The 2012 Lexus LFA was a high-water mark for Toyota’s luxury brand. The car never got a direct successor, but a practically untouched example with less than 500 miles is scheduled to cross the block at RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island auction on May 22.
Finished in Steel Gray, this car isn’t as distinctive as the brown LFA that came up for sale earlier this year, but it’s still quite rare. Number 430 of 500 cars built, it’s one of only 11 finished in this particular hue, according to the listing.
The LFA was meant as a halo car for Lexus, giving the brand more prestige and using some of parent Toyota’s Formula One experience to do it. It’s powered by a 5.2-liter V-10 that makes 552 hp and 334 lb-ft of torque, with a 9,000-rpm redline. The engine and the LFA’s carbon-fiber body still seem modern today, but the 6-speed single-clutch automated manual transmission gives away the car’s age.
2012 Lexus LFA (Photo by RM Sotheby’s)
Production of the LFA ended in December 2012, and the last car reached the U.S. in February 2013. The listing claims Lexus imported approximately 190 cars to the U.S., although other sources say 178 cars were imported.
Either way, the LFA was a slow seller. Five new, unregistered cars remained up for grabs as of January 2020 likely due to the outlandish $375,000 starting price. Some dealerships held onto their LFAs as display pieces to drive showroom traffic.
It’s unclear if this LFA will meet its pre-auction estimate of $425,000 to $500,000, which is a significant increase over the $388,300 the owner originally paid for it. However, that’s still a lot less than the aforementioned brown LFA, which was listed for sale through an exotic-car dealership earlier this year with a $680,000 asking price.
