Spotted: Lexus LFA supercar cruising the streets of Auckland

Here’s something we never expected to see cruising past us in Auckland’s CBD – a highly-limited Lexus LFA.

The $1 million+ supercar is the only example in the country, so you could imagine our excitement when we saw it cruising along Quay Street and Tamaki Drive last week.

That same feeling was seemingly reflected among fellow admirers and car spotters too, considering just how much the car popped up all over our social media feed.

To some, the LFA may look relatively understated on the outside thanks to its elegantly-shaped bodywork and sparing use of air vents compared to other performance cars. However, it’s fairly significant when you consider that just 500 units were made between 2010 and 2012.

The reason for such a short production run is all thanks to Akio Toyoda, CEO of Toyota at the time, who wanted to create a flagship model for the Lexus brand that truly connected with owners.

With that being said, we don’t think there’s a better way the Japanese carmaker could have captured the hearts and minds of us all than by what it put under the bonnet. Within the supercar’s carbon fibre-reinforced polymer chassis lays a naturally aspirated 4.8-litre V10 that was developed in conjunction with Yamaha, making a respectable 412kW and 480Nm of torque.

While those power figures are somewhat tame by today’s standards, many enthusiasts hold the 1LR-GUE engine in high regard as they consider it to be one of the greatest-sounding of all time.

The highly-limited supercar was never sold in New Zealand from new because it was deemed too expensive to sell and its servicing requirements were too specialised, according to Giltrap Group.

If you want an LFA for yourself, it is said that one remains unsold overseas even though production ended over a decade ago. The average price for one in the used market is around $US673,840 ($NZ1.1 million).

The example on our shores previously made an appearance at the Starship Supercar Show in 2021 and with this year’s event rapidly approaching, it’s possible the LFA could be on show yet again. However, this has yet to be confirmed.