SURPRISE! Lexus does a sports car.

Byline: WES RAYNAL

if you're like us, you have wondered just what benefit Toyota gets from spending hundreds of millions of dollars to be smacked around by Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and Renault in Formula One. Sell more Priuses perhaps? Doubt it.

Well, wonder no more: Toyota dropped the Lexus LF-A sports car concept on the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. A sports car from stodgy old Lexus? Yup. And, as we tend to say around here, but wait, there's more: The company claims a strong link between the concept and its move in to Formula One.

Is that for real or just public relations BS?

Toyota insists it's for real. The company began testing its F1 prototypes in 2001 and entered the fray in 2002. Since the F1 involvement began, rumors have floated around the company was working on a two-seat road car, and one that might have supercar aspirations. And indeed Toyota designers and engineers have dreamed about doing a car such as the LF-A since the F1 program's launch. They say today it is not so much that members of the F1 team actually spun wrenches putting together the concept car, but more that F1's image-the notion of competing in and learning from the world's highest form of motorsport-will be reflected in the show car.

So what exactly is the LF-A?

It is a two-seat concept Lexus hopes will raise the worldwide awareness of what used to be an American-only nameplate. In addition to the United States, the Lexus name is now used in Europe and is being introduced in home-market Japan. LF-A has another mission as well. Lexus says the car points at the luxury brand's future styling direction, which the company refers to as L-Finesse. The L-Finesse theme will become evident in the production version of the GS, shown as a concept at last year's Detroit auto show (AW, Jan. 19, 2004).