Watch The Lexus LFA Literally Blow 10 Candles Off Its Birthday Cake

Lexus is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the LFA, a spectacular supercar that entered limited production at the end of 2010.

Nevertheless, while the Japanese exotic is officially 10 years old, its story began in the early 2000s as a research and development project, with chief engineer Harahiko Tanashi given free rein and the opportunity to work with new materials and processes.

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Toyota’s luxury car brand completed the first prototype in 2003, and the following year it was put through its paces on the Nurburgring. The world was given a first glimpse of the LFA through a study shown at the 2005 NAIAS, followed by an updated version two years later. In 2008, the LFA made the first of four appearances at the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring, and at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show Lexus finally confirmed it for production.

The LFA, of which only 500 examples were made, featured a lightweight construction, with CFRP used in the bodywork instead of aluminum, and power was supplied by a naturally aspirated 4.8-liter V10. Developed together with Yamaha, the engine produced 560 HP at 8,700 rpm, driving the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox. It was capable of hitting a 202 mph (325 km/h) top speed, and it did the 0 to 62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 3.7 seconds.

A more track focused version, named the LFA Nurburgring Edition, followed, and it offered a stiffer suspension, aerodynamic enhancements, lighter alloy wheels and a total output of 570 HP. It was limited to 50 units and set a lap record for production cars on the Nordschleife in 2011 with Akira Ida behind the wheel.