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Lexus LF-A – Japan’s next supercar?

The Lexus LF-A concept car looked as if it could have come straight from the pages of a Dan Dare comic book

17 April 2008

Since the heroic Toyota Supra went out of production several years ago neither Toyota or its sister brand Lexus has built a true sports car.

Andy Goodwin takes a look at the car which could change all this and give Lexus its first supercar.

In 2005 Toyota revealed the Lexus LF-A concept car at the Detroit motor show – a car promising huge performance, designed to sit at the top of its Lexus halo brand.

The Lexus LF-A concept car looked as if it could have come straight from the pages of a Dan Dare comic book, with its hugely rakish body, sharp-edged design and three exhausts arranged in a triangle on its rump.

View more pictures of the Lexus LF-A roadster

And now we know it has the credentials to back up its appearance. Shortly after its show debut it was spotted by spy photographers driven around Germany’s infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife, the longest and most gruelling racing track in the world.

Driving Miss Daisy

And it wasn’t being piloted by Miss Daisy, but a Toyota test driver intent on giving it a thorough workout as it was hustled from one corner to the next at high speed, tyres screaming.

According to unofficial reports the disguised test car even achieved a lap time of 7 minutes 24 seconds, which would make it one of the fastest road cars ever.

The sound of the engine was the distinctive high-pitched wail of a highly tuned V10, and it was speculated that this engine had been designed to put the Lexus LF-A in line with Toyota’s Formula One racing campaign. Unfortunately for Toyota, Formula One car’s engines became V8s soon after.

Toyota announced the LF-A’s engine would indeed be a 5-litre V10, giving the car around 500bhp and making it the by far the most powerful and fastest car ever to come from the Toyota family.

In 2007 rumours surfaced the UK director of Lexus had unofficially confirmed two versions of the LF-A had been given the green light by parent company Toyota and would go into production – the aforementioned V10 petrol and a hybrid.

Green grunt?

A hybrid? Toyota are the brand leaders in hybrid technology and the world’s first and fastest hybrid supercar would be a massive achievement – especially as gas-guzzling supercars are starting to be considered ‘anti-social’.

It would be a direct competitor to the Audi R8 V12 TDI, the sensational concept expected to the world’s first diesel supercar when it goes into production.

In January this year Lexus showed off a roadster version of the LF-A concept car and its looks were even more jaw-dropping than the hard-top version. It featured a retractable rear spoiler to improve high speed stability and grip and a promise in Lexus’ press release its top speed would be “more than 200mph”.

It is hoped we will see the Lexus LF-A in showrooms in the next two or three years, but nothing has been officially announced yet.

If you want to see it sooner keep checking the British Motor Show website for news, because the stunning Lexus LF-A Roadster may well be making an appearance.

View more pictures of the Lexus LF-A roadster

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