The Beginning and the End of the Lexus LFA – Together at Last

The Lexus LFA we all know and love has been out of production for a few months now. Just 500 examples were made, all of which are now roaming free on the world’s roadways, minus a few being kept in a museum. Those 500 Lexus LFAs are very special cars, because to this day there are few other vehicles that turn heads like the LFA does. Its extravagant bodywork draws eyes from anywhere and its unmistakable 552 horsepower V10 roar is good enough to taunt enthusiasts from miles away. Development famously took nearly 10 years because Toyota refused to allow anything less than perfection to make it to production, and many would argue that they’ve gotten exactly what they wanted out of it.

Many of the world’s super cars will be remembered for the numbers – like top speed, power, or price – but the LFA will be remembered as a driver’s car that was loved by its owners for being just that, which is what brings us to these two LFAs you see here.

These two are particularly special, because one of them is the first customer-owned LFA in the world (left) and the other is the last customer-owned LFA in the world (right). And as you can see from the photos, they’re both together out in public for the enthusiasts at Atlanta’s Caffeine and Octane car meet to salivate over (but not on). That’s because they’re both owned by the same person. Why? Because he just loves them that much.

That proud owner is a gentleman in the Atlanta area that our pal Blake Z. Rong got to interview as he was picking up his second LFA. He genuinely loves the Lexus LFA, which was evident in February of 2011 when he took his first, serial number 003, out to Atlanta’s Caffeine and Octane car meet just a matter of hours after it had arrived from Japan. Serial number 001 and 002 were kept by Toyota, which is why 003 is regarded as the first customer-owned LFA in the world. At the time, it had less than 50 miles on the odometer and you could still smell the plastic used to cover up the upholstery. It takes a true car guy to drive a $400,000-ish super car to an enthusiast gathering in a crowded parking lot before anywhere else.

Fast-forward to last Sunday: LFA number 003 made another appearance at Caffeine and Octane, but this time it was joined by his second car, LFA number 499. Since LFA #500 was sent to a museum, this is the last-customer owned LFA in the world. Both cars were easily the center of attention for the entire show. No matter how many lime green Lamborghinis or 10-second GTOs rolled in, these two drew the biggest crowd. The owner stayed by his babies the entire time, answering questions, opening hoods, and occasionally firing it up for a few quick throttle blips. He gave us all total access to these two amazing cars that most would hide under car covers, and for that, we thank him.

I did, however, notice a “For Sale” sign next to LFA 003. There are likely plenty of buyers lined up already for their shot at owning a piece of Toyota history, so this may be the last time that we ever see these two significant LFAs together like this.

To sum all this up: the Lexus LFA was a truly incredible era for Toyota as a whole, and one of the coolest exotic car owners on earth owns the beginning and the end of that incredible era, at least for now. Sure beats having them both collect dust in a basement.

Images © Hooniverse/Greg Kachadurian | The full Flickr gallery can be found here