itsspecial 930 TurboLE(limitededition)911s—hand-finished
withsuchsmallflourishesasa deepspoiler.In2000,Ford
releasedtheMustangCobraR,limitedtoa runof300.
Profitsonsuchexpensivemachines,asnoted,canbe
huge.It takesroughlya billiondollarstodevelopa newcar
fromscratch.Butfora specialversionofa Rolls-Royceora
McLarenorevena RangeRover,thatmoneyhasalreadybeen
spent.Moreover,consumersmustpayforthebulkofthecar
evenbeforeit’sbuilt,whentheypreorder.
“Thesetypesofvehiclescanbehugelylucrativeforlux-
uryandpremiummanufacturers,”saysIanFletcher,princi-
palautomotiveanalystatIHSMarkit.Profitmarginsatsome
brandscanapproach40%acrosstheboard,thankstocon-
sumerappetitesthat“throwrationalityoutthewindow.”
“Wecreatea businessmodelforeverythingwedo,”says
LamborghiniChiefCommercialOfficerGiovanniPerosino.
“Wetrytoavoidhavinganycarthatlosesmoney.Forcarslike
this,evenbeforewestartproduction,wealreadyhavecus-
tomerswitha downpaymentanda signedletterofintent.”
If youaskcollectorswhytheybuythem,you’llgeta var-
iedresponse.Forsomeit’sstrictlybusiness:Residualvalues
ofsuchspecialraritiesremainstrongthroughoutglobalset-
backs.“It’sbeenhappeningwherethelimited-editioncars,
becausetheyaresolimitedandsosought-after—thevaluesgo
up,”saysDavidLee,a prominentFerraricollectorandbusi-
nessman.“Themarketvaluesarea lotmorethana standard
model,andyoufeelsogoodthatyoumademoney.I seeit
COURTESYasaninvestment,notanexpense.”Freedmanechoesthis
ROLLS-ROYCE
sentiment:“Theyalwaysappreciate,”hesays.“Ifyoulookat
thelastfinancialcrisisandwhathashappenedtothevalueof
historicalcarsafterthat,theyhaveexponentiallyincreased.”
Otherssimplyloveowningsomethingsodistinguishable
fromthenorm.Leecomparesit tohavinga customizedBirkin
handbag.“It’ssomethingnoteverybodyseesallthetime,and
theyknowit’shardtoget,sothatcomplimentfeelsgood,”
hesays.Thelatestadditiontohisstable,a Ferrari 488 Pista
edition,is setfordeliverythissummer.“Andthenofcourse
knowinghowhardyouworkedinordertoachievethat,”he
says.“It’sa senseofpersonalachievementingettingone.”
Becausenotjustanyonecangetthesecars.Onlythemost
dedicatedfans—andinthiscase,“dedicated”meansthose
witha habitofspending—willevenbeofferedthechance
togetone.“Aninvitationtobuya limited-edition supercar
means a customer probably already has at least five Ferraris,”
Dean says. And if you want to buy the Lamborghini Sián,
you had better have bought a few of the brand’s Huracáns or
Aventadors or Gallardos first.
“Not everybody honestly can take a Sián,” Lamborghini’s
Perosino says. “We select first those who are closest to us,
who can keep the car and care for it. I have 8,350 custom-
ers, and I know which kind of cars they have, which kind of
other cars they have. We select those who are our best cus-
tomers.” He adds, “We have requests for three to four times
more than we have availability.”
As for the Kryptos, Rolls-Royce says there are “a few”—
fewer than 10—left to be had. <BW>SECRETS
OF KRYPTOS
What you get when you
pay an extra $120,000
for this special edition of
the Rolls-Royce WraithThe encrypted ciphers
throughout the inside of
the car look like mere design
elements, but they also contain
a secret coded message
that can be unlocked like a
riddle, Rolls-Royce says.Codelike lines appear on the
ceiling, in shimmering fiber-
optic lights. Ciphers are sewn
into the door leather.The answer to the coded riddle is held in a sealed envelope in the
safe at Rolls-Royce headquarters in Goodwood, England. Clients who
own the car can submit their guesses via an app that the company
developed, called Whispers. The reward for figuring out the secret
message, alas, is the simple satisfaction of being the first one to do it.Its unique exterior paint color
is called Delphic Grey, a hue consisting
of a solid anthracite base color
with blue and green mica flakes
that glitter in the sun. It also has a narrow,
hand-painted pinstripe in Kryptos
Green and charcoal.The interior of the Wraith Krytpos
comes with illuminated tread plates and
door pockets, Kryptos Green leather
accents, and anthracite metallic details.