Remember This Top Secret Facility? You Have Been There

After Toyota ended production of the Lexus LFA and closed a chapter of supercar history, National Geographic aired its documentary as part of its Megafactories series. "Up until now, no television cameras have ever been allowed inside this top secret facility," says the film. The words were carefully chosen. You, the TTAC readers, had been there long before. TTAC readers will find many familiar scenes and faces in the National Geographic documentary about the "top secret megafactory" at the Motomachi plant. As the first reporters to receive full access to the running production of the LFA, TTAC published a five part report about the making of the LFA in July of 2012. Who are the masked men? On December 15 2012, the last of 500 LFA, a white Nürburg Ring Edition left the assembly plant in Motomachi. After that, the plant was shut down. Most of its 170 workers were assigned to other tasks at Motomachi. A small team is taking care of the 500 LFA customers. This is the man whose insistence and persistence had made the TTAC story possible: LFA Deputy Chief Engineer Chiharu Tamura. Here, we catch him at a private moment at the Bridgestone booth of the Tokyo Auto Salon. The lifelong chassis man says good-bye to his work and the street-spec Bridgestone Potenza tire fitted to the LFA. Chief Engineer Tanahashi and Tamura had insisted to use the standard tire during the LFA's attempt on the Nordschleife in September 2011. With seven minutes, 14.64 seconds, it clocked the fastest Ring time among the bona-fide production models. A week later, the record was ruined by a Dodge Viper ACR .  Its alleged acing slicks and splitter kept discussion forums buzzing to this day. Don't worry, the LFA won't be back. Domo arigato gozaimasu, Tamura-san. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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