A New Number One?

For years I have ranked the C2 Corvette convertible restomod and the DeTomaso Longchamp at the top of my automotive pyramid. Seeing the drop-dead gorgeous 1961 Ferrari 250GT Pininfarina coupe in August of 2021 at the Mecum auction in Monterey, California made me re-think my hierarchy.

However, the car to which I refer in today’s post title is none of those three. Instead, it is this one:

This is the Lexus LFA. This particular one is being offered on Bring a Trailer as a premium lot with a current high bid of $750,000. This example stickered for $390,000 when new, but I have seen these cars listed at seven-figure prices. Remember that only 500 were built.

That amazing exterior color is called Sunset Orange. I think the side profile is perfect. The “wave” air intakes give the car a flare and they are functional as well.

The LFA will also run like hell. Powered by a 4.8 liter/293 cubic-inch V-10 that produces 553 HP/354 LB-FT of torque (90% of which is available by 3,700 RPM) and will rev from 0 to 9,000 RPM in less than one second, the car can accelerate from 0-60 MPH in 3.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 202 MPH. It will also pull 1.07g on a skidpad so it will corner.

Of course, this is a car I will only be able to buy if we win a large lottery jackpot. Once again from Diner, if you don’t have dreams you have nightmares.

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Speaking of dreams, I had another one in which Frank Robinson appeared. Sadly, he died in February of 2019. This is not the first dream of mine in which he has appeared since his death.

As I have recounted before, he was my favorite Oriole player when I was growing up in Baltimore and the fact that we wound up working together and developing a real friendship was one of those extremely rare cases where life exceeds dreams. I have to tell this story one more time.

One time when we were still at Memorial Stadium, I walked by Frank’s office and stuck my head in to say hello. I noticed a baseball cap on his desk with a “CR” logo on it. I asked Frank, “Cedar Rapids?” He said, “Colorado Rockies.” I asked him if he was going somewhere and he answered, “No, but if I do I’m taking you with me.” You cannot imagine how that made me feel.