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End of the Road for the Lexus LFA

lexus lfa

Photo Courtesy of Lexus

Seeing most any luxury car sail off into the sunset can be a sad affair for enthusiasts, especially when that car is as eminently desirable as the Lexus LFA.

Following a series of concept cars and racing prototypes, Lexus brought the LFA to market just over two years ago in December 2010, when it charted new territory for Lexus and its parent company Toyota. The Japanese automaker had never before made anything as extreme in its performance capabilities and exotic construction as the LFA.

 lexus lfa

Toyota and Lexus opened a new production facility specifically for the LFA, building it largely out of cost-intensive but lightweight carbon fiber – something it had little experience in doing. But in case that wasn't enough, it also designed a new V10 engine for it – something that had only been done so far by a handful of manufacturers like Lamborghini (for the Gallardo), BMW (for the previous M5 and M6) and Chrysler (for the Viper).

Unfortunately the rising value of the yen made the LFA an expensive proposition indeed, jacking the price up to $375,000 and still Lexus was estimated to be losing money on each one sold. Still, it fulfilled each of the 500 orders it took, with the last one rolling off the assembly line just recently.

 lexus lfa

Rumors were afoot that Lexus would follow up with an additional run of 500 convertible versions, but the strength of Japan's currency has left that prospect all but completely out of the question.

And so we bid farewell with a tear in our eye to one of the most advanced exotic supercars ever made in Japan, or anywhere else for that matter. Goodbye, LFA. We hardly knew ye.

Check out our review of the Lexus LFA: Behind the Wheel of the Lexus LFA lexus lfa
 lexus lfa
 lexus lfa
 lexus lfa
 lexus lfa

Noah Joseph

Noah Joseph is a veteran automotive journalist and lifestyle writer whose words have been published in print and online media around the world. A military reservist and multinational citizen, Noah lives with his wife and son in the mountains above the Mediterranean Basin. ...(Read More)

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