An update for the 2024 Toyota Yaris hatch has landed in Australia.

The changes are headlined by the return of a sub-$30,000 base model variant after Toyota deleted petrol-only versions of the Yaris last month.

At the time, the pre-update Yaris line-up was reduced to two hybrid variants – the mid-spec SX and top-of-the-range ZR – as the Ascent Sport was not available in hybrid form.

1

The newly-added Yaris Ascent Sport hybrid is priced from $28,500 before on-road costs – up $3700 over the now-deleted petrol version, but down $1690 over the previous most-affordable hybrid.

All 2024 Toyota Yaris variants also receive a handful of tech upgrades, including a larger 8-inch touchscreen running Toyota’s latest infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

It also supports updated Toyota Connected Services functionality, which sees the previous three-year free trial move to a shorter 12-month complimentary period.

1

Connected satellite navigation is now standard, which costs $12.50 per month to maintain after the 12-month free trial period expires as part of Toyota’s ‘connected multimedia’ subscription.

SX and ZR variants are also fitted with a new 7-inch digital instrument cluster, which replaces analogue dials and a 4.2-inch multi-function display.

There’s also a new front grille pattern and seat trim patterns for all variants, new ‘HEV’ badges, and additional USB-C charge ports throughout to replace USB-A sockets.

Active safety improvements include motorcyclist and vehicle head-on detection for the autonomous emergency braking system, which also has enhanced intersection detection during the day.

1

Emergency steering assist is now available for all Yaris variants, while the cameras and sensors for the adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist now operate over a wider area.

SX and ZR variants add low-speed emergency braking in forward and reverse when parking if an imminent collision is detected, while the ZR features safe exit assist – which uses the same radar as the blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alerts – to prevent ‘dooring’ other road users.

Prices have increased between $1270 and $1770 for 2024 Toyota Yaris SX and ZR variants.

The 2024 Toyota GR Yaris hot hatch is due to receive a separate update later this year, headlined by the addition of an automatic transmission option.

JUMP AHEAD

• 2024 Toyota Yaris pricing
• 2024 Toyota Yaris features
• 2024 Toyota Yaris colours
• Engine, drivetrain, and fuel economy
• Safety
• Dimensions
• Warranty and servicing

1

2024 Toyota Yaris pricing

Back to the top.

1

2024 Toyota Yaris features

2024 Toyota Yaris SX features

2024 Toyota Yaris ZR features

Toyota Connected Services is standard on the Yaris. Available features include automatic collision notification, SOS emergency calls, stolen vehicle tracking, guest driver settings, vehicle function statuses, and current vehicle location.

The SIM-based service is complimentary for 12 months from the date of vehicle delivery.

Back to the top.

1

2024 Toyota Yaris colours

Back to the top.

1

Engine, drivetrain, and fuel economy

All Toyota Yaris hybrids use a 1.5-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine paired with two electric motors, for a maximum combined 85kW/141Nm power output. It is matched to a CVT automatic transmission.

Back to the top.

1

Safety

The Toyota Yaris is covered by a five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on testing conducted under the 2020-22 criteria.

This rating covers all variants sold in Australia, except the GR Yaris hot hatch.

Eight airbags, including a front-centre airbag, feature across the range.

Front/rear parking sensors and low-speed emergency braking are available on SX and ZR grades, while the ZR adds blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and safe exit assist.

Back to the top.

1

Dimensions

The Toyota Yaris has a wheelbase of 2550 millimetres, and is 3950mm long, 1695mm wide and 1495mm tall.

2024 Toyota Yaris boot space

All Toyota Yaris hybrid models have a 270-litre boot.

Back to the top.

Warranty and servicing

The Yaris is covered by Toyota’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty.

If a Toyota dealer services the vehicle, a seven-year warranty applies to the engine and driveline, while a 10-year warranty covers the hybrid battery.

The Japanese manufacturer also offers customers capped-price servicing, with the first five visits to a dealer for servicing costing $245 each.

