Lexus LFA Nurburgring Package stars in dream auction

EACH time a high-profile auction comes around we consider sub-dividing the backyard again and chopping in another kidney, but all the vital organs and gold teeth in the world are unlikely to raise enough capital for this track star.

Just 500 regular Lexus LFAs were produced, ranking the 4.8-litre V10-powered Japanese supercar up there with the most desirable and rare series production vehicles in the world. But for the privileged few Lexus also whipped up just 50 of an even more hardcore and track-focused version, dubbed the Nurburgring Package.

If you can get to the Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach auction in California held from April 12 and have an obliging bank manager, you have a chance of putting this ultra-exclusive part of Japanese automotive history in your garage.

Created in 2010 to pay homage to the race LFAs that fought it out at the 24 Hours Nurburgring, the handful of fettled firecrackers were lightly tuned to produce seven extra kilowatts over the ‘standard’ 413kW power output but a host of other mods sharpened their claws.

Its six-speed automatic transmission was enhanced to reduce shift times, a front splitter was fitted and complemented by canards and massive fixed rear wing for increased downforce, while stickier rubber on lighter wheels and adjustable suspension completed the transformation.

When the car made an attempt at the esteemed Nurburgring record in 2011, it put in a scarcely believable lap of 7:14.64, but video evidence confirmed the claims and quashed any doubt, and for a while the LFA Nurburgring Package held the production car lap record at the Green Hell.

As for what this example will fetch? Like any auction for a rare and desirable vehicle, it’s only worth as much as someone in the room (or on the end of a phone) is willing to pay and with so few sold it’s difficult to gauge, but our guess is it will command a hearty wedge of cash.

In 2017, Sotheby’s in London brought the hammer down on a standard 2012 LFA with 2600km on the clock for a respectable £308,750 ($A566,340), but in Australia (where no more than 10 examples were delivered) the normal LFA is snowballing in value. They days of buying one for less than the $700,000 they cost when new are long gone.

Last year a white LFA with 26,426km on it went up for sale by a private owner in Queensland (at least one of the 10 is known to have been retained by a dealership) for the dizzying price of $1,075,000.

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Put the dog on eBay and book a flight to California. These opportunities don’t come around very often.