Jeremy Clarkson: “I Love the Lexus LFA”

Posted by Kevin on December 13th, 2012

For the third time in four months, Jeremy Clarkson has reviewed the Lexus LFA — this time for the Top Gear website:

It’s a very long time since I drove something so highbrow, so magnificent, so detailed, so perfect. After driving an LFA, everything else feels as squidgy as one of Arsène Wenger’s coats.

There’s only one comparable car I can think of. The Ferrari 599 GTO. Kato, if you follow the show closely. Obviously, this has bags more personality than the LFA and feels so much more human as a result. It’s fallible and confused, and when it rains it goes all to pieces. It’s hard to master, but deeply rewarding when you do.

The LFA doesn’t show any of those traits at all. It’s more like a Terminator. You tell it what to do, and it will keep on doing it. It absolutely will not stop.

Can you ever love a machine? Of course you can. John Connor did. And I love the LFA.

If you read The Sunday Times article or saw the now unavailable Top Gear special, it was very clear that JC was impressed by the LFA — this new review, however, takes it to a whole other level.

While he may be a contentious character, there is no denying Jeremy Clarkson’s influence in the automotive world — there is no price tag that can be put on his repeated and (extremely) positive opinion of the LFA and the attention it brings to Lexus. Very curious to see how this Top Gear special turns out.

Read Jeremy Clarkson’s latest review of the Lexus LFA

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Comments
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Good to see he finally , actually , changed his mind ... although I still disagree about him hating the SC430 .
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    BlackDynamiteOnline
  • December 13, 2012
He might be a tool, but he's a tool with exquisite taste..... BD
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I love to read Jezza's articles - pure journalism. Of course, it does get annoying when he disagrees, but at least he speaks his own thoughts!
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    Brnjou87
  • December 13, 2012
this pretty sums up the LFA end to end. For the people that bag the LFA out there even the most  douches out there loves the LFA can't argue with that.
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    Clifford Cee
  • December 14, 2012
The most renown Lexus trash talker the world has ever known has conceded to loving the LFA... That is no small feat! Nevertheless he still manages to reduce the LFA to a Terminator, a machine devoid of personality just because the lfa succeeds where all Europeans fail. He's essentially saying it's not fickle, it does exactly what you want it to. That's Japanese engineering for you, Jeremy!--Precision engineering- something unbeknownst to Europeans
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    Mohammed Taha
  • December 14, 2012
Am I the only one here who thinks the SC was great at first but quickly became old. I love the majority of Lexus's cars but the SC is not one of them. There's a reason why it was discontinued.
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    F1orce
  • December 14, 2012
The LFA is a piece of art!
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    Rarmour
  • December 14, 2012
Try to find someone (who cannot afford a LFA) who would not like it.  Any high priced car that is beyond your reach is easy to love.  Not sure how any of this news is important to the average guy. The LFA is just a fantasy to most of us.
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      F1orce
    • December 16, 2012
    It's actually a Halo car for Lexus. - I saw a 458 Italia & R8 today and TBH they came of as quite generic looking.. I've never seen an LFA on the streets before. But the exquisite noise and menacing looks would sure make some excitement..
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    LF_EH
  • December 15, 2012
The LFA is not the only Lexus that has impressed Clarkson. He was also a fan of the previous gen GS hybrid He found it to be "Properly fast"
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    two lexus family
  • December 16, 2012
It's wonderful that Clarkson has finally discovered what makes Lexus such delightful cars to own, but what took him so long?  Oh, it's that "soul" business. It seems to me that Toyota doesn't compete against anyone but themselves.  They have some Ur-car in mind and try to beat that ideal.  They figure the closer they get to perfect, the more people will buy their goods.  And because Toyota gets the absolute cream of Japanese engineering, management needed an outlet for their most talented and skilled.  The outlet was Lexus.  And when these superbuilders got bored, management gave them the LFA.  The result is a supercar you can drive to work.  The air-conditioning works, the sound system is beyond premium, and it will idle in traffic.  Oh, and bang off 7:15 laps at Nordschleife. But, argues Clarkson, perfection is souless.  Yeah, I once drove British cars—for them, soul is getting stuck by the side of the road because Lucas electronics didn't like getting wet.  For them, soul is the glorification of something hopelessly primitive.   By contrast, Lexus soul is the delight in discovering another carefully executed detail long after you bought the car.  Lexus soul is discovering that because the car was so flawlessly crafted, owning an old Lexus is perhaps the best bargain in the automotive world. Clarkson has to get in one final bitch about the LFA's cost.  He cannot understand that the price is purely arbitrary. Toyota is probably losing several million dollars on every LFA it sells.
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      Brad
    • December 16, 2012
    Lexus spent $500 million making all 500 LFA's...so really,it's a $1 million dollar super car at a bargain price.
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      two lexus family
    • December 16, 2012
    Really—Toyota spent ten years developing a one-off car with a new engine, etc. and only spent $500 million?  If true, that is probably the most amazing LFA story there is. Anyway, the LFA is still a freaking bargain!
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      Brad
    • December 16, 2012
    My statement was in regards to building costs only & not development costs.This is in regards to what the owner of the silver LFA in the states was told.Hear say...I know,but it's nice that we can both agree that the LFA is still a bargain!

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