Back to the top.

The 2024 Nissan X-Trail N-Trek mid-size SUV has been unveiled with an off-road focus.

Due in local showrooms later this month, the X-Trail N-Trek slots between the ST-L and Ti in the line-up, adding a darkened grille, a unique lower front bumper with different LED fog lamps, and black-painted side mirror caps, door handles and roof rails.

It is a rival for other off-road-styled mid-size SUVs including the Toyota RAV4 Edge and the Subaru Forester Wilderness, the latter of which currently isn’t offered in Australia.

1

There is also a different 18-inch alloy wheel design, while the N-Trek adds synthetic leather upholstery with water-resistant qualities.

Compared to the ST-L, the N-Trek also features the larger 12.3-inch infotainment system and 12.3-inch full-digital instrument cluster available in the Ti and Ti-L, along with a 10.8-inch colour head-up display.

All other features are shared with the X-Trail ST-L, including a 360-degree camera, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and push-button start, heated front seats, and key active safety features.

1

It commands a $3600 premium over an equivalent ST-L variant. The N-Trek AWD also undercuts the Ti AWD – which has more equipment but fewer seats – by $100.

Available colours include ‘gun metallic’, ‘diamond black’ ‘champagne silver’, ‘ivory pearl’, and ‘ceramic grey’ in a single-tone finish. The last three colours are available with a two-tone black roof.

The X-Trail N-Trek is available in five-seat front-wheel-drive or seven-seat all-wheel-drive form with a 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol. An E-Power version is not currently planned for Australia.

1

A Nissan Australia spokesperson told Wheels an E-Power petrol-electric hybrid version of the N-Trek is under consideration for our market.

“We are constantly reviewing our product line-up and ensuring we have the right product offering for the market. X-Trail N-Trek will commence with the ICE engine however, we will continue to evaluate the opportunity and suitability for X-Trail N-Trek e-Power for this market,” said the spokesperson.

The 2024 Nissan X-Trail N-Trek is due in Australia in late April.

1

2024 Nissan X-Trail pricing

The drive-away prices for all petrol and hybrid MG vehicles sold in Australia – except the MG5 sedan – have been slashed by up to $6000.

MG Australia has announced price reductions for the soon-to-be-replaced MG3, ZS, ZST, HS and HS Plus EV models, which apply to vehicles ordered from 1 April 2024.

The reductions applied to most petrol and hybrid MG vehicles follows the shift to national drive-away prices for the all-electric MG4 and ZS EV in late March, which resulted in savings as high as $10,000 in some states.

A $1000 price drop has been applied to Australia’s cheapest new car, the MG3 hatch that dates back to 2011. It is now priced from $18,990 drive-away.

An all-new version of the MG3 has been unveiled ahead of its mid-year arrival in Australia.

The Chinese brand has confirmed that “due to advancements in technology, safety and specification”, the new MG3 will not be priced from under $20,000.

Instead, the new MG3 will start from around $24,990 drive-away, with petrol or hybrid options.

Prices for Australia’s cheapest SUV, the small MG ZS, have fallen $1000 to $22,990 drive-away, while the better-specced ZST is between $1500 and $3500 cheaper than before.

The MG HS is between $3000 and $6000 more affordable – with all variants now available below $40,000 drive-away – while both versions of the plug-in hybrid MG HS Plus EV have fallen $5300.

New-generation versions of the ZS and HS have been uncovered in leaked design patents, with both models expected to arrive in Australia within the next 12 months.

MG Australia has not amended prices for the MG5 sedan launched in mid-2023.

It is due to receive a safety upgrade later this year with higher prices following a poor zero-star ANCAP test result.

“MG is putting customers first by ensuring everyone can access a wide range of affordable vehicles thanks to reduced nationwide drive-away pricing on our most popular models. Whenever we can pass price reductions like this onto our customers, we will make sure we do,” said MG Australia CEO Peter Ciao.

