It’s all
about excess and opulence
They're not
called high-end luxury cars for nothing. They take opulence a step further with
all kinds of outrageous options that would have most people scratching their
heads. But hey, it's all about what you want, right? You have to have that one
veneer, that intricate clock, and that special exterior color that doubles the
manufacturing time of your Bentley or Rolls-Royce. Here are nine crazy features on
high-end luxury cars that you can find today.
FANCY CLOCKS
Most people
who buy vehicles like the Bentley Bentayga or Rolls-Royce Cullinan have incomes that put them
firmly in the one percent category. They also like the finer things in life, so
why not add a crazy expensive timepiece in the vehicle that they ride in? When
the Bentley Bentayga first went on sale, one option
stood out because of its $160,000 price tag: a mechanical Breitling clock
adorning the dash called the Mulliner Tourbillon. It even winds itself and has
a motor that can rotate the clock to keep it running.
ANTI-PAPARAZZI CURTAINS
As
expected, celebrities are connoisseurs of expensive high-end vehicles to flaunt
their status wherever they go. So it's no surprise that it's possible to get
curtains on vehicles like a Rolls-Royce Phantom and Bentley Mulsanne. They're also power operated, so all you need
to do to get away from the flashing lights or pull the partition between you
and the driver is push a button. Bentley charges $15,969 to outfit your
Mulsanne with curtains in the rear seats.
REFRIGERATORS…
For those
who like to indulge in fancy chilled drinks on the road, there are many
high-end luxury cars now that give you the option to add a refrigerator in
between the rear seats. Everything from a Mercedes-Maybach S-Class and Volvo XC90 Excellence to a Rolls-Royce Phantom and Bentley Mulsanne now offers an
available refrigerator for you to store your favorite drinks. In a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, you can get yourself a nice little
refrigerator for $1,100. However, in a Volvo XC90, that feature is only available on the
Excellence model, which costs $106,545. In a Bentley Bentayga, you have to go
to the brand's Mulliner arm to get a custom refrigerator that costs $10,000.
…WITH
MATCHING EXPENSIVE GLASSWARE
Riding in
luxury means you should also drink in style in the rear seats. Some automakers
including Bentley and Volvo add expensive crystal flutes or wine
glasses. In the case of Volvo, its six-figure XC90 Excellence comes with
Orrefors glasses for your enjoyment on the road. We suspect that part of the
refrigerator's cost is reflected by the inclusion of fancy champagne flutes and
glasses, which we found could cost anywhere from $250 to upwards of $500 for a
set of two.
PICNIC
TABLES? YES, PICNIC TABLES—AND A FULL PICNIC SET!
In case you
want to take in the fresh air, some high-end luxury cars are offered with
folding picnic tables for you to put your drinks and favorite snacks. Want a
full setup? Vehicles including the Bentley Bentayga even offer a full-fledged
picnic set complete with utensils, glassware, and a slide-out bench to tailgate
out of. The price tag? An eye-watering $27,500.
SPECIAL
INTERIOR TRIM
To make
their cars unique, high-end automakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, and Porsche will let you commission a vehicle to your
exact specifications. That includes interior trim such as real metal and wood.
If that's too common for you, Bentley will even embed stone veneers into your
car, and other automakers will let you bring your own wood to put into your car
complete with unique patterns and designs. Automakers typically don't advertise
the cost of these services. If you need to know the damage it'll do to your
bank account, you can't afford it.
REAL HIDE
Standard
leather is for peons, and in order to add an extra layer of opulence and
excess, high-end automakers put in real hides that artisans sew in by hand. If
special seats aren't enough for you, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and other brands in the ultra-luxury
space will let you opt for lambswool rugs so you can rub your feet in them and
indulge in all of that softness. The damage for the soft feeling under your
feet? Between $974 to $2,944, depending on the color and model of vehicle you
have. Brands like Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and BMW all
have commission programs that let you choose exclusive interior upholstery that
can cost anywhere from $2,000 to well over $5,000.
SOFT-CLOSE DOORS/POWER DOORS
Too lazy to
close your own door shut? Nearly every manufacturer that offers a high-end
luxury car gives you the option to add doors with some form of power closing
mechanism. Whether it's the soft-close variety or one that lets you open or
close with the push of a button, there's no longer much effort involved in door
operation. Most full-size luxury sedans like the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class now come
standard with soft-close doors even in their most basic iterations.
STARS...IN THE HEADLINER
If you
thought multi-colored interior ambient lighting was cool, wait until you see
the available starlight headliner in a new Rolls-Royce Phantom. Available through Rolls-Royce's
Bespoke program, the starlight headliner embeds fiber optic strands at
different angles into perforated leather so that light can shine through
multiple areas in different levels of brightness to make it look like you're
gazing up at the stars. The price tag? A cool $12,000.
Source: Motor Trend.
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire