Hiromu Naruse, the chief test driver for Toyota who had a hand in every great sports car built by the Japanese giant since the 1960s, died in June while testing his masterpiece, the Lexus LF-A. Now Toyota is paying tribute.
The 67-year-old Naruse was a mentor to Toyota chief Akio Toyoda, and had spent the past decade honing the LF-A after decades of experience in motorsports. Any list of the most sought-after classic Toyotas in the United States - from the last Supras to the 1600GT of the 1970s - reads like a resume of his projects. He was so well known around the Nurburgring and other tracks of Europe that his competitors at Ferrari dubbed him “Nur Meister,” and “the man who knows all the roads.” In this video produced by Lexus, there’s a taste of the approach Naruse took to honing his creations into performance that transcended culture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZVPabxm8CI&feature=player_embedded
Toyota paying tribute to a man that dedicated his life to the company, the pursuit of perfection and taking part in creating nearly every car worth talking about from the company , refreshing to see especially considering there is next to nothing exciting made by the company now unless you’re new money rich.