Filed under: Sports/GTs, Lexus, Toyota, Rumormill
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lexus LF-A concept.
The writing has been on the wall for some time. Although the Lexus flagship graduated from “concept” to “prototype” when it campaigned in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, Toyota has refused to even hint at a production date for the V10 supercar. Then Toyota declined to plonk an LF-A silhouette on their Super GT racer, electing to continue with the doomed SC 430 jello mold.
Then news broke that production cars would cost a whopping $225,000, but the LF-A still wouldn’t turn a profit. Needless to say, Toyota doesn’t like things that are not profitable.
Finally, members of the testing and development crew who have been putting the car though its paces in Germany, as well as test drivers from rival Honda and Nissan crews, have told Autoblog that the LF-A is not destined for the showroom, and will remain only a development platform.
No reasons were given, but we can think of a couple. How many people are willing to part with nigh on a quarter of a million bucks for a Toyota/Lexus? Also, the world’s most prolific car maker may not be willing to join the current Nurburgring pissing contest unless it is 100% sure that they can beat the Viper, ZR-1 and perhaps more importantly, the GT-R and upcoming NSX replacement.
Actually, one ‘Ring test driver didn’t mind going on the record with his opinion. Former Nissan racer, NSX development driver and Nurburgring legend Motoharu “Gan-san” Kurosawa reckons, “Toyota are good at making money, but they’re no good at making sports cars.”
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Filed under: Motorsports, Subaru, UK, Celebrities
The picture at right was taken a just a day after the rally legend was killed in a tragic helicopter crash near his home in Lanarkshire. Without prompting, rally fans from across the UK drove to Scotland to hold a memorial in the McRaes’ hometown, which quickly filled up with Subarus, most of them WR blue.
One year on, they’ve gotten organized. Next Saturday, August 30, Colin’s dad, Jimmy, will drive his son’s famous 555 Impreza out of Lanark and head for Prodrive’s factory in Banbury, southern England. By the time he reaches Birmingham he will have 700 Subarus in his mirrors forming an all-wheel-drive parade that’s expected to stretch over 10 miles. Then, on Sunday the 31st, another 600 scoobies are set to join the tailback as it heads to Prodrive’s test track in Warwickshire. Yep, that’s 1,300 cars in a 20 -plus-mile snake, powered by 5,200 horizontally opposed cylinders.
Although official entry to the event is now closed, organizers expect even more Subarus to show up on the day. Details of the route can be found at http://www.mcrae-gathering.co.uk/
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Continue reading about 20-mile-long convoy of Subarus to celebrate life of Colin McRae
Filed under: Motorsports, Japan
Just under a year since the concept was announced, two brand new 2009 Formula Nippon chassis, designed and built by California’s Swift Engineering, have gone through shakedown trials at Fuji Speedway. Autoblog spoke to Team Toyota TOM’S Andre Lotterer, one of the first two F’pon pilots to take the radically designed machine out for a spin, to see what he thought of the exceptionally wide single seater.
First off, they seem to be pretty well put together. In an unusual turn of events for a brand new car, nothing broke or fell off during the its first outing in anger. Equally unusual, the new design is almost as quick as the Lola chassis it replaces, and with a few adjustments is destined to be even quicker. That’s saying something: Andre has managed to lap Fuji in 1 minute 23 seconds in the 2008 Formula Nippon car, less than 5 seconds off Lewis Hamilton’s record of 1:18.7
Although the chassis currently lacks mechanical grip, pitching the car in to crowd pleasing slides in slow corners, Andre reckons that the gigantic 6′ 4″ wide front wing and sculpted sidepods are generating plenty of downforce, keeping the car planted through higher-speed bends. Unfortunately, those advanced aerodynamics won’t be able to prevent incidents such as F1 refugee Yuji Ide’s aerobatics at Suzuka earlier this year, and super rookie Kohei Hirate’s wince inducing flight into the barriers at Motegi a few weeks ago, but the Swift monocoque is even stronger than the 2008 Lola tub that saved those drivers from serious injury.
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Continue reading about American-made Formula Nippon car debuts at Fuji