Unobtainable legacy model shown. F Philosophy These are more than mere performance vehicles. It's where we were inspired to deliver intensity with elegance. It's where we decided how to move you. It's where the LFA stirred the senses and pushed us to strive for new limits.
The Lexus F Marque delivers motorport technology, to turn performance into your driving passion. Class on Class Inspired by the F Marque, the Lexus Performance lineup delivers crafted experiences, depending on your desire for power, style or speed.
Unobtainable legacy models shown. Building a Supercar The desire? To create and craft a world-class supercar that challenges the finest sports cars ever built. F Performance Each detail of the Lexus F Performance line up has been finessed to maximise handling stability and to deliver excellent aerodynamic performance. One large reason the LFA was so iconic and bespoke was due to the fact that Lexus only made LFAs in total , with around of these being built with a US configuration.
It's truly Lexus's best example of what can be achieved with years of craftsmanship and dedication. This also shows why the car is so unique and so completely customizable as they aren't produced at a volume comparable to other supercars even let alone your run-of-the-mill family saloon car.
It should be clear now that the LFA is not your standard supercar and is much more special than that. So much so that the car is completely bespoke, and each part was made specifically for the LFA alone.
This included the engine, as spoken about earlier, as well as every single body panel as well as the Toyota developed chassis. There was a little mechanical compromise to deal with, meaning Lexus saw no need for adaptive dampers, and instead utilizing coil-over dampers attached to front double wishbone suspension and a multilink rear axle.
Lexus's reputation, before creating the LFA, was for making well-made and more conventional sedans. These always had nice interiors with decent materials but were never all that exciting. As expected, Lexus went all out with the interior on the LFA. They also had bucket seats in slip-resistant Alcantara rather than leather. Aesthetically unlike any other Lexus, the LFA artfully integrated the infotainment and controls into a striking sweeping center console, while the infotainment screen itself was cleverly hidden away.
The materials included milled aluminum and magnesium for the switchgear and indicator stalks, polished carbon fiber for the steering wheel, and soft leather for the sculptural seats and dash-top. All things considered, the LFA is a fairly special one-of-a-kind creation when put up against almost any road car to date. This came at quite a cost for Lexus because the LFA took years of development before its introduction to the world.
In fact, the LFA began its development process all the way back in and wasn't completed until a whole decade later, in The LFA name first appeared in , with Lexus revealing the first LF-A concept car at the Tokyo motor show, the initial LF-A concept was visually close to the eventual production car, even sharing the same surfacing quality. But the concept was built with an aluminum chassis and was later scrapped completely for a carbon fiber one, leading to more lost time and a longer wait.
But given how the car turned out, it was time well spent. The driver of this Lamborghini Huracan is lucky to escape with his life after losing control.
At that time, Akio Toyoda had been promoted to become director of operations in China. In addition, Naruse knew from mentoring Akio through driver training courses that he not only possessed a world-class business brain but was a skilled wheelman and talented enthusiast, too. If anyone could get the concept, it would be him.
So in order to get a clearer direction Toyoda, Naruse and Tanahashi took turns behind the wheel of various supercars to try and understand exactly what made them so super. He realised that rather than trying to make a supercar work with everything else, the project would stand a greater chance of success if the effect was reversed.
A halo project like this could actually influence the rest of the brand. From that point on, Akio was committed to the project, lending it his full support.
Although Lexus had been launched internationally since the LS arrived in , the vehicles had never been marketed under that name in Japan. So when the board of directors decided to introduce Lexus to the domestic market, Akio saw this as his opportunity to propose the idea of a sporting flagship; one that embodied his idea of how an ultimate Lexus should connect with its owner.
Despite overwhelming negativity he felt there remained a glimmer of hope, and set out to quantify the potential benefit of a halo model to the board. It required huge resources — all of the components had to be developed uniquely and it would not be possible to repurpose the parts. Though difficult to justify, the board eventually agreed that the LFA proposal could not be judged using traditional customer influence analysis and opinion surveys. Later, word came through that Akio and Atsushi had been successful in their pitch.
The LFA project was approved but it came with a caveat — total production would be capped at units. While that disappointed some, Tanahashi in particular, the strategy had precedent. Many brands, including Ferrari and Toyota itself, had benefited from the exclusivity of low-volume models.
Promoted in to the position of vice president of product planning for all vehicles, Akio knew that to stand any chance of LFA being a success, it had to remain true to the concept originally conceived by the skunkworks trio. Compromises were avoided at all costs, which meant committing to the sort of expenditure that went way beyond typical practices at TMC — beyond even the technical abilities of the company at the time. No wonder the final cost of the LFA project remains top secret.
At one point, the pair had to decide between using aluminium and carbon fibre for the chassis. The decision to go with carbon fibre significantly increased pre-production development time.
But over the next few years, that extra time was put to good use. Akio was similarly enthralled by this challenging loop of corners around the natural amphitheatre of the Eifel mountains, and with over laps under his belt was already something of a Ring Meister. In , Toyoda and Naruse decided to channel this enthusiasm for motorsport by starting a race team — Gazoo Racing.
But there was widespread debate about the true identity of one particular racing driver, known only by the pseudonym Morizo — the quirky cartoon mascot of the World Expo in Aichi, Japan.
I needed to develop my own senses to build a better car. Instead, Gazoo Racing has achieved something more important in the grand scheme of things: it made Lexus come alive in the eyes of motoring enthusiasts and revealed a company president that is a confirmed petrolhead.
His racing is good for the brand. A little over a year later, on 15 December 15 , the first car rolled off the Motomachi production line in a special ceremony attended by Akio, Lexus brand ambassador Riyo Mori Miss Universe , and team members from the development and manufacturing divisions.
This gala event was a joyful occasion, the culmination of many years of hard-fought personal and engineering battles, but it was also a bittersweet time.
Almost six months previously, Akio had received an early morning phone call that chilled his soul. He was 67 years old. Akio was devastated and to this day remains emotional when recalling the loss of his friend and mentor.
Unfortunately, this was not the end of the tragedies. Takashi Hata, a contemporary confidante and managing officer of the company, succumbed to a degenerative bone disease.
Despite these losses, Akio has ensured that this same agenda remains. He is determined to continue encouraging the love of cars within the corporation, rather than just their efficient production.
Five hundred cars had been built in two years — a production rate of one per day. It revolutionised the Toyota Production System, and empowered engineers and designers to think more creatively and forge closer cooperation with their colleagues in production. Interestingly, there is a great appetite within Lexus to build another LFA but the president is circumspect in his reply to that matter. The purpose of its rebuilding is to pass on skills to a new generation.
In the s we had the Supra.
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