1

“In a market where customers are becoming increasingly aware of their finances, providing transparency on the final cost customers will pay for purchasing and servicing a new vehicle is very important; that’s why MG has made the move to offer both to customers with no hidden costs.”

VFACTS new-car sales data reveals MG was Australia’s seventh best-selling brand in 2023, ahead of Tesla, Subaru, Isuzu Ute, Volkswagen and Nissan.

2024 MG Australia pricing

MG3

MG4 Electric

MG5

1

MG ZS

MG ZST

MG ZS EV

1

MG HS

MG HS Plus EV (plug-in hybrid)

Another week rolls on and Grays offers more curios for you.

2017 HSV Maloo GTS-R GEN-F2

Following the end of the Holden line in 2017, speculators quickly sought out V8s to keep as collectibles.

Of these collectibles, HSV’s muscular Maloo ute would have to be up there as one of the standouts to look for, and Grays has one to check out.

2

2012 Infiniti FX FX50 S

Nissan’s venture into Australia with their premium brand might have been ill-fated, but there are still the odd Infiniti rolling around on the road.

Grays has this Infiniti FX if you want something a little different to a comparable Lexus or even Genesis.

3

2022 C8 Corvette Stingray

The new, mid-engined ‘Vette hasn’t been on Australian roads for very long, and while supercars aren’t generally a common sight, this C8 would be on of the rarer of the rarities.

3

2013 Audi SQ5 3.0 TDI Quattro

This Audi might be less of a curio than the other vehicles in this article, but the sportier SQ5 might be a good opportunity for someone looking for something with a little more zest than a regular Q5.

3

1973 Holden Torana LJ GTR

Who doesn’t love a classic Torana? The empty and soulless, probably.

This orange Holden could be worth a look if Aussie classics are what speak with you.

3

2000 Honda S2000

Consider an MX-5 to be too ordinary and everyday?

Then maybe this cult-classic from Honda, with its revvy 2.0-litre engine and 9000rpm redline is what you’re looking for. Back in 2000 the S2000 boldly marched into Mazda territory and left us all with this glorious convertible package that can stand tall in automotive history.

3

Take a look at Grays’ entire listings here [↗]

The Kia EV9 electric SUV has won the 2024 World Car of the Year title, as well as the 2024 World Electric Vehicle award.

Three finalists were shortlisted from an initial entry list of 38 vehicles from around the world in the World Car of the Year category: BYD Seal, Kia EV9 and Volvo EX30.

The BMW i5, Kia EV9 and Volvo EX30 were the World Electric Vehicle finalists from an initial entry list of 32 vehicles.

1

“We are hugely honoured that the 2024 EV9 has been named the World Car of the Year and World Electric Vehicle. This triumph is a testament to our unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and design excellence”, said Kia president and CEO Ho Sung Song.

“The Kia EV9’s continued success will drive us to keep delivering exceptional vehicles that redefine the driving experience for customers around the world.”

Hyundai and Toyota were also winners.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N was named World Performance Car, beating the BMW M2 and XM, while the Toyota Prius won the World Car Design award ahead of the Ford Bronco and Ferrari Purosangue.

1

To be eligible for the World Car of the Year award, a vehicle must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units/year, priced below the luxury-car level in its primary markets, and “on sale” in at least two major markets (China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latin America or USA) on at least two separate continents between January 1, 2023, and March 30, 2024.

For the World Electric Vehicle award, a vehicle must be powered solely by one or more electric motors and produced in volumes of at least 5,000 units/year.

The World Car Awards, which have been running since 2004, are decided by a jury of 100 distinguished international automotive journalists from 29 countries. They are selected by a secret ballot based on the judges’ evaluation of each eligible vehicle as part of their ongoing professional work.

Blacked-out versions of the 2024 Volvo XC60 and 2024 Volvo S60 have been announced for Australia.

The XC60 Black Edition and S60 Black Edition will arrive in local showrooms this month, based on the Ultimate T8 plug-in hybrid editions of both models.

