Extreme options
Getting carried away with options on your new car? We look at the most extreme add-ons
We reveal some of the most outrageous extras on the market
BUYING a new car usually means choosing the paint colour, a trim level and your preferred combination of engine and gearbox. Then there’s the fun part – scouring the options list and adding a few gadgets and extras.
The average kit list is packed with useful, desirable choices like sat nav, air-con or heated seats, but there’s also a whole market dedicated to the extreme end of the scale. The Bentley Bentayga is the latest car to push the boundaries of what you might choose with the unveiling of its rather niche £80,000 fly-fishing add-on. We’ve rifled through the brochures of some more mainstream models to compile some of the more outlandish options on offer.
PORSCHE 911 Leather-trimmed air vent slats/air vents Price: £563/£806
PORSCHE will let you trim almost anything in the 911’s interior with leather through its Exclusive department. Along with customised air vents in cowhide, you could specify a leather wrap for the fuse box, seatbelt buckles, steering-wheel surround and sun visors. Our advice is to avoid cranking up the heater too much, though, or your 911 might start to smell like a barbecue.
MINI CONVERTIBLE Rain warner Price: £1,620 (as part of MINI Navigation System XL pack)
HAVE you got a trip to the seaside planned in your drop-top MINI Convertible? Never fear – the built-in rain warner will notify you of any inclement weather on your route. We should stress that the price stated above isn’t just for that feature – it’s included in the cost of the Navigation XL system. But you could just save the cash and simply look up instead.
VAUXHALL ADAM Stars illuminated headliner Price: £325
ARE you in the market for a chic small car? Do you long for the opportunity to sit under a starry night sky? If your answer to both of these questions is ‘yes’, the logical course of action is to buy a small convertible and go for a drive at night. Vauxhall has other ideas. It offers an Ledilluminated roof lining in the Adam that mimics a starcovered night sky – normally reserved for more luxury cars.
TESLA MODEL S/MODEL X Bioweapon Defence Mode Price: £2,600 (Model S, as part of Premium Upgrades Package)
PROTECT yourself from nuclear fallout, airborne diseases and dirty outside dust with what Tesla claims is the world’s “first true high-efficiency particulate arrestance air-filtration system (on a car), that is 100 times more effective than premium automotive filters”. The Bioweapon Defence Mode system pressurises the cabin to provide “maximum protection against hazardous external conditions”.
BENTLEY BENTAYGA Fly Fishing by Mulliner set Price: £80,000
BENTLEY is appealing to the smallest of niches with this very odd fly-fishing kit. But there are sure to be some potential Bentayga buyers, or existing owners, who enjoy wading through rivers in search of trout. This set, which fits perfectly in the SUV’S boot, includes four fishing rods housed in leather-trimmed tubes, a cool box and a ‘Master Tackle Station’ for your accessories. Best of all, it’s cheaper than the £117k Breitling clock that’s an alternative Bentley option.
FIAT 500L Lavazza 500 Espresso Machine Price: £196/£350
IN classic Italian fashion, you can specify a portable pick-me-up coffee machine in your funky Fiat people carrier. In fairness, it’s not like Costa has taken up residence in your new 500L, as the Lavazza 500 Espresso Machine looks more like a glorified flask. It sits in a powered cup-holder, and all you need to do is add a coffee pod and 50ml of water. It can be bought as a separate Fiat accessory for £196, and runs off the car’s 12V socket.
RANGE ROVER SVAUTOBIOGRAPHY Event Seating Price: £5,900
PICTURE this: after a long day of reclining in the back of your Range Rover Svautobiography, you might feel a little peckish and want to stop off for a snack. You ask your driver to pull up in a beauty spot, and before he serves the caviar and champagne, he lifts the tailgate and unfurls one of the car’s unique optional features – the Event Seating. Finished in ebony or tan Windsor leather, this retractable seat bench stows away underneath the boot floor.
NISSAN LEAF Solar panel spoiler Price: £300
AMONG all of the frivolous options on this list, the Leaf’s solar panel spoiler is a stroke of genius. The idea behind it is to save the main battery being drained by things like leaving the air-conditioning or lights on when the electric car is technically off. That should help ease your range anxiety by at least a few extra miles, and is arguably quite an essential box to tick on the Nissan Leaf’s options list.
“Then there’s the fun part – flicking through the options list and adding a few extra gadgets and extras”