Today we pay tribute to the last Lexus LFA, a Nurburgring Edition, that rolled off of the production line yesterday, the 17th of December.
The last Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition being rolled off the line Source
Beginning design for the LFA in early 2000 and kicking off production about a decade later on December 15, 2010, the LFA was only destined to be hand-built 500 times, making no more than 20 models per month and one car per day. Given the extremity of the figures associated with this car in terms of production, it's no wonder that this was one super Toyota and not just your average Camry.
Nurburgring LFA Source
The engine was designed with a 4.8 L V10 engine to accomodate high rev speeds with a relatively small displacement for a super car and still achieve large amounts of torque thanks to ten cylinders. In fact, the engine revved so quickly to 10,000 RPM's that an analog tachometer would not cut it. Quite cool, indeed.
And despite having the "roar of an angel" according to Toyota Engineers, the car sported much more than a highly advanced engine with heads designed by Yamaha (once again).
Lexus LFA Chassis Source
No, this isn't your average supercar with an all-aluminum body like the revered Honda NSX. This is a car with a carbon-fiber chassis which not only helps to contribute to the light curb weight of 3,263 lbs and a weight-to-power ratio of 5.9 lbs/hp!
Chassis of the Nurburgring Edition LFASource
With all of that being said, it's no wonder this car was so impressive (and that's beside the production numbers). With about 10 years of engineering put into this car and numerous concept models-- it's probably safe to say that Toyota will never design anything cooler. Challenge accepted, Toyota?
Until next time, thanks for reading.