Compared with regular versions, the XC60 and S60 Black Editions receive an exclusive high-gloss ‘onyx black’ exterior finish, along with black trim for the window trims, grille and badging.

1

The rims are distinctive double-spoke items, also finished in high gloss black, sized at 21 inch​es on the XC60 and 19 inch​es on the S60.

The all-black theme continues inside, with both cars featuring black Nappa leatherette and textile upholstery with ventilated front seats.

These exclusive Black Edition features build upon the equipment standard on the T8 PHEV Volvos, including:

2

The XC60 and S60 Ultimate T8, including Black Editions, are all-wheel drive plug-in hybrids powered by a twin-turbo four-cylinder and two electric motors.

Power, torque, and performance figures are unchanged from the standard T8 PHEVs, which have a 340kW/709Nm total system output allowing for a 0-100km/h sprint time in 4.5 seconds (S60) or 4.8 seconds (XC60).

The Black Edition will be available only in the Ultimate T8 Plug-in Hybrid models in “limited quantities”.

1

The 2024 Subaru WRX Club Spec limited edition has been detailed for Australia.

Due to land in local showrooms in April, the latest edition of the WRX Club Spec – last offered in 2020 in previous-generation form – will be limited to 150 examples for our market.

The WRX Club Spec will be available only as a sedan with a six-speed manual transmission.

1

Priced at $52,590 before on-road costs, Club Spec-specific features include Recaro front seats, Matte Grey finish 19-inch​ alloy wheels, Bridgestone Potenza S007 tyres, six-piston Brembo front brakes, two-piston Brembo rear brakes, ventilated and drilled front and rear brake discs, and unique steering and suspension tunes.

It is also distinguished by a large STI-style rear spoiler, a rear ‘Club Spec’ badge, and an internal ‘Club Spec’ badge with a unique ‘x/150’ number.

As announced last June, the 2024 Subaru WRX line-up has also been enhanced with the addition of active safety technology for manual WRX sedan variants – including the Club Spec.

1

This includes potentially life-saving autonomous emergency braking technology due to be mandated in Australia from March 2025, as well as lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, lead vehicle departure alert, and adaptive cruise control.

Other changes for the 2024 Subaru WRX line-up include the addition of wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for the sedan and wagon, along with a 10-speaker Harman Kardon audio system replacing six unbranded speakers for all wagon variants.

There are also additions to the WRX Sportswagon’s exterior colour palette, with ceramic white replacing crystal white and a new asteroid grey finish.

1

The 2024 Subaru WRX – including the limited edition Club Spec – is now available to order.

2024 Subaru WRX pricing

Hyundai has been teasing the prospect of a stripped out, single-make racing version of the Ioniq 5 N for a while… and now it has finally been revealed.

Built for a one-make racing series in South Korea, the racing version is dubbed the Ioniq 5 N eN1 and it features slick tyres, a stripped out interior and an overhauled bodykit complete with an enormous rear wing.

7

It’s also substantially lighter than the road-going version. Being a racing car, Hyundai has ditched creature comforts like carpets, sound-deadening and passenger seats and has instead bolted in a single fixed-back racing bucket for the driver.

The regular 21-inch wheels have also been replaced with lightweight 18-inch forged alloys wrapped in racing slicks. The road car’s glass windows are gone, too, with Hyundai instead using lighter polycarbonate for the glasshouse. Even the regular bonnet has been swapped out for one made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic (FRP).

1

An FIA-regulation roll-cage and fire extinguisher add weight back in but all told Hyundai says the Ioniq 5 N eN1 hits the scales at 1970kg. That’s a useful 260kg saving over the road car.

Aside from that ginormous rear wing, other bodykit enhancements include an entirely new nose with a wider and lower front splitter and extended wheel arches. The road car’s charging port has also been relocated to improve safety.

5

Suspension wise, the eN1 features two-way adjustable dampers and can also be altered for camber and ride height.

