The long-awaited successor to the Lexus LFA, rumored to carry the LFR badge, has finally made its public debut, this time in fully street-legal form. Fresh off its appearance as a race-only prototype, this road-going version follows earlier sightings of the GT3-spec racecar tearing up tracks across Germany and Japan, giving us our first glimpse at what Lexus has been cooking up for the streets. While the camouflaged prototype maintains the aggressive stance and proportions of its GT3 racecar sibling, several details have been reworked for road use. Up front, we see more conventional air intakes replacing the gaping track-focused ones, and the canards are toned down. It’s as if Lexus decided to dial back just a bit without losing the raw attitude.

Swing around to the rear, and things get even more intriguing. The oversized race wing has been replaced with a slightly more subdued, yet still sizable, fixed spoiler, giving the car a cleaner, more refined look. Under the taillights, redesigned intakes breathe a little more subtly, while the rear diffuser has been reshaped to house quad tailpipes, a stark departure from the side-mounted exhausts of the track-only version. That massive third brake light has gone, replaced with a more pedestrian-friendly license plate holder.

 

According to spy photographers, this prototype is still “far away from production-ready.” Lexus clearly has more fine-tuning to do, and we can expect a few additional changes as development continues, including tweaks to the LED graphics, side mirrors, and the overall window design before the flagship sports car hits the streets. The racecar, itself a development of the original Toyota GR GT3 Coupe Concept from 2022, is expected to be powered by a new twin-turbo V8 powertrain, in line with the regulations of the GT3 category.

Lexus‘ road-going supercar might use a slightly toned-down version of the same V8. While it is not clear whether the powertrain will be electrified, it is safe to assume that the LFR will be positioned on the very top of the Toyota GR and Lexus foodchain, in terms of outright performance. As of now, the motorsport version is rumored to hit the track in early 2026, with the road-going LFR likely following later that same year. And when it does arrive, expect it to go head-to-head with heavy hitters like the Ferrari 296 GTB, Lamborghini’s new Temerario, and the electrified successor to McLaren’s 750S.