Lexus LF-A roadster show glamourpuss

The Lexus LF-A roadster could be the car of the future, or a car with no future.

The LF supercar program has been running for close to three years and is a headliner for the whole Toyota group, but has yet to produce a production car.

There have been coupe and convertible show cars, and a hardtop LF-A painted in flat-black camouflage competed at the Nurburgring 24-Hour race in Germany last year, but there is still nothing concrete for showrooms.

But that has not stopped Lexus Australia from landing the signal red LF-A roadster as it show star for Melbourne.

"This car shows us what we are capable of doing, as a brand," says John Roca, head of Lexus Australia.

"It shows we are not boxed into a vanilla future that only has hybrid cars as a point of difference. It shows we can be, and will be, a lot more diverse than we are today."

The LF-A roadster is familiar but different to anyone who knows the coupe.

The lightweight body uses a combination of aluminium and carbon fibre, and the car rolls on 20-inch alloy wheels.

It has the same 5-litre V10 engine, tucked just ahead of the two passenger seats but well behind the front axle line, and rear-wheel drive.

Lexus has given few details of the convertible roof, except that the basic body is just as rigid as the coupe.

And that it will have the same 320 km/h top speed.

There is no chance for anyone at the Melbourne Show to buy the roadster, or even put down a serious deposit, but Roca believes the LF- A project will produce a genuine production car sometime in 2010.

"I think the car has a future. I think we're getting closer to 'when', ahead of 'if'. But we still don't know when that time will be," he says.

"The million-dollar question is when. And, frankly, I cannot answer that.

"But the car for the show is real. It has a real V10 engine that actually works and makes all the right noises.

"The stats we're getting show that the car will hit 300km/h and that was one of the targets. The engine always had the right power but the Japanese wanted 200 miles-an-hour and there have been some improvements to the aerodynamics to get it to 300 kays."

Roca says the global economic meltdown will not affect plans for the LF-A, despite its potential impact on high-priced luxury cars.

"I think there is a market, even in this environment, for that car.

And also for our brand," he says.

"Having it here was too good an opportunity to showcase what Lexus can do. We had to get it. As a brand, we are expanding. It began with the IS-F performance model, and the LF-A will follow it."

And there is other new stuff on the Lexus stand in Melbourne.

The latest RX makes its first public appearance in Australia, and the luxury SUV will be displayed as both a regular petrol model and a hybrid.

"The real story for us ion Melbourne is the RX. And the reaction to that car has been very strong," Roca says.

"We have the regular 350 and the 450 hybrid. The hybrid is only a pre- production car, but that will be available this year so we have the choice of the 350 and 450 by the beginning of the second half of the year.

"The important thing about the RX is that it's a second-generation hybrid for us. It will eventually be followed by the HS hybrid, which was just displayed at the Detroit Motor Show.

"We were originally told the HS was only going to be left-hand drive, but it's now confirmed with right-hand drive so we have put our hand up. We are definitely going to request the car for Australia and it's a car that will slot right between the IS250 and the GS."

The 2009 Melbourne International Motor Show...