Enhancing precious metal
Part five of a series featuring New Zealanders unlocking the potential of metal, brought to you by the American Express Platinum Card – now made of metal.
Viewed as signs of accomplishment and success, high-performance, prestigious cars are often deemed an inspiration and the desire to own one seems to be unrelenting. A premium motor vehicle itself is enough to turn heads and satisfy most people – however some are opting to bespoke or upgrade to really personalise or improve their precious metal.
Over the years, premium carmakers have welcomed the opportunity to let their clients express their creativity, personality (and sometimes embrace their greatest whims) with bespoke divisions and accessories. From adding earth-turning amounts of power under the bonnet to painstakingly matching the paintwork to a favourite shade of nail polish, the desire to please goes to great lengths.
In automotive terms, the symbol that represents the pinnacle of luxury and refinement is Rolls Royce’s ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’, also lovingly referred to as Eleanor. Designed in 1909 by Charles Robinson Sykes, this 3-inch tall outstretch-armed metal figure is iconic in image and significance.
Sykes memorably described his creation as “a graceful little goddess, who has selected road travel as her supreme delight and alighted on the prow of a RollsRoyce motor car.”
Intricately formed by pouring molten metal into heat-resistant clays, Eleanor was initially silver-plated until 1914 when the mascot was made with nickel or chrome alloy. At Paris in 1920, a gold-plated Eleanor won the title of the most apposite mascot of 1920 – and a 24-carat gold-plated Eleanor is now available.
An Italian luxury and performance car brand offers up no end of treats to further endear yourself with your vehicle. There is a customised sports exhaust tailpipe tips with a forged segmented outer bezel to enhance the engine tone under higher revs – and titanium stud bolts ensuring your matte bronze rims remain steadfast and true.
Often a car’s paintwork is limited to a mere handful of choices. However, with more exclusive or handcrafted brands, the range of hues and styles become limitless. One such option is metal flake paint. As the name suggests, it contains tiny particles of metal that better reflect the light and reveal the contours of bodywork; there’s even a gold flake option for those who really wish to stand apart.
Bespoke opportunities are not restricted to the exterior. It’s often the cabin that receives the most attention. One British car brand features handcrafted finishing and a Tourbillon (described as the most complex of watch mechanisms) timepiece in the dashboard and is available in solid rose or white gold. Another car brand offers a bespoke diamond-patterned satin chrome aluminium jewellery pack interior “to further enhance the elegance and beauty of your car”.
Other interior pieces such as brushedaluminium or chrome textures, highlytactile bevelled metal dials or switches, personalised or polished steel tread plates or aluminium foot pedals offer a more premium finish.
Although seldom seen, mechanical upgrades can often be heard or more importantly, felt. The beating heart of every motor vehicle is its engine and performance car brands have found numerous ways to extract more horsepower from them.
Machine-skimmed aluminium heads with inertiawelded titanium valves lessen the weight and create more flow. Billet-machined crankshafts made from a single piece of forged metal are strongest and are favoured in motorsport. The nitriding steel option has a surface hardness and finish similar to chilled iron and is used in several current F1 engines. Cast, forged or aluminium-alloy hypereutectic pistons, chrome rocker covers... the expansive list is only limited by your imagination and passion to go fast.
Last but by no means least, a highly corrosionresistant, stainless steel performance exhaust system can add up to 3 per cent more horsepower, while platinum (along with palladium and rhodium) in the catalytic converter helps remove harmful gasses such as nitrous oxide and carbons.
The luxury vehicle market is on the rise – and so are upgrades and personalisation. So the next time you spot a prestigious automobile, take a closer look and see what’s been done to make that precious piece of metal, extra special.