Many of the driver-focused features of the regular 5 N carry over, too, including the simulated 8-speed ‘gearbox’ known as N e-Shift.

The road car’s amplified exhaust noise also carries over, which is a bonus for spectators, although intriguingly teams will be able to upload their own ‘unique sounds’ to their racers.

1

As for power and performance, the eN1 uses exactly the same powertrain as the road car. That means an 84kWh battery and twin electric motors that produce 478kW and 770Nm in boost mode.

No word yet on performance figures, although we’d tip a 0-100km/h sprint of around 3.2sec, or what the top speed might be.

1

Will the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N eN1 come to Australia?

It’s unclear if we’ll ever see an eN1 in Australia — the one-make series is Korea-only for now it seems — but a Hyundai spokesperson has told Wheels they’re already working hard to ship one over for our version of N Festival in 2025.

Skoda Australia has admitted that the brand’s focus on value has been blurry in recent years, but the company is looking to address that with a range of new European-sourced affordable models.

The Czech brand has confirmed its hopes to offer a pair of new affordable electric vehicles in the coming years to help it cut-through to a new EV buyer demographic, while still asserting its intentions to have a number of sub-$40K petrol models available for customers to choose.

The EVs in the equation are the the still-to-be-revealed Elroq SUV, an electric replacement for the Karoq, and the recently-rendered Epiq compact SUV [↗️], which is set to be a cut-price offering in Europe, with a target price of €25,000 (AUD $41,450).

1

Mr Irmer was particularly enthused by the concept of the Epiq compact SUV

The first electric model from Skoda will launch this year – the Enyaq crossover SUV, and the RS version, arrive in October – and Skoda Australia managing director Michael Irmer told media at a recent event that the company is hopeful it will add the Epiq small SUV, Elroq midsize model, and a new electric seven-seater (presaged by the Vision 7S concept), as well as an electric wagon to its ranks in the coming years.

Mr Irmer was particularly enthused by the concept of the Epiq compact SUV, which is based on the new MEB Entry platform that will also underpin the VW ID.2, and which promises to put affordability at the forefront for EV customers when it’s launched in 2025.

1

“The Epiq is made to make e-mobility more accessible for the masses. For Europe, the car is contemplated to get a €25,000 starting price, but this is a lower specification than what we get.

“But we have the advantage in Australia that, given the competitive forces, our price level for a similar spec is actually quite a bit lower than in Europe,” he said, suggesting the $41,500 price point could be achievable.

“We can’t wait for this car to come, it’s going to be awesome. At the moment we’re working in the business case phase to confirm any release date,” he said.

“We’ll get the Elroq as well. It has not been shown in full… and the Elroq in size, will come as a medium, so between the Enyaq [large] and the Epiq [small],” Mr Irmer explained, before reinforcing there will also be the seven-seater large SUV that sits above the Elroq, and will sit alongside the new-generation Kodiaq model.

1

“And last but not least, what Skoda stands for, what the brand is strong for, it’s wagons. There were times we were the biggest wagon seller in the marketplace. But Skoda is synonymous with wagons, so it’s fitting for us to bring an electric wagon as well,” he said.

With new EV players entering the market on what feels like a monthly basis, Mr Irmer made it clear that the brand is conscious of the important role that affordable electric cars will play through this decade.

Skoda’s focus on affordable motoring also extends to internal combustion engine (ICE) models, with Skoda recently adding a base model Kamiq Run-Out for $32,990 drive-away, and the brand will soon have a more palatable-priced Fabia as well, given the current Monte Carlo spec stings with a $38,990 drive-away point.

1

Mr Irmer reaffirmed the brand’s intentions to have a cheaper Fabia, which has been slow to arrive in Australia, having launched in Europe in late 2021.

“It’s very difficult in this space, economically, as you would have seen – many other brands have really also struggled, Toyota was the first one, to keep it commercially viable,” he said “So we needed to get it right, and that took a little longer than expected, and now the car is coming, we’re happy to say.

