As the car industry grows, so does the list of options and features offered on cars. Optional extras and features to choose from have been a staple of the car buying experience for many decades. Offering a chance to make the car your own, and often genuinely worth selecting when buying a new car, in the world of luxury cars this list of features to choose from becomes truly massive.
The following range from useful and logical features that make the experience more pleasant, to completely ridiculous features meant to make the car stand out, with some even charging more money than most normal cars cost.
10 Lykan Hypersport - Diamond Encrusted Headlights
A multimillion-dollar supercar from Dubai-based W Motors, the Lykan Hypersport is a performance machine decked out with luxury features, including this bit of jewelry.
With the headlight "blades" already made from titanium, things are taken to a luxurious extreme thanks to massive 15-carat diamonds studded across them. What exactly the point is doesn't really matter, as when it comes to over-the-top glamor and luxury, it's hard to top a jewelry store's worth of diamonds hiding inside your headlights.
9 Bentley Bentayga - Breitling Tourbillon Dashboard Clock
A maker of high-end luxury watches meeting a maker of high-end luxury cars, Bentley and Breitling had previously collaborated on watches and car clocks before, but among their most ridiculous products was the 6-figure tourbillon clock offered in the Bentayga.
One of the highest end features on wristwatches, a tourbillon is an incredibly complex and expensive mechanism to make, negating the effects of gravity on a mechanical timepiece. Why exactly that's necessary is another question, but with this clockwork, and diamonds studded on the dial, the Breitling clock you can order with a Bentayga costs more than most luxury clocks, coming in at a whopping $160,000 for a piece of dashboard jewelry.
8 Aston Martin - Jaeger LeCoultre Transponder Watch
Another insanely expensive collaboration between a high-end car and watchmaker, Jaeger LeCoultre is another storied luxury brand that created an incredibly cool, but incredibly unnecessary bit of automotive jewelry, this one though at least has some function to it.
The Jaeger LeCoultre AMVOX2 Transponder is a $29,500 watch that can be paired with any Aston Martin model. Debuting in 2014, this timepiece is not just a high-end mechanical watch, but it also has a transponder inside it that allows drivers to lock or unlock your Aston Martin thanks to a built-in antenna. Like something you'd see in a James Bond movie, this watch may just be the most expensive car key ever offered.
7 BMW i8 - Louis Vuitton Luggage
Not a new thing in the high-end car world, many exotics have had luggage tailored to their trunks before. Yet instead of branding it as a BMW bag, the i8 had an optional Louis Vuitton bag set that costs more than a used 3-series.
Themed with the grey and blue paint scheme on the i8, Louis Vuitton made this full set of luggage bags shaped to the storage compartments of the car. Luxurious like most Louis Vuitton products, the ridiculous part here is just how much the bags cost, adding another $20,000 on top of the i8's price tag.
6 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class - Granite Trim
The perfect material for a luxurious kitchen counter, the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class briefly had the option to deck out its interior trim with genuine granite stone.
First offered in 2001, CL-Class customers were given the option to have real granite in place of a wood or plastic interior trim. Made from very thin but real granite panels formed to shape in a special process, Mercedes had no real reason to do this but managed to pull it off. Whether or not it actually looks good is another question, but as an over-the-top luxury option, having a granite interior is up there with the craziest.
5 Porsche 911 - Leather Wrapped Vents
Much less extreme than diamonds in your headlights, Porsche has managed to offer some ridiculous options throughout their history, but perhaps the most unnecessary are these leather-wrapped vents.
Already over $1,700 to wrap the area surrounding the vents with leather, dishing out another $1,200 gets you a fully leather-wrapped air vent. With a nondescript plastic slat in nearly every car on the road—including most luxury ones—why you'd want your air vents wrapped in leather is beyond reason, but it's definitely a unique and ridiculous option.
4 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class - Heated & Cooled Cupholders
The ultimate in Mercedes luxury, the Maybach S-class continues the unfortunately unsuccessful modern Maybach with just as much luxury and surprising features.
While aspects like the perfume diffuser and in-car fridge are well-known bits of luxury weirdness on the Maybach, the current one has something even stranger: heated and cooled cup holders. Somewhat logical in terms of keeping your fancy espresso hot, or a glass of champagne chilled, the fact that Maybach went this far is ridiculous in itself. Available as part of the Executive Rear Seat Package Plus, you also get folding tables to go along with it.
3 Rolls-Royce Cullinan - Viewing Suite
A ridiculous luxury SUV already, the Cullinan like the Bentayga can be decked out with a whole host of options that jack the price up to ridiculous levels. Included in that is the "Viewing Suite," which is perhaps the most pretentious name for a tailgate seat ever conceived.
Decked out with leather, and given a cocktail table in the middle, the Viewing Suite option adds two seats to the Cullinan's tailgate. How much does the privilege of adding seats to a tailgate cost? A grand total of $20,000. Something that truck and SUV owners have been doing for decades, Rolls-Royce, like with their door-mounted umbrellas, offers the most expensive and luxurious way to put chairs on a tailgate.
2 Rolls-Royce - Gold Plated Spirit Of Ecstasy
If 5-figure tailgate seats aren't unnecessarily luxurious enough for you, and you want your Rolls-Royce to stand out, even more, look no further than this option, allowing Rolls-Royce's iconic hood ornament to be plated in pure gold.
Available as an option on any Rolls-Royce model, the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament can be plated in a coating of pure 24-carat gold. How much does it cost to enjoy the ecstasy of gold