Toyota Motors has been the target of a barrage of criticism over major recalls due to serious safety risks, yet this has not deterred those considering adding a Lexus LF-A to their fleet, nor has a price that’s likely to be in the ballpark of $400,000 (equivalent of 37.5 million yen). The LF-A, which debuted in production form at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, is Lexus’ challenge to the ever more popular GTR for Japanese supercar supremacy -  though one would expect a difference in performance would reflect the more than $300,000 difference in price. With plans to produce only 500 vehicles, made to order at a rate of 20 per month, Lexus has stated that formal expressions of interests have already exceeded the number of allotted vehicles. Even if your name is high on the list of those interested who can afford to shell out close to half a million bucks on a Lexus, there’s still no guarantee that you’ll find yourself behind the wheel of this one. Because of such high demand, Lexus has decided that those on the list who can most enhance the profile of this limited edition will be handpicked to get one. By “get one”, if you live in North America, I mean to say “rent one”. The 150 LF-As allocated to make the journey from Japan to the States and Canada will only be available for lease, with the option to purchase after two years.

The Lexus LF-A is scheduled to go to production in December 2010 and deliveries should follow soon after in early 2011.

Photo Credit: CarandDriver.com

The wait is almost over! Well we still have to wait until the spring of 2010, but it’s been over four years since its Detroit auto show debut in 2005. Car and Driver got the pleasure of driving a race-ready version of the company’s first supercar.

Photo Credit: CarandDriver.com

With a 4.8-liter V-10 producing well over 500 hp, and weighing in at less than 3300 pounds, the LF-A rockets from a standstill to 60 mph in about 3.5 seconds. The car is easy to control when accelerating out of corners and handles even more directly than the Nissan GTR, which it will go up against for the title of ultimate Japanese supercar.

Photo Credit: CarandDriver.com

The $250,000 production Lexus LF-A will have ceramic brakes, a speed-sensitive rear spoiler, LED tail-lamps, and bi-xenon headlights. This seems to be skewing away from Toyota’s “green” image, but according to a company engineer, the car’s carbon fiber structure can be easily adapted to house an electric motor. Also, be sure to check out this exciting new Lexus compact concept set to debut in Frankfurt.

Photo Credit: CarandDriver.com