Meet Hiromu Naruse. Well, technically you can’t meet him anymore, as he’s already in nirvana. This guy however, is a legend when he was alive. He’s the master test driver for Toyota, and is the man that had a hand in nearly every single magnificent sports car ever to come out from the Japanese’s stable.

He’s said to have logged more hours on the Nürburgring than any other Japanese driver, and thus nicknamed the “Nur Miester” at Toyota. That would mean “one and only master”. Friends at Ferrari would refer to him as “the man who knows all the world’s roads”. As a test driver, he’s job is to drive those sports cars before anyone in the world can buy them. But when he’s not doing that, he’s also driving because he simply loves to.

Now, you can’t really say that a test driver ‘creates’ the car, but when it comes to developing a car, you don’t stop at the drawing board. There goes the clay model, the prototype, and the hardware. But they’re all dead machines with lots of electronic parts, until Mr Hiromu Naruse touches them. That’s when the spirit of the car comes alive. That’s when they give the car some personality, for ever wheel size, to the type of tires, to the suspension settings and ride height and even the steering’s shape. Everything goes according to his feelings.

His final masterpiece was the Lexus LF-A, and Naruse made sure it fit in with his highest of standards. He was tasked with driving the supercar near its top speed for extended periods of time, often in the dark. Sadly, it was behind the wheel of a Lexus LF-A where Hiromu Naruse lost his life earlier this year. Toyota has created a short video to honour its one and only master, which you can watch after the jump. Yes, now that he’s gone, who will Toyota listen to for their upcoming rear wheel drive boxer engine powered FR-S sports car?