Sunday 6th January 2019

Lexus LFA: Pic of the Week

There are nine brand new LFAs in the US. Justification enough for a desktop dedication to the V10 screamer

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Remember how sad we all were when production of the 500th and last Lexus LFA was completed in December 2012? To people like us, this front mid-engined V10 supercar was the epitome of what a 21st century supercar should be. With no successor produced by Lexus, the last car's production marked the end of an era. Sad times.

Or so we thought. Turns out nine never-before registered examples of this 560hp two-seat screamer still exist in the USA, as recently confirmed by a Toyota spokesman to Autoblog. They're all unused and located in Lexus showrooms as well, meaning there's hopefully no mileage trickery or dodgy story beneath their carbon fibre skin.

It seems they each exist as showroom eye candy, there to entice customers into buying a lesser Lexus. Or, perhaps, the showroom owners each want their slice of investment pie and are keeping hold of them until values peak; LFAs are now fetching £500k (like this one on PH), close to £150k more than the original list price.

Either way, it's a shame these immaculate examples of Lexus's greatest ever model have not yet seen road use. With a masterpiece of a ten-cylinder that can rev to a scintillating 9,500rpm nestled within a hyper-responsive chassis, not to mention a gorgeous design and tech-fest cabin, they're certainly deserving of some action.

For that reason, this week we're dedicating our desktop backgrounds to the LFA. If we had the money, we'd do the same with the driveway too.

16:10
16:9
Quad HD
4K

[st4]

This is the best super car of the modern era.

[E65Ross]

st4 said:

This is the best super car of the modern era.

I think that is a very subjective claim. I think it's certainly one of the best sounding ones!

[LasseV]

st4 said:

This is the best super car of the modern era.

I agree.

[downsman]

I don't really know why, but I agree too. I would take an LFA over any recent super/hypercar if I had any chance of affording one!

They do sound fantastic too

[Trevor555]

Beautiful machine.

I wonder if Lexus are going to release an LC500 F version?

A sportier one was spotted testing earlier this year.

[isaldiri]

North American dealers/dealer principals were more or less 'asked' by Lexus to take a car to get the 500 and sold out number done and dusted with. Quite a few came up for sale in 2015/2016 iirc after some sort of agreed holding period ended at awfully good prices....

[moneymakestheworldgoaround]

st4 said:

This is the best super car of the modern era.

Best sounding car for sure,

But best car, nope... not even close.

[downsman]

moneymakestheworldgoaround said:

Best sounding car for sure,

But best car, nope... not even close.

I wouldn't claim it was the best (whatever criteria you use!) But I do find it the most desirable. Most hypercars leave me cold, if you offered me a Bugatti, Zonda, or La Ferrari I would flog it straight away, whereas, if it was an LFA I would be tempted to keep even though I couldn't afford to run it.

Edited by downsman on Sunday 6th January 19:00

[wtdoom]

I think they are fantastic , a machine designed for pure joy . A drivers machine and a driving machine .
Completely underrated , one of the best cars I’ve ever experienced . In its own way up there with the 2 modern masterpieces that are Carrera GT and Ferrari F50

Edited by wtdoom on Sunday 6th January 19:03

[samoht]

downsman said:

I wouldn't claim it was the best (whatever criteria you use!) But I do find it the most desirable.

This is how I feel, other supercars are objectively better in speed, lap times etc, but the LFA is just so desirable.

downsman said:

if it was an LFA I would be tempted to keep even though I couldn't afford to run it.

Corrosion? No, all carbon fibre. Major mechanical woes? Unlikely, it's a Toyota. Depreciation? Probably negative.

[Al U]

The first car in my lottery win garage.

[skylarking808]

As with the other posters, I find the LFA strangely alluring and it would be my choice of modern exotic.

Shame there are some in the states just waiting to be driven from the showroom at inflated prices....its like caging a tiger when its not been on its first hunt

oh think they look great in black too.

[6th Gear]

Al U said:

The first car in my lottery win garage.

Here you go...

https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Archive/Event/Item...

Perfect!

[smithyithy]

wtdoom said:

I think they are fantastic , a machine designed for pure joy . A drivers machine and a driving machine .
Completely underrated , one of the best cars I’ve ever experienced . In its own way up there with the 2 modern masterpieces that are Carrera GT and Ferrari F50

You mean Enzo, right?

Love your white LFA though

[JohnG1]

wtdoom said:

I think they are fantastic , a machine designed for pure joy . A drivers machine and a driving machine .
Completely underrated , one of the best cars I’ve ever experienced . In its own way up there with the 2 modern masterpieces that are Carrera GT and Ferrari F50

Edited by wtdoom on Sunday 6th January 19:03

What he said. It's an absolutely epic piece of engineering. Everything about the LFA is simply perfect. The noise, handling, brakes, the "hewn from granite" chassis stability, the looks, aerodynamics.

I don't have £500k to spend on a car, but if I did it's either an LFA or a 675LT...

Thank you wtdoom...

[mrbarnett]

In a fantasy garage, would folks have this over the other ultra-rare V10 supercar; the Porsche Carrera GT? I wouldn't, purely because the Porsche offered a clutch pedal.

Both fabulous examples of the breed, though.

[MarkM3Evoplus]

I would need to drive both extensively before choosing...…!

[Krikkit]

mrbarnett said:

In a fantasy garage, would folks have this over the other ultra-rare V10 supercar; the Porsche Carrera GT? I wouldn't, purely because the Porsche offered a clutch pedal.

Both fabulous examples of the breed, though.

In my fantasy garage I'd have both.

[anniesdad]

6th Gear said:

Al U said:

The first car in my lottery win garage.

Here you go...

https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Archive/Event/Item...

Perfect!

Absolutely stunning car.

[Don Colione]

Best drift/powerslide I have ever seen!

0:40 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGL_pG6v9jA


My Top 5

1: Carrera GT (Analogue / Ultra-Responsive / Modern / Driftable / Sound on par with LFA)
2: Ferrari F50
3: McLaren F1 LM
4: Lexus LFA
5: Mercedes CLK GTR


The LFA would have been at the top for me - IF it had a manual transmission; it's biggest flaw imo...

Final note - One of the biggest letdowns was Top Gear only giving the LFA a wet lap for it's shot on the leaderboard, lol i was 'pissed' back then....