“The ‘entry’ is a ‘mid-spec’, so it probably won’t be sub [$30K drive-away]. It’s really a challenging territory, and as you know, even some of the other players are getting up there as well,” he said of the new base Fabia, due here in July.

The brand also confirmed that the affordable base model versions of the Scala and Kamiq, with the three-cylinder 1.0-litre turbo 85TSI engine, will continue on when the facelifted versions of each of those models launch here in the middle of 2024.

Were you to start trying to pin down the greatest performance car ever built by a select group of countries, you’d end up with some genuine icons.

For Britain, you could choose the McLaren F1. For Germany, it could be the Porsche 911. The US has the Chevy Corvette, Italy has the Ferrari F40, and France the magnificent Bugatti Veyron.

But Japan? You could make a case for the Nissan GT-R line, the Mazda MX-5 or the Honda NSX, but in truth, the answer is none of the above. It’s the astonishing Lexus LFA. And it may always and forever be the Lexus LFA.

1

A true, no-holds-barred statement of capability? That took a constellation of stars to align

What makes that fact even more astonishing is that the LFA is the only supercar that Lexus has ever built. Yes, we’ve had perfectly creditable offerings such as the LC and the IS F, but a true no-holds-barred statement of capability? That was an idea that required a constellation of stars to align.

Tracing the genesis of the LFA leads us to a bar in Hokkaido. Haruhiko Tanahashi, developer of the ST165 Celica GT-Four, realised that the nearby Shibetsu proving ground would be the perfect place to develop a supercar. Tanahashi managed to tentatively attract the interest of his boss, TMC’s top vehicle engineer Tetsuo Hattori.

Later that year, he’d recruited TMC’s chief test engineer Hiromu Naruse to the ‘Project 680’ and, after a bunch of rough napkin sketches, they formulated the idea for a front-engined, rear-driven coupe. The brief was simple: create a vehicle which showcased Lexus engineering and quality.

1

It had to thrill the enthusiastic amateur yet still deliver for the more capable driver.

As the pair exchanged ideas, one very clear and somewhat humbling truth emerged: neither Tanahashi nor Naruse had the organisational clout to drive this project off the back of the napkin.

Fortunately, they knew someone who did. In any other organisation you’d probably call Akio Toyoda the ultimate nepo baby, grandson of Kiichiro, who founded the company, and son of Shoichiro. That would be to underestimate the way Akio had envisioned and enacted his role.

1

Rather than follow the engineering foundations of his forefathers, Akio was a businessman first and foremost, with a keen understanding of brand equity.

There’s a certain irony about the most over-engineered car in the company’s history recruiting a man with no engineering training whatsoever, but then there’s skill in being able to delegate to the right people.

It was Shoichiro and his cousin Eiji who founded the idea of the Lexus luxury arm. That much is well documented. What’s not so widely appreciated is that Lexus was not a badge sold to the Japanese domestic market. In that regard, the LFA arrived at a serendipitous moment.

1

While Akio would eventually ascend to run the Toyota conglomerate, at the time that Tanahashi and Naruse were hatching their plans for the LFA, he was playing golf in the US.

What Akio did have going for him was his obvious family connections and sway with the board, as well as representing a voice in the business that looked to reintroduce dynamism and a certain desirability to the brand. But in 2000, as he was returning to take a place on the board, Akio had a clear hole in his skill set.

He was better at driving a golf ball than a car. “I don’t want to be preached to about cars by someone who doesn’t even know how to drive,” snorted Naruse.

1

Cue an intensive course in teaching the boss how to pedal. Naruse first taught Toyoda how to brake.

Then how to control a car on snow. How to escape from an overturned vehicle. The curriculum was, in typical Naruse fashion, dementedly thorough. The close-knit team sourced the world’s leading supercars and housed them at a facility within the Shibetsu proving ground, attempting to understand what gave each its individual appeal.

