When Lexus decided to throw the entire automotive world a curveball and pull the covers off the Sport Concept at The Qual during Monterey Car Week a few months back, we really didn’t know very much about it, and to be fair, we still don’t. However, we’re now learning a little bit more as we get our first look at the concept car’s interior at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show. Luckily, not much has changed on the outside, which is great, since it’s a wonderful piece of design. I won’t speculate on whether this car is meant to be an LC replacement, an RC replacement, the latest iteration of the Electrified Sport concept we first saw back in 2021, the LFR we’ve seen running around or some mysterious fifth thing, because honestly, I’ve got no clue. That being said, I do know it looks gorgeous, and it comes with quite the driver-focused, high-tech cabin.
As many Japanese sports cars tend to be, the Sport Concept (please come up with a better name, guys) is fitted with an extremely driver-centric interior. From the looks of it, the lone passenger doesn’t get much more than an air vent and some teal ambient lighting to fiddle with. The driver, however, has everything right at their fingertips, and whole there are probably more screens than the average internet goober who isn’t going to buy the car anyway would like, it looks rather wonderful.
All for the driver
There’s an extremely Supra-style look to the design of the driver’s area of the Sport Concept, and I’m sure that’s very much on purpose. It’s modernized, of course, with a yoke steering wheel featuring all sorts of buttons, knobs and switches for things like paddle shifters and windshield wiper controls. There’s even an “F-mode” button, which is — assuredly — meant to unlock more fun (with your mom).
Behind the yoke is a curved display separated into three parts. The main center section serves as a gauge cluster, and it’s flanked by two smaller displays that show vital vehicle information. In the mockup images, we can see different powertrain temperatures and what looks to be a lap timer.
Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
While Lexus hasn’t talked about what exactly will be powering the Sport Concept — or the car it’ll turn into — the cluster has some key hints. There’s a clear battery indicator as well as “Power” and “Charge” in the main gauge. That makes me think there’s some sort of electrical component and regenerative braking. It also has the number 3 and the letter M, suggesting some sort of manual shifting. While this could be a simulated manual mode, I sort of doubt it is. More likely, it’s some sort of hybrid powertrain — like the LFR. I don’t know, man. This is all speculation at this point. I’m just happy Lexus is even teasing the idea of making fun coupes again.
