Gotcha, first thing I thought of when I read the title. Did you ever see a competent explanation of what happened to cause that fatal crash? I searched back at the time and found little info.

 

Lexus has provided no explanation to date on how someone wearing a helmet and probably a seatbelt died in a medium speed head on crash in an LFA prototype

 

Someone... Please ADD the word "Production" to the thread title..

You can even add LFA # 142

The Video suggests that the car is indeed being repaired in Texas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAvtDqBtsCU

~ Joe Z

 

The chief engineer explained to AutoCar UK a few months ago (I posted the scans of the article as week)

Here is what Horuhiko san said:

- Naruse was not wearing his seatbelt
- The prototype did not have all safety equipment such as, airbags etc.
- Naruse was driving in the oncoming lane (must have forgotten he was in Germany and not Japan?)

 

Thanks Rolla
I had not seen this
I will have to go back and look at pics as I seem to recall seeing airbags popped

 

Saddly I have to say that does not look like air bags to me. It looks like a white sheet if you get my meaning. Very sad car aside.

 

is the idea that the LFA is also safe just an assumption? or is it true, just not in the prototype? did it not have airbags?

edit: not wearing his seatbelt.. ok then

 

^^^

That.

It was put there by the EMT from what I know. I also saw a picture that I would not describe in detail (hint: it was the helmet with lots of you know what).

The cabin held up exceptionally well and was completely intact. The crumple zones all did their job as the front of the car completely absorbed all impact energy. It has to be Naruse hitting something violently. What Tanahashi said seems to make perfect sense.

 

Someone please splice out this thread..... We are going WAY off old topic


Joe Z

 

If you could provide a link, I would appreciate it, sorry for the hijack. Hard to believe a chief test driver would not wear his seatbelt. I believe you are correct, the BMW is full of airbags but that is a sheet in the LFA seat.

 

This is just in closing.

Before I **** JoeZ off anymore, please just keep this thread on topic at this point. Here is the scan where it is explained what happened a while back:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lfa...fa-review.html

 

http://youtu.be/FAvtDqBtsCU

This video is one I shot. The car belongs to my friend who plans on using it in his Exotic Car Rental business here in Houston, TX. He bought it wrecked and had it moved to the repair shop where it lies now waiting on replacement CF pieces from Toyota.

Also he did buy it for a bargain. It switched 2 dealer owners just in Houston. Stories of a rogue sales agent going for a joy ride are false.

 

I can not tell you the price, but it was a bargain. Bargain enough that if I told you before (while it was on sale) you would have emptied family members accounts in hopes of returning the money with buku interest. We might as well should have been carrying Mack 10's and wearing ski masks the day we sealed the deal.

We will see how it does on the rental circuit here in Texas. Should pan out to be a good investment.

 

^^ Awesome details... Thanks for coming in to share them..!!

If allowed please ask your friend to discuss the repair process and maybe document some of it with photos..
Since this is a very rare instance. Also, maybe share what replacement parts are needed to bring this LFA back to life...

I know the parts ordering process is extremely time consuming and also lots of verifications will have to be made by Lexus.

Were any details shared about what kind of accident it was involved in ?
And if it took place in Orlando, Florida??

Thank You

Joe Z

 

Well so far the most expensive piece, and the most difficult to come by, as I understand it, has been the hood which we are expecting to be in the neighborhood of 35-45k. Front bumper is another 15-20k.

Rear bumper has been repaired and the cost of repair and refinish of the rear bumper was 15k. No mechanical damage noted and airbags never deployed. I am not sure if the accident has been listed in Car fax I assume since it was *****d out in its condition to so many dealers it is but I am not sure.

Looking at the car, it appears the car was sandwiched between 2 cars. My guess is that it was hit from behind after hitting a car in front because the the front damage is so much more exaggerated than the rear.

A dealer by the name of Expo sold my friend the car. Expo bought it from the dealer in California. When Expo sold my friend the car the story was that the car was given by a Lexus dealer to a potential lease holder. A few weeks later it was in the California dealers hands. But I asked Expo guys about the rogue salesman and they said they believe the potential leaser crashed it and the Lexus dealer is doing their best to protect his privacy. But all this honestly is hear say.

What I can tell you for sure is that this car rammed some object could have been another car could have been anything. And subsequently was hit in the rear.

I will post more pics and video once some of the parts start rolling in from Toyota.