With no sporting heritage behind the brand, the LFA needed to speak for itself. Tanahashi’s diary for July 6th, 2000 reads: “Evaluation drive in Shibetsu. Director says ‘baby sports cars are bad.’ This will be a grown-up sports car.”

1

“The more I trained, the more I learned, and I began to understand where the vision could fit within Lexus,” Akio said.

The more he drove the competitor cars, the more Toyoda realised that instead of trying to graft the existing Lexus brand identity into the LFA, this project had the power to do something quite different. It could dictate a new set of values to the rest of the Lexus range.

“Perhaps it could be the secret sauce… the secret sauce that flavours every car,” he figured. That was the light bulb moment when he threw his full support behind the project and began lobbying for it to become an absolutely key part of Lexus’ plans. The plan bombed.

1

“At a meeting of top management, everyone argued against the LFA proposal. Even people in charge of research and development objected to it,” Akio noted.

A compelling Plan B was clearly required. Drawing on his commercial acumen, Toyoda seized upon the benefits of a halo model, and in order to do this he recruited TMC’s advertising and brand guru, Atsushi Takada.

Takada soon realised the scale of the task before him. “Even the engineers wanted to stop it because of the cost. It required huge resources – all of the components had to be developed uniquely and it would not be possible to repurpose the parts.”

1

The masterstroke that Takada was able to employ was to convince the board that an extraordinary project could not be judged by the ordinary metrics of ordinary cars.

The LFA was different and justified a more nuanced approach. The project was green lit by the Toyota board, but there was a significant caveat. Production would be capped at just 500 cars. A limited-run model it might be, but that didn’t stop Akio pushing for investment in order to create the halo effect.

Much has been made of the fact that Lexus realised a loss on every LFA ever sold. The LFA’s exact budget was never revealed. Perhaps an element of sunk-cost fallacy began to take hold. Perhaps it was clear that Akio would, before too long, be running Toyota and it might be politically imprudent to slam the brakes on his pet project. But the LFA was engineered without compromise.

1

There was no carbonfibre expertise within the company at the time – something that pushed the team to initially go with aluminium for the chassis.

By 2003, it was clear the car needed to shed weight and Tanahashi was told to bring the carbonfibre expertise in-house. The Motomachi plant therefore invested in a vast carbonfibre weaving loom in order to create the hideously complex A-pillar and roof section of the car.

The initial LF-A prototypes, codenamed TXS, were built in June 2003. By this stage, Naruse had become the chief creative force behind the project. It was Naruse who insisted on the Kayaba dampers for the car and the painstaking partnership with Bridgestone to develop the perfect OE-fit tyre.

1

Yamaha famously co-developed the magnificent 4.8-litre V10 powerplant, but it was Naruse who consistently sent the company back to the drawing board to perfect something Yamaha knows a thing or two about: sound.

The first public showing of the LF-A Concept was at the 2005 Detroit Show. Billed as a design study with no production plans, the styling was a collaboration between Toyota and Italian designer Leonardo Fioravanti, most famous for his work with Pininfarina on Ferrari models such as the 308 GTB, 512 BB, 288 GTO and Testarossa.

By January 2007, a second LF-A concept had appeared. The dimensions were subtly different. It was 36mm wider and the wheelbase had eked out by 17mm. Most importantly, the aluminium chassis had been replaced by the hugely expensive carbonfibre tub.

1

This was clearly a significant step in productionising the car.

Naruse’s next project was to build a race team into which the LFA’s development could be fast-tracked. Cue the birth of Gazoo Racing. In 2007, the team entered a pair of Toyota Altezzas into the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

The following year, a camo-clad LF-A rolled onto the grid, under the banner of ‘Team LF-A’. Naruse knew the track well, having first competed there as a 28-year-old in the 1970 6 Hours of Nürburgring in a Celica 1600GT.

1

“When I first drove at the Nürburgring, I instinctively felt both that I had come to an incredible place and that we could use this place for development,” he said.

