Lexus has been busy over in Monterey, California, at the annual Monterey Car Week. The event is a ten-day-long (yes, we know that's more than a week) celebration of all things automotive, and includes such prestigious events as the Pebble Beach Concours for ludicrously expensive and rare classic cars, and the Concours d'Lemons for the exact opposite.
So which are we looking at here, then?
Neither — what we're talking about here is The Quail, which is known as 'a motorsports gathering', held at The Quail Lodge and Golf Club in Carmel, California (yes, where Clint Eastwood used to be the mayor), but which is really an incredibly posh motor show at which the world's car makers attend to show off their next-generations of high-end models. One such is Lexus, and this year the Japanese luxury brand is showing off its new Sport Concept. Which actually isn't that new…
Why is it not new?
Well, it's something we've technically seen before, back in 2022, when Lexus first announced that it was going to make an electric replacement for the LFA V10 supercar, except back then it was known just as the 'Electrified Sport Concept.' The version shown at The Quail looks a little more refined, with a bit more production-ready detailing, such as new lights both at the front and the rear, some proper Lexus badging, and what appears to be an add-on optional rear wing, which may well be part of a track-day-style performance pack. It's not the first time that Toyota or Lexus has used multiple iterations of a concept car to gauge potential interest — remember all the concept versions that the Supra went through?
Awesome. So what do we know about this new car?
Literally nothing. All Lexus is officially saying so far is that: “The progressively styled, future-focused yet truly authentic sports car signals the way forward for Lexus design. This inspiring concept car features a wide, low-profile two-door form that blends dynamic and emotional elements into a vision for a next-generation sports car.”
Now, previously — back in 2022 — there were a few more solid details floating around, such as Takashi Watanabe, Lexus Electrified Chief Engineer, saying: "From the outside, this vehicle is as quiet as any other BEV [Battery Electric Vehicle]. But the driver is able to experience all the sensations of a manual transmission vehicle. It is a software-based system, so it can be programmed to reproduce the driving experience of different vehicle types, letting the driver choose their preferred mapping.”
There was also talk of the car featuring the steer-by-wire yoke control system recently introduced in the updated RZ electric SUV, and a new electric four-wheel drive setup called 'Direct4.' Lexus was even speaking, then, of a 0-100km/h time of just 2.0 seconds…
Is that all still the case? Who knows? But doubtless Lexus will have been busy at The Quail sounding out the wealthy types about their interest in such a car, and hopefully, some more details will be forthcoming soon.
So this ISN'T the new front-engined V8 GT?
Nope, that's a totally separate car — and that means, yes, Lexus is rather deliciously plotting both EV and V8 sports coupes to run in tandem. Details of the new V8 model are similarly scant, but we saw both road and track versions (a GT3-spec racer is planned to replace the current RC-F in the WEC, Le Mans, and Daytona) running at Goodwood, and those should be revealed soon. Think of those as rivals to the Porsche 911. Think of the electric Sport Concept as a battery-powered Ferrari challenger.
So, what do we think?
Sports cars are all awesome, whether they're V8 or battery powered, and Lexus has some spectacular form in this arena — whether you're thinking of the screaming V10 LFA or the hopelessly pretty and capable LC coupe — so if the Japanese company is planning two new sports cars, with wildly differing mechanical makeups, well more power to them, we say.