New Lexus LFAs still unsold two years after production ended

Even today, four years after Toyota's Lexus division set out into the supercar world with the 552-hp, V-10-engined Lexus LFA, the car seems like a mirage. After a decade of planning and research, only 500 were built — meticulously, mostly by hand — with prices of $375,000 each. Able to be customized in 30 million ways, a special edition of the LFA lapped the Nürburgring in near-record time in 2011, and Lexus shut down production in 2012.

Two years later, Lexus still has unsold LFAs waiting as patiently as pastors in its U.S. showrooms. Last month it sold two; in 2014, it moved 17. Most new cars spend an average of just over two months on a dealer's lot; at this rate, the 2012 model year LFA might finally sell out in the United States right around Halloween. Why does such a fast car move so slowly out of Lexus showrooms?

Blame the unicorn nature of the LFA, starting with its price. At that level, the LFA is more expensive than every new Ferrari before options, and just slightly less expensive than a Lamborghini Aventador. Those cars have devoted followers and fans who ogle them on the street; despite its rarity and performance, the LFA has never garnered such a cult. And since it was a single model, with no predecessor, successor or even real link to the rest of the Lexus lineup, there was no momentum to remind new buyers of its existence.

It's not uncommon for high-end cars to sit on dealer lots for months and even years before a sale; higher-end, low-output manufacturers are loathe to discount their metal just to move it, fearing the damage to residual values across their lineup. Lexus isn't going to throw a cheap lease deal on the LFA, and the dealers who have one are content to use it as showroom sculpture until just the right person shows up.

We asked Lexus for comment on LFA sales, and didn't hear back, but best we can tell there are 18 new LFAs listed for sale in national databases, some with prices as high as $450,000. The new F line of performance Lexus models was meant to evoque the spirit of the LFA, and its possible that upon seeing there are still a few around, a few drivers of means will swing by after getting their Bentley serviced. But it's just as likely that by December there may be a lone LFA or two, still waiting after all these years.