“However, no one at Toyota recognised the importance of Nürburgring. I think the first Toyota model to be evaluated at the Nürburgring was the original MR2. On the wonderful surfaces of Japanese circuits, it was only possible to understand about one-tenth of the car; the Nürburgring enabled us to see everything. It made it impossible to deceive ourselves.”

The press were all over the LF-A. ‘Super Supra” headlines abounded and while the LFA finished a lowly 121st, much was learned from the endeavour. The following year, the car was raced under the Gazoo Racing banner with none other than Akio Toyoda part of the four-driver team.

1

Super GT champion Akira Iida fed back data on the LF-A’s limit handling under repeated stress. Toyota executives saw Akio Toyoda, racing under the pseudonym Morizo, risk everything to stamp his commitment to the project.

The rest is history. Toyoda was named president the following January and the production version of the LFA made its official debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2009 (note the deletion of the hyphen for the production variant). But that wasn’t the end of the LFA’s story. Not by a long chalk. Naruse characteristically wanted more.

His demands were accommodated with the LFA Nürburgring Package – a series of 50 road-legal cars optimised for circuit use. This featured a 7kW power boost (lifting peak power to 420kW).

1

The transmission was recalibrated to deliver quicker shifts, weight was taken out of unsprung mass using magnesium BBS wheels, while a series of subtle aero modifications increased downforce by up to 33 percent over the standard LFA.

Naruse would never see his car reach customers. On 23 June 2010, Naruse took one of the LFA Nürburgring Package cars for a run on public roads near the Nordschleife, ran wide on an innocuous-looking sweeper and impacted a 3 Series head-on.

The two BMW employees were seriously injured but would stage a recovery. Naruse died immediately. The spot, near the small village of Boos, is today marked by a Japanese weeping cherry tree.

1

Toyoda was shattered at the loss of his mentor and there was a very real possibility that Gazoo Racing would be closed. Upon reflection, it was decided that Naruse would want the team to continue his work.

The LFA returned to the Nürburgring 24 Hours, finishing third in class in 2011 and taking a class win in 2012. The filthy, battle-scarred 2011 race car now sits proudly within the Toyota Kaikan Museum in Toyota City. A few feet away, in a glass cabinet, hangs a black Nomex racing suit with the “H. Naruse” monogram on the belt. Along with his helmet and gloves, and two Nürburgring trophies, it never leaves the race car.

The order bank for the LFA opened on 23 October 2009, with buyers carefully vetted in early 2010. Production began in December 2010, the configurator allowing a multitude of customisations to the extent that Lexus claimed 30 billion possible permutations.

1

The list price? $375,000 US dollars, or more than a Ferrari 599 at the time.

It’s therefore perhaps unsurprising that sales were hard to come by, with some cars staying on dealer floors for years before the market cottoned on to the intrinsic worth of these incredible supercars.

Production ended on 14 December 2012, with the last car finished in white and equipped with the Nürburgring package. There’s still appetite within Lexus to build another LFA but Akio Toyoda is no longer the president of Toyota, having stepped down in 2023.

1

If he had his way, another special car would be in the works. “In Japan there is the Ise Shrine,” Akio says.

“It is rebuilt every 20 years as part of the Shinto belief in the renewal of nature. The purpose of its rebuilding is to pass on skills to a new generation.

“In the 1960s we built the 2000GT sports car. In the 1980s we had the Supra. In 2000, the 20-year cycle should have continued but too many people at the time were interested in volume and sales, not in a special car. So we missed the turnover and now it has been 30 years. We will never catch up but in 20 years’ time we will come up with another new supercar. It will serve as a challenge for the next generation.” So never say never…

1

Wait, what? There was an LFA drop top? Yep. It appeared in January 2008 at the Detroit Show and had been papped by spy photographers on the Nordschleife in October 2005.

Originally designed to showcase the torsional stiffness of the carbonfibre body, it also appeared at the Geneva Show, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the US Open golf tournament in 2008.

The one-off LFA Spyder even debuted the pop-up rear spoiler ahead of the production LFA coupe.