PART TWO: THE ROADSTER

Why show a nearly-identical roadster version of the LF-A Concept for the 2007 show season?

Mainly, to show the potential of the front-engine supercar design, as well as to prove that the idea was still progressing nicely on the road to production.

In lipstick red, the LF-A Roadster certainly got hearts racing. People we palpably excited for the car at this point — but would have to wait another two years for the production coupe to drop its silk robes.

2007 Lexus LF-A Roadster

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How time flies!

Versus the 2010 Lexus LFA production supercar, the 2005 Lexus LF-A Coupe is fairly shocking. Why?

Not just its hyphen versus the hyphen-free production car? Yes, but there is more =]

First of all, the production car is far more attractive.This is a rarity across almost every concept to reality series before, and shows how quickly the Lexus supercar idea was evolving alongside Lexus’s overall design aesthetic.

And secondly, that this LFA concept seems so unbelievably early in the car’s evolution. Detail elements that are typically finished in most Toyota and Lexus concepts are very raw and design-buck-like here. Example? Almost none of the interior is functional on this concept, but the key waterfall central spine architecture and LED tachometer carried forward to the road car.

Even the exterior form language is very close to the final design of the production model, with a drop-nose look and prominent rear shoulders for the mid-mounted radiators and oil cooler. These became the constant elements of the design as it developed.

The most dramatic change to the design is the nose, which left the bulging central nose cone of the concept in favor of a streamlined look. The headlamps are also dramatically changed, with a triangular shape in place of the LFA concept’s wide block of dual-projector beams.

2005 Lexus LF-A Coupe