and 552 horsepower.
The production site for the Lexus LFA is also briefly shown in the movie, allowing us to see the carbon fiber loom in work. After viewing this video, be sure to read our earlier post for additional information on the unique carbon fiber loom.
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 price 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.
What was Lexus’s loss on the LFA?
Fuel efficiency, production costs, and profit margins are now all defining features in modern automobile mass production, and this is true of the majority of modern cars.
The CEO of a car firm occasionally introduces a vehicle that is only driven by the desire to create the greatest vehicle possible. And one illustrative example of this was the Lexus LFA.
Akio Toyoda, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, took over as CEO of Toyota in 2009 and vowed to stop Toyota from producing uninteresting automobiles, as noted by Autoweek.
A complexly engineered supercar that would serve as the brand’s halo model was essential to establishing the tone for the direction he planned to drive Toyota and its premium division, Lexus, in.
The LFA concept first appeared in 2005 after the LFA development got underway in the early 2000s. However, the real model would not make its appearance until the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
Evo claims that the corporation actually lost money on each of the 500 LFAs it sold, despite the fact that they had a list price of about $400,000 when they were brand-new.
Although the LFA was thought to be pricey and underpowered in comparison to its rivals, time has been kind to it. Its well-aged design, flawless construction, and in particular its completely exciting engine have elevated it to the status of a very collectible contemporary classic. And its value has only increased. What exactly is its unique engine made of then?
What does the acronym Lexus LFA mean?
Lexus F-Sports Apex, or LFA, is the abbreviation for the “Apex” of the Lexus premium sports-blended “F” series. Apex refers to the top. Additionally, the Lexus Future Advance initials serve as the name of the concept version of this vehicle.
The Lexus LFA engine was made by whom?
The Lexus LFA is a two-seat sports car made by Lexus, the premium automotive division of Toyota (Japanese: LFA, Rekusasu LFA). It is the first solo Lexus F model and the second model in Lexus’ F marque line of high-performance cars, following the IS F. At the North American International Auto Show, three concept versions were shown, each bearing the LF-A moniker as a member of the LF Series concept series. The initial LF-A concept debuted in 2005 following the start of development in the early 2000s (under the codename TXS), and a second idea with a more fully furnished interior and exterior debuted in 2007. In 2008, the LF-third A’s iteration with a roadster body style made its debut. In October 2009, the Tokyo Motor Show hosted the unveiling of the production model, designated LFA[3] by trademark. [4] The “Apex” of the LF line of vehicles is represented by the “A” in the production LFA nomenclature, according to Lexus. [5]
The LFA was an opportunity for Akio Toyoda, CEO of parent firm Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), to establish a global icon for the Lexus brand and represent Toyoda’s philosophy that the ideal Lexus should connect with its owner.
[6]
The Lexus LFA’s production model has a body constructed of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer and a 412 kW (560 PS; 553 horsepower) V10 engine created in partnership with Yamaha specifically for the vehicle (CFRP). 65 percent of the mass of the LFA’s body is made up of CFRP components. [7] The LFA began manufacturing in the latter part of 2010. [8] [9] One of the most costly Japanese road vehicles ever produced made its dbut in 2012[10] as a circuit-tuned variation. [11] Production ceased in December 2012 with 500 cars built, the final car being a Nrburgring Package model. [12]
Alain Uyttenhoven, head of Lexus Europe, said there wouldn’t be a new LFA replacement anytime soon in February 2016.
[13]
After selling three LFAs in 2019, Lexus still had four LFAs available as of 2020[update]. Despite the fact that the LFA’s production ceased in 2012, two were nevertheless sold in March 2020 and another in September 2020. [14] [15] [16]
How numerous LFA Spyders were produced?
With his first drive footage of the Lexus LFA Spyder, American talk show presenter and petrolhead Jay Leno scored a world exclusive.
The Lexus LFA is one of the rarest and most exotic supercars in the world with a production cap of 500 units, but the roofless LFA Spyder is special and the only one of its kind that will ever be produced.
As part of his Jay Leno’s Garage web TV series, the Tonight Show host was offered the opportunity to drive the vehicle at the Fuji Speedway in Japan.
The labor-intensive building procedures used to create the carbon fiber, 4.8-liter engineed monster are also explained in the film. It is the core idea behind Creating Amazing.
When Leno says: “I think you really have to drive a number of supercars to appreciate thisit’s like boxed wine and fine wine, there’s such an unbelievable difference,” he is speaking with authority as the owner of one of the largest automobile collections in the world.
“This car has such a high level of elegance. Although there are supercars with greater horsepower, none feel as smooth as this one does. You can see why this car holds the Nurburgring record for a production car when you go out onto the circuit and put your foot down; it’s pretty fantastic.
You can watch the first video Jay Leno made on the Lexus LFA here. This is the second one.
Leno’s most recent video was made available soon after the greatest meeting of LFAs ever seen in one location, which was held at the Laguna Seca racetrack in California for US-based LFA owners. For some pictures from that occasion, click this link.