56
R
olls-Royceknowsthatforsomeclients,the
$330,000Wraith—inallits12-cylinder,3,800-
poundart deco glory—isnot enough.The
modelissixyearsold,afterall,andusually
cruisesratherreservedlydownthestreetina shadeofnavy
ornoir.Ontheotherhand,theKryptoseditionoftheWraith,
whichwasreleasedinJuly,comeswithcomputer-generated
ciphersstitchedintothebutteryleatherdoorpanels.Fiber-
opticbulbsthathavebeenwovenintotheceilingdepictan
in-motiondatastream.Thequirkynameisa referenceto
cryptography,theartofusingcodes.Anddetailssuchas
glowingfluorescentlightthreadsandflecksofgreenpaint
arecluestoa hiddenmessageforownerstosolve.
Thisversionwillcost$450,000;only 50 willbemade.It’s
thelatestina freshspateofcarsthathigh-endautomakersare
producingwithuniquecolorways(andgimmicks)inlimited
quantities,andatpricepremiumstensandhundredsofthou-
sandsofdollarsabovestandard.Thesespecialeditions—Aston
Martin’sDBS59,Bugatti’sChironNoire,McLaren’s600LT
SpiderSegestriaBorealis,Lamborghini’sHuracánAvio,Land
Rover’sRangeRoverFifty—aretocarcollectorswhattheAir
Jordan11 25thAnniversaryis tosneakerheads.
Andaswiththesneakerretailandresalemarkets,wherea
14-year-oldcanbuildanempirewithbots,thegameis often
rigged.Specialeditionsofcarsselloutquicklytohand-
selectedfriendsofthebrandwho’veproventheirdevotion
withtheirpurchasingpower.Evenso,justliketheexclusive
sneakerdrop,thelimited-editionreleaseservesa dualpur-
pose:It generatesbighypeforthebrand—andbigmoney.
Thesearevolatiledaysforthemakersofhigh-endautos
andsupercars,mostofwhichdeliverfewerthan10,000mod-
elsworldwideeachyear.(Ferrarisold10,131in2019.)Although
somebrandshavetentativelyoptimisticoutlooksfor 2020
andbeyond—Bugattistillhasplentyofordersinthepipeline—
others face the threat of obsolescence, even extinction.
On May 13, Aston Martin said it would need more cash
to fulfill a crucial restructuring plan, even after Ernesto
Bertarelli, whose family’s $18.1 billion fortune derives mostly
from pharmaceuticals, acquired a 3.4% voting stake in the
company. His investment followed a $670 million capital infu-
sion in April from a group led by Canadian investor Lawrence
Stroll. Then, on June 4, Aston announced it would cut as
many as 500 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, to help cope with
lower demand amid the pandemic.
A powerful headwind against these companies is the
strong preference among car buyers for light trucks such as
SUVs, which made up 75% of car sales in the U.S. through the
second quarter of this year. Bentley, Lamborghini, and Rolls-
Royce each recently added an SUV to their lineups, but it’s
not a cornerstone of their brands—rather, it’s an add-on to
their existing sports car collection. (Ferrari says it will have
an SUV soon.)
The special edition allows these brands to play to their
strengths, by making fast sports cars with enviable looks.
Here’s how it works: Porsche AG decides to make a special“Heritage” model of its 911 Targa top convertible and limits it
to 992 units. That car costs £38,000 ($48,344) more than the
standard Targa—a number that’s almost pure profit, because
the special edition doesn’t require the company to make any
truly new design elements or mechanical components. Just
as there’s no real technological difference between a Nike Air
Max LeBron VII Superman and a “Ring Ceremony” LeBron
10 PE, the only differences between these cars and the base
model are in the colors, finishes, and small aesthetic flour-
ishes. “That is where Porsche makes its margin,” says Michael
Dean, head of Bloomberg Intelligence’s European automo-
tive analysis. “The same goes for Ferrari and its limited edi-
tion and specials.”
Brands build enthusiasm on such machines much the same
way Nike or Supreme do before a drop: They release teasers
of the colorways and vague body lines to the media months in
advance and produce polished videos showing an edge of the
grille. They drop hints like breadcrumbs across social media
about the name, pricing, and quantity of the special object.
It all serves to push the company’s name and design prow-
ess into the public eye in the weeks leading up to the release,
penetrating (the companies hope) the din on news and social
media for the duration of the buildup. By the end of the push,
it matters not that 99.9% of the brand’s fans won’t get one—
the attention lavished on the object of desire has more than
paid for the effort and marketing expense.
It’s no surprise, then, that automakers have been churn-
ing out special editions in increasingly frequent intervals
athigherpricesthanever.In2017,Rolls-Royceaddeddoz-
ensmoreworkerstothebespokeshopwhereallitsspecial-
edition vehicles are made. It went from zero limited-edition
series in 2010 to producing the Cullinan Black Badge, the
Wraith Eagle VIII, and the Zenith Collector’s Edition of the
Ghost in 2019 alone.
The Rolls-Royce range has extended significantly since
2011, when it came out with a modern example of a spe-
cial series, the Spirit of Ecstasy Centenary Collection. Gerry
Spahn, Rolls-Royce’s head of communications for North
America, says, “We are doing more real, different, cool col-
lection cars than ever before.”
At Aston Martin last year, production on special proj-
ectswentfromthenormal 50 deliveredupto70,says
VicePresidentandChiefMarketingOfficerPeterFreedman.
(Thatwasbeforethecoronavirus hit, of course, causing pro-
ductiondelaysacrosstheboardfortheenterprise,head-
quarteredinGaydon,England.)Freedmansayshenoticed
moreenthusiasm for such cars starting six or seven years
ago. “There is more wealth,” he says, “and it’s something
that’s driven by the wealthy people who always want some-
thing unique.”
Interest in a car that’s special to one’s self is a grand
tradition in automaking, even if it’s never been as wide-
spread as it is now. Ferrari was building limited-run 250 GT
Berlinettas outfitted by the builder Zagato as far back as the
1950s. By the 1980s, Porsche was creating small batches ofCARS Bloomberg Pursuits July 27, 2020