The Lexus LFA is a unique piece of engineering. It was so ahead of its time, yet so behind, simultaneously.
It came out during Toyota’s “beige” period; they didn’t make anything “cool” at the time since their iconic sports cars (Supra, Celica and MR-2) ended production in the early 2000s.
The Lexus ISF existed, but it was difficult for it to stand out against its German competitors, and the XRS versions of the Corolla and Matrix were nice but not enough to change anyone’s mind about the brand as anything more than the go-to for econo-boxes.
The moment the Lexus LFA was launched, it reset my perception of the brand. I know for a fact you saw that Top Gear TV segment with Richard Hammond in the white LFA. That video lives rent free in my head.
It was so radically different from any other car I had ever seen from Japan, and it immediately shot to the top of my dream car list. It’s still there, after all these years, too.
You probably know its history but if you don’t, here’s a quick rundown: The LFA was an awesome piece of machinery but overpriced, especially compared to its rivals on the market.
Even with its eye-watering price of $375,000, all LFAs were all sold at a loss for Lexus since halfway through the car’s development, it was scrapped. Lexus wanted a monocoque carbon chassis instead of the aluminum one they initially developed, which caused an obvious delay in the LFA’s launch.
By the time it came out, the LFA’s competition was already a step ahead. At face value, the super-Lexus was amazing, but it was all too easy to compare it to other cars – and that’s exactly what some journalists did.
Instead of understanding the LFA for what it was, reviews came in about how X car did this better, or how Y was better at Z. It didn’t stop the LFA from winning the hearts of a few key journalists, though.
Negatives aside, one thing the LFA birthed was the solidification of the Toyota GR brand, along with the Lexus F-Sport brand. It created a spark, and it’s something that we can look back on and thank Hiromu Naruse, the lead Toyota test driver and head of Gazoo Racing, for.
He joined the Toyota family in the early 1960’s and never looked back. With his final project being the LFA, he sadly passed away during the development of the car’s Nürburgring Edition. The limited edition version would eventually set the fastest production car time on the Ring.
Fast forward to the present day and we have a thriving GR sub-brand within Toyota, all thanks to a wild V10 supercar – with arguably the greatest exhaust note ever in a production car. We’re now over 15 years on from when the LFA was launched and the public’s perception of the car has shifted.
Toyota as a brand has also changed. Gone are the days of ‘beige’. Now, we have 300hp RAV4 crossovers that can keep up with a Civic Type R, in a straight line. We also have the GR Yaris and GR Corolla (which are coincidentally both made at the same plant that made the LFA, Motomachi, in Japan).
The A90-generation Supra is one of the most fun and reliable sports cars on the market today and the LC500 is (to these eyes) the most beautiful GT car on sale.
We can thank Akio Toyoda and his “No more boring cars” mantra for the change up. Maybe it had something to do with his time racing alongside Naruse in the LFA.
With about 500 units made, the uber-rare Lexus was destined to be remembered. LFA owners can rest happy with the knowledge that their $375k cars shifted Toyota’s outlook as a whole. Its legacy will be remembered as one of the most impactful for Toyota enthusiasts; a necessary loss in revenue for long term gains. The LFA failed, successfully…
But what about the LFA’s future? Well, Lexus is very serious about its loyalty to their customers. To show its appreciation, Lexus reached out to all of its US-based LFA owners in their registry.
I was fortunately invited by one of its agencies, Team One, to help document this historical moment for the LFA and for car culture. Forty owners shipped their cars to Laguna Beach, California for this reunion.
Four of the LFAs in attendance were Nürburgring Editions. I had never laid eyes on a Nürburgring LFA before so it was definitely a “pinch me” moment when I saw four in one place. I’m not typically a ‘supercar guy’, but the LFA is the one exception, so please excuse me while I continue to nerd out.
One-hundred seventeen LFAs were delivered to the US, and 34% of them were at this reunion. Pretty crazy if you ask me.
The reunion drive included a loop around Southern California, highlighting the region’s beautiful geography through Pacific Coast Highway, along with the mountains directly to the east, with a quick stop at Toyota’s famous Calty Design Research studio. While Calty didn’t have any input on the LFA, it has designed some icons from the famous FT-1 Concept to the latest LC250 Land Cruiser.
The LFA owners had a longer schedule but we wrapped up at South Orange County Cars and Coffee in San Clemente, California. This is regarded as the largest Cars and Coffee style meet in the SoCal region, where it consistently draws in a large variety of cars ranging from the typical supercars to garage-built supercar killers.
This time, the organizers saved two rows for the LFAs to park front-and-center as that Saturday morning’s main guest of honor.
One day, I’ll own one. I just need a chill $800k, since they’ve all appreciated in value. Light work.
These cars sound so good and the closest thing an F1 V10 ever saw to the road. Also so cool the president of Toyota raced one at the ring under a fake name
Awesome read!
The philosophy behind the LFA is something unique. Deciding to make a loss on every unit sold unit is crazy, but as a halo car it has held is status. Even when eventually it came out, it already was outdated. But it stood the test of time and established itself as one of the all time greats.
Great read and amazing pictures to go with!
The sound of that many LFA V10s in one place must have been just epic.
A V10 orchestra.
Awesome read and nice shots, When you compare how many LFA were made vs how many LFA were in this meeting, “fortunately invited” doesn’t give a day like this enough credit