From the Lamborghini 63 to the Riva Ferrari 32: 9 Sportboats That Are Like Supercars for the High Seas
On paper it made a lot of sense. Design and build a sleek, powerful, Lexus-branded luxury sports cruiser, even call it a Lexus LY 650, and boat-loving Lexus owners would be standing in line to buy.
Same story at British luxury automaker Aston Martin. Back in 2016, it unveiled its rakish Aston Martin AM37 dayboat. Built in conjunction with Holland’s Quintessence Yachts, it was lauded as Aston Martin’s entry into the nautical world.
Now rewind to 1988 and the Italian luxury duo of Riva and Ferrari got together to create a needle-nosed 32-foot, go-very-fast speedboat influenced by the lines of Ferrari’s legendary Testarossa supercar.
What all three have in common, along with similar collaborations between Bugatti and Palmer Johnson, Mercedes-Benz and Silver Arrows Yachts, Porsche and Dynamiq, is that each partnership was quietly dissolved after only a handful of examples were built.
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“I just don’t think luxury car companies really understand the boating industry and the challenges involved in producing low-volume, hand-built boats,” says Rob Parmentier, CEO of Sailfish Boats and former president of Marquis Yachts that built the LY 650 for Lexus.
“They’re also highly protective of their brands and tend to lose interest when they don’t have total control,” Parmentier told Robb Report.
At the moment, the industry is seeing a resurgence of carmaker and boatbuilder partnerships. Arguably the most high-profile is Italian builder Tecnomar’s joint venture with Lamborghini to create the 4,000-hp, $3.5 million Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63 sport yacht.
Other emerging collaborations are more about sharing electric powertrains than full partnerships. Next year will see Austrian yacht maker Frauscher working with Porsche to produce a new 28-foot luxury dayboat featuring an electric powertrain from Porsche’s upcoming all-electric Mecan SUV.
At the recent Cannes Film Festival, BMW showcased its new collaboration with German electric boat start-up Tyde. This quirky 43-foot electric foiling boat is scheduled to go into production in 2024.
Among the hits and misses, we’ve chosen our nine favorite high-profile boats that have automotive inspiration in their DNA.
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