Luxury vehicles have top-end amenities

A few years back, I was at a presentation for the Bentley Mulsanne in New York City. An abundance of fabulous features stood out, like the customized umbrella that fit in a special slot in the driver’s door.

It was there for the chauffeur to always have an umbrella handy. After all, if you have $300,000 to spend, you’re not going to let Mother Nature douse you with rainwater.

Leather from Special Cows

This car’s interior was spectacular, particularly the leather seats. The material came from the hides of cows raised in a particular climate not conducive to insects because bugs bite and leave marks. Also, these were free-range bovines because their skin could not be disfigured by brushing against fences.

All this thought and expense went into a feature most people probably never gave a second thought to. Well, except me, because it was fascinating that the cows were specifically purposed for luxury auto interiors. I didn’t have the heart to ask what became of their meat.

Stone Interiors

OK, this feature has been around for more than a decade in certain Mercedes-Benz models but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. Everybody loves granite countertops, and if you’re willing to spend upwards of $60,000, you can have granite car interiors. After all, nothing says luxury like materials that are probably millions of years old.

Star Headliners

Sunroofs have been around for decades and moon roofs for just a little less time. (Moon roofs were probably created by bored marketing people trying to make an Oldsmobile Tornado sound upscale.)

Rolls-Royce, though, takes the prize with its headliner that resembles scores of twinkling stars when nighttime falls. It’s a $12,000 option that serves no practical function except to make your passengers go, “Wow.” Think about it. The star headliner is something the driver can never enjoy while driving.

Pop-up Speakers

It’s a feature I first noticed in the Audi A8 L: pop-up Bang &Olufsen speakers. Engage the audio system and speakers magically rise from the dashboard to provide true surround sound. Audiophiles may sense the difference in sound but I was more fascinated by the mechanics of it all.

Jaguar models have had now for a few years a transmission shift knob that pops up from the center console. It’s always struck me as more of a parlor trick — mostly because I dislike transmission shift knobs because it’s a pain to shift back and forth when maneuvering a car.

Night Vision Systems

This one sounds illogical at first. After all, aren’t your headlights supposed to be your night vision system? Not on some high-end luxury cars with infrared systems that can detect heat signatures from other vehicles and, more importantly, pedestrians.

BMW, Volvo, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz offer these systems. I was piloting a Mercedes-Benz S550 in an urban setting pondering the usefulness of the system when a pedestrian I had not seen with my naked eye appeared on the screen.

And then popped out between two parked cars into my path.

I’m convinced without the night vision system I probably would have hit him. Instead, modern luxury technology saved the day.

This among all the luxury features is one that should trickle down to all cars some day. Sure, it’s futuristic but it’s also an important safety tool.

Donny Drogin, salesman at Las Vegas-based Fletcher Jones Imports, said although many Mercedes-Benz vehicles boast heated and ventilated leather seats and touch-screen controllers in the center console, the technological aspects are impressive.

“It’s not so much that the leathers have gotten better, but it’s the level of technology and safety that’s evolved,” he said.

Drogin said Mercedes-Benz has head-up display, which projects data on the windshield so the driver doesn’t have to look down, and laser-guided cruise control, forward and rear collision warnings and cross-traffic alerts.

“It also has steering assist, which means the car will steer itself even around a curve for up to 35 seconds,” he said. “These cars can almost drive themselves.

“Leather and nice sound systems have always been in high-end cars; it’s the level of technology between the driver and the car, which is intertwined with safety.”