Turn of the Decade Spotlight: Lexus

Lexus has just recently emerged from the obscure corner of the automotive world. Before, Lexus was a car that was just there. Now, Lexus is forging ahead under a new banner: the LF series. LF-series stands for Lexus Future series, and are designed under a philosophy called L-finesse. L-finesse is the embodiment of 3 Japanese kanji, which in turn represent various ideas. L-finesse consists of Intriguing Elegance, Incisive Simplicity, and Seamless Application. This philosophy regarding car designs was implemented in 2006, noticeably altering the looks and styles of Lexus vehicles, primarily in the IS series.

Now, that philosophy has brought the world the epitome of Japanese automotive engineering, the latest and greatest in the LF series: the LFA .The LFA. A $400,000 monstrosity of carbon fiber and aluminum alloy, powered by a 4.8L V10 pumping out 552 bhp, making for a 0-60 time of 3.6 seconds, and a top speed of 202 mph.

Now, you may be wondering how Lexus managed to pull a super car out of the blue. There was seemingly no indication that Lexus was working on, or even capable of, a super car. But, The LFA has been in the works for years. Prototypes have been spotted running laps Nurburgring since October 2004, implicating the LFA has been a Lexus project for almost a decade. But the LFA was well worth the wait. It stands as a viable competitor capable of knocking down the Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari F430, Porsche 911, and the Corvette ZR1.

There's even an concept out for a Roadster model:

So far, the only people who have driven the LFA beyond car reviewers, are, really, no one. So, we'll all have to rely on the word of those reviewers, until we can really see for ourselves.