Looks quick and has a really, really comfortable driver’s seat. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

“(My woody’s outside) covered with snow

(Nowhere to go now) New York’s a lonely town

When you’re the only surfer boy around”—The Trade Winds (1967)

That lyric comes from a song about a guy whose parents moved from California to New York.

Evidently, the surfer recognizes that the Hudson isn’t exactly a place to catch waves. But he still has his woody; he hasn’t traded it in for something that might have been more locale-and-time appropriate, like a beater VW Beetle.

Last year Lexus became the “Official Automotive Partner of the World Surf League.”

Earlier this week it expanded its partnership and will be the title sponsor of the 2025 WSL Awards, Pipe Pro, Trestle Pro, US Open of Surfing, and WSL Finals.

In addition to which, at the Lexus Pipe Pro on Oahu the company revealed a concept car*, the Lexus Surf LX, a tricked-out SUV with surfers in mind, such as even having a board waxing table in the storage area.

While I must confess that my knowledge of surfing is limited to watching Bruce Brown’s The Endless Summer and its sequel, somehow a Lexus isn’t what I associate with surfers.

After all, a standard Lexus LX starts at $105,500. (But then I learn from a piece in Surfer Magazine that there are 10 surfers in the world (circa 2023) who are making a million-plus, so perhaps there is more association than I thought.)

Which brings me to the Lexus ES 350 F Sport Handling.

The ES 350 is a four-door sedan. It is powered by a 302-hp six-cylinder engine. It has an eight-speed automatic with sport shifting capability. It is a front-wheel drive vehicle.

According to Lexus it goes from 0 to 60 in 6.6 seconds and has a top speed of 131 mph.

Lexus has another sedan in its lineup. The IS. The IS 350 features a V6, but one that produces 311 hp. It has a 0 to 60 time of 5.6 seconds and a top speed of 143 mph.

Seems that that’s the quick one.

The F Sport trim for the ES is the “go-fast” trim. The F Sport Handling adds an extra bit of capability.

So there are gloss-black 19-inch wheels, special grille inserts and a specific front bumper. There is a spoiler on the decklid.

On the inside there are sport seats not found in the non-F Sport models. These seats have enhanced bolsters and are among the most comfortable seats I’ve ever experienced in any car. (Sometimes when you are in a German car with “enhanced bolsters” you think that they didn’t realize that foam exists.)

The model driven here included the Black Line Special Edition package ($1,500) that makes more of the trim bits black—which really looks great with the car painted Matador Red Mica. There is also an F Sport puddle lamp, which seems more amusing than anything else: Validation that you got the cool trim?

Now the F Sport Handling isn’t entirely about cosmetic modifications. There is the Lexus Adaptive Variable Suspension system that really kicks in should you throw the car into a turn. That’s not likely to happen, but if you do. . . .

At the end of the day the ES 350 F Sport is a Lexus with all of the comfort and quality associated with the brand.

But to curl back to the Surf LX: how many surfers would actually buy one were it available, versus, say, a Lexus GX that they could mod the hell out of? And how many people who really want to go fast would opt for the F Sport Handling versus, say, an IS F Sport AWD that they could really throw around with some abandon?

==

*This brings to mind the issue of auto shows, where concepts used to be revealed. Given the choice between a beach on Oahu and some carpeted convention center floor in a city center for an intro, there is really no competition.