The design brief was relatively straightforward: Pen an open yacht that can blast across the ocean with six to eight passengers. And that’s exactly what Toyota’s luxury division, Lexus did. It recently unveiled its handiwork, dubbed the Sport Yacht Concept, in Miami.
It is powered by twin 5.0-litre Lexus V8 engines that produce roughly 660kW of power. That’s more than double the power output of the Toyota Hilux V8 Dakar bakkie. The hull is strengthened using “hand-laid woven carbon fibre cloth,” which the company says is also used to strengthen the ever-flexing structures of racecars and supercars.
The hull of the boat is also designed to have steps, which act like fins to maximise streamlining through the water. According to Lexus, this improves handling and balance at high speeds.
On the luxury front, it boasts leather seats with glass and wood detailing. It even has an integrated audio and video entertainment system that is fully connectable to 4G, WiFi and WAN (Wide-Area Network). When the need arises, passengers can make use of the galley, which serves as both a bathroom and kitchen.
“This effort is valuable to us as it stirs our creative energies,” says Yoshihiro Sawa, executive vice president of Lexus International, “It pushes our imagination to design and lifestyle possibilities outside of the automotive realm we know so well.”
Despite the strong possibility that the super-rich Lexus fans will be begging to get their hands on this, the brand has announced that it’s a bespoke once-off project. So, sorry, no Lexus yacht to match your LFA.