The Lexus LFA has been out production for seven years, and yet the luxury automaker sold three new examples of its supercar in 2019.
Even more surprising, that means LFA sales increased by 50 percent year-over-year with two sold in 2018. Lexus built only 500 examples of the LFA worldwide, and only 178 came to the U.S.
Lexus reported its annual sales for 2019 on Friday. Hidden in the numbers was the fact that three LFAs were sold. How? That's easy to explain.
When the LFA was new it had an astonishing sticker price of $375,000, and that's if a dealership didn't mark it up. Somewhere between the astronomical price and the fact that some dealers added insane markups, several LFAs sat unsold. That may have worked in the dealers' favor, as the cars could then act as showpieces to draw people into their showrooms.
Eventually, the dealerships decide to sell these cars.
It's easy to see why the LFA draws people's attention. Lexus used technology from Toyota's Formula One program to develop a road car. It's powered by a magical 4.8-liter V-10 that makes 552 horsepower and 334 pound-feet of torque. That's not the magical part; the 9,000-rpm redline and Yamaha-tuned exhaust note are the magic. The power goes to the rear wheels via a dated 6-speed single-clutch automated manual transmission. Lexus created a carbon-fiber body for the car, and that's the main reason it had such a high sticker price.
The LFA is so insane it gets serviced like a Le Mans race car.
The last Lexus LFA rolled off the assembly line in December 2012 and onto U.S. soil in February 2013. As of August of 2017, 12 unsold LFAs were left in the U.S., and since then AutoBlog has kept tabs on the remaining stock. With three LFAs sold in 2019, five cars still remain unregistered and up for grabs.
