Breaking News: Godfather of the Lexus LFA dies in test drive crash

[keshy]

There is not much information as this piece of news is fresh out of the oven but reports out of Germany are saying that two Toyota test drivers were killed on a highway near the Nurburgring when their car veered into the oncoming lane and crashed into two other test drivers driving a BMW.

The two BMW drivers survived the crash with minor injuries but the yet-unnamed Toyota test drivers died behind the wheel of the LFA Nurburgring Edition that is still under testing.

Though there isn't a confirmation on who was behind the wheel, reports are saying that the driver of the LFA was 67 years old and Toyota's chief test driver, which leads to the conclusion that the test driver could just be Hiromu Naruse.

Besides being Chief Test Driver, Naruse was also Akio Toyoda's personal driver and the Godfather of the LFA.

Expect an official announcement soon. Video of the accident scene posted below.

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Source: AutoBlog

 

[freeman1314]

How come there's always shocking stories behind a legendary car?

 

[badturz]

Rip ..

 

[RERider]

what a sad day for motorsport enthusiats...my condolences to those involved.
RIP Naruse-san.

 

[dawg]

Condolences to the legendary car designers.

On the other hand, such news would create a negative image to Lexus and even more concerns about the crash test as 2 test drivers died in the LFA while the BMW escaped with minor injuries.

 

[K2 stanley]

A sad news from automotive world, i think this time toyota should take their crash test seriously to avoid these kind of sad news happened again. When i was young kid my parents always told me how good of toyota can't imgaine now all this happen.

 

[minivan]

Condolences... and yeah true dat... speaks well of the beemers safety but not so of the other...

---------- Post added at 10:47 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 10:02 AM ----------

Compared to Autoblog's report, the report on Paultan says the two persons in the beemer were seriously injured...

--> http://paultan.org/2010/06/24/toyota-chief-test-driver-hiromu-naruse-dies-in-lfa-crash/

 

[wjkmy]

YouTube- BREAKING: Toyota's chief test driver dies behind wheel of LFA in Germany

 

[Dayline668]

Dun look like the Nur spec LFA hav airbag, n then the BMW cover in airbag. We know the result of that... sad day...

 

[Zeroed]

You cant compare the safety levels of a bespoke supercar to a high end family saloon...

This is sad news though.

 

[Hikaru33]

Very sad indeed. I didn't know who he was until today. But knowing who he was now, I felt that he deserve so much respect and recognition from me and from all car enthusiast.

RIP......

 

[cybreed]

Very sad indeed. I didn't know who he was until today. But knowing who he was now, I felt that he deserve so much respect and recognition from me and from all car enthusiast.

RIP......

indeed. I didnt know he had a hand in making my car. R I P !

 

[skazareth]

RIP... I dunno this guy's name but saw him in the net if you "youtubing" LFA related...

 

[ashabmy]

Condolence to the victims......

On the other hand, the LFA, being the ultimate Toyota's sport car should be much safer than family car. We've seen Ferrari or even Audi R8 crashed severely, even left only the driver "capsule", but the driver survived. Toyota is getting worst........

 

[luqae]

for what i see theres no skid mark at all on both lane, this might be a high speed, high impact crash, i thing both driver might be driving pretty fast, it just show how good of a car or driver u are, accident could happen. whatever it is RIP.

 

[victorleekoonpoh]

rip, condolence. it prove that europe car is stronger and more safety compare to japaneses car or just this lfa

 

[- D i a b l o -]

Condolences to Naruse-san's family both corporate and personal.

A bit more information for you guys,the BMW driver both suffer heavy injuries and are fighting for their lives,not minor injuries that most assumed. The LF-A sets of airbag were deployed as seen in the video and alot of speculation is showing that the death might be due to other factors such as age,but we'll wait and see how the German investigators get to the bottom of it.

Both cars has high NCAP rating and is as safe as you can expect a well made car to be.However,life as you have it..isnt a bit as predictable as you think it might be : )

 

[muzhaffar]

its carbon fiber vs metal body..
metal slightly win..

 

[freeman1314]

I would personally think that the LF-A isn't weak in passenger safety design.
Assuming that the victim of the crash is Mr. Naruse, he should be around 67yrs. high age might be one of the factor that his body couldn't stand the impact of the crash which caused the fatality.
RIP

 

[ariel]

RIP Naruse-San