Near as I can tell, the current year is 2019. The was built in 2011 and 2012. So why, pray tell, is Lexus testing a weird widebody-looking LFA at the Nürburgring right now? I have theories.

(Also, it’s out there dancing with a Bugatti Chiron, which is just not something you see every day.)

The first one comes from , who shot this video during an Industry Pool day at the ‘Ring:

At first glance, the car pictured here looks like an LFA with the Nürburgring Package and some camouflage on the front and rear fenders. If you look closely, you can see that the fenders are significantly wider than on the standard LFA. Based on the license plate, this appears to be the same car with two different sets of wheels.

Lexus may simply be swapping out worn tires, or they may be testing different wheel and tire combinations to fit the wider wheel wells.

Anything beyond this is just speculation.

Which I am happy to do!

It could be that Toyota or Lexus engineers are using this LFA as a mule for some kind of new vehicle in development, though if they are it’s news to me. I think the market for six-figure carbon fiber V10 supercar Lexuses is probably smaller than it used to be, but I wouldn’t say no to one.

Or, it’s just a slow summer Friday out at the ‘Ring, and Team Lexus decided to have some fun instead of doing actual work. If you had access to an LFA, wouldn’t you?

Honestly, it’s probably just a wheel and tire thing, as stated above. But it’s fun to dream. If you know otherwise, .