It had to be a sombre moment when the litigiously honourable Japanese builders, ushered the 500th and last Lexus LFA off the production line at Lexus’ Motomachi plant last week. The ludicrously expensive, halo supercar may have cost three times more than a Nissan GT-R, but its V10 engine and carbon polymer body was pure supercar exotica; guaranteeing it instant inclusion into the petrol heads, cult-classic club.
Lexus had always planned a production run of just 500 units and, true to honourable Japanese tradition, production ran for exactly two years and the manufacturer will not be making any more. Lexus LFA number 500 is white with a ‘Nürburgring Package’. The world-famous German circuit played a major role in the LFA’s development, where millions and millions were spent on R&D and testing for over a decade, before the car even made it to production. The halo model famously competed in the Nurburgring 24-hour whilst still a disguised development mule.
The Yamaha-tuned, 4.8-litre V10-powered LFA produced 412 kW and 480 Nm of torque (in a flat curve from 3 600 r/min all the way to its 9 000 r/min redline) and an example with the Nürburgring package clocked a 7:14.64 lap time on the Nordschleife in 2011. The fastest ever time by a road-registered series production car. The LFA was built at a rate of just 20 units per month, with production ending exactly two years after commencing on December 15, 2010. Sayonara Lexus LFA, we salute you. Halo models are all about changing perceptions and you’ve certainly done that for Lexus.
