• Year of manufacture 
    2011
  • Car type 
    Other
  • Lot number 
    136
  • Reference number 
    PA23_r0021
  • Condition 
    Used
  • Location
    France
  • Exterior colour 
    Other

Description

  • Part of The Degenève Collection
  • A one-owner example of Lexus’ ground-breaking hand-built supercar
  • One of only three LFAs supplied new to France, and of just 500 sold worldwide
  • Powered by a 552 horsepower, 4,805 cc, 72-degree, dry-sump V-10
  • Odometer reads just 9,059 kilometres at the time of cataloguing

When Toyota’s flagship Lexus division unveiled its first model in 1989, pundits were quick to take note. At the first attempt, the firm had achieved the impossible: the LS400 set a new benchmark for refinement, shaming long-established rivals in the process. It was little surprise, then, that when the marque set out to build its first—and to date, only—supercar, the result was truly extraordinary. Almost a decade in the making, when the wraps came off at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, it was undoubtably worth the wait.

Built around a carbon monocoque, the Lexus was equipped with a 552 horsepower, 4,805 cc V-10 capable of hitting 9,500 rpm so quickly that a conventional rev counter was reportedly unable to keep up. Instead, the LFA’s Alcantara-clad cockpit featured state-of-the-art digital instruments worthy of a fighter jet. Driving through a six-speed transaxle, this hand-built technological tour de force could sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds and top 322 km/h. Carbon-ceramic brakes and 20-inch Bridgestone rubber meant it could stop with the same breath-taking alacrity.

Honed over five years at the Nürburgring before going on sale—including two 24-hour races—in 2011 the Lexus set a time of 7:14.64 around the German circuit, establishing a world record for a road-legal production vehicle. Yet for all its avant garde construction, howling V-10 and technical prowess, only 500 LFAs were ever destined to leave the Motomatchi factory, each costing $375,000. Of those, 40 were delivered to Europe, of which only seven—including the car offered—were finished in Pearl White.

The 65th LFA built, chassis 000118 has been owned since new by The Degenève Collection, a glittering selection of landmark automobiles assembled by one of Europe’s longest-serving Toyota dealers. Despite the addictive nature of the V-10, the Lexus had covered just 5,870 kilometres by the time of the six-year service in 2019, and at time of cataloguing the odometer read just 9,059 kilometres.

Offered complete with the original manuals, this single-owner Lexus has been carefully maintained by Toyota Motorsport of Cologne and represents a rare opportunity to acquire one of the most extraordinary Japanese cars ever designed.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/pa23.


RM Sotheby's
5 Heron Square
Richmond
TW9 1EL
United Kingdom
Contact Person Kontaktperson
Title 
Mr
First name 
Augustin
Last name 
Sabatie-Garat

Phone 
+44-2078517070