A few years ago, the ever-present complaint from automotive journalists revolved around the observation that every brand seemed to want to be a luxury brand. Volkswagen's Phaeton sucked and the Passat was getting expensive. Hyundai was "planning" a foray into the entry-luxury market with a large V8 sedan. Overlapping in pricing from one company's mainstream brand - Toyota, for instance - into the same company's luxury brand - Lexus in this case - was becoming an accepted phenomenon.
We've moved past the problem. Yeah, the Phaeton is still remembered as sucky. But the Hyundai Genesis is a ridiculously nice car, a Good 12 v2.0 winner in fact. If consumers want to pay Lexus-like prices for their loaded Toyota Sienna they can go right ahead. It's a Lexus-like experience after all.
Now the problem for confused automotive journalists becomes IWTBAS. Pronounced Eye-wit-baass, IWTBAS is a condition otherwise known as I Want To Build A Supercar. Thus, an engineering firm named Caparo builds the world's most capable bug-eyed vehicle, the T1. Thus, the licensed manufacturer of the old Lotus 7, Caterham, goes crazy with the Levante. Audi, formerly the creator of sedans with beautifully arched roofs, sends the R8 on down. Even Ford got it on this back in '05 with the knock-your-socks-off GT-should'a-been-GT40.
So here we have Lexus, an established luxury player with a reputation strong enough to support the existence of a halo car like the LF-A, unveiling the LF-A to unsuspecting masses who would be more comfortable accepting something in the Ford GT arena. No, not retro. And not with an American V8 or doorframes that took of half your cranium. Rather, it would make sense to us if Lexus introduced an exoticar with junior supercar pricing.
How would Lexus go about amending their procedures? Firstly, shave about $200,000 off the pricetag. Such a subtraction would bring the price in line with the Ford GT's old pricing scheme in the $150K-$160K neighbourhood.
Next up: additional power. Lexus figures the LF-a will crack 202 miles per hour. Top speed not important? Of course top speed's irrelevant, except for image. And.... uh... image is everything with supercars which generally sit in a 10-car garage doing nothing all day. Perhaps Lexus is pulling our collective leg. Maybe 202mph is automatic. But Ford's GT could top 210mph with a little less horsepower and a little more weight. Something's clearly off.
Thirdly, the Lexus LF-A simple doesn't look the part. Personally, I always struggled with the modern Ford GT because its inspiration from the 60s was so much better. Regardless, on the road the Ford GT brought chills to my bones and rattled my skin. It looked like nothing else ever delivered to mankind. The LF-A's proportions are generic. Without its phalanx of scoops and inlets and outlets and wings, the LF-A would look like a more expensive successor to the old (awesome) SC400. Yeah, something that belongs way under $100,000.
Finally, there was something tremendously Fordish about the GT. It was the All-American quarterback who dates the head cheerleader and ate apple pie and ice cream at his wealthy great aunt's mansion after school on Thursdays and took a gap year after graduating from a high school named after a president to tour southern Europe.
Meanwhile, the Lexus LF-A doesn't fit with the current Lexus image at all. Not that The Good Car Guy wants it, but Lexus ought to give us something electric besides the windows and door locks. Where are my batteries? Where's the 20mpg supercar? Couldn't the outer surface of the car be covered with some newfangled solar panels that could (at least) power the auxiliary functions? Rather than Lexus' traditional "Pursuit Of Perfection", Toyota's luxury brand appears to have chased a halo car because that's what auto brands do.
Perfection? Hardly. Without searing laptimes on tracks around the globe and wonderfully concentrated performance credentials of the subjective variety - steering feel, sublime balance, emotional connection - the LF-A will look like a dolt. Considering Lexus' objective to sell only 500 LF-As, one wonders if Lexus realizes the car won't be welcomed. Ford sold over 4,000 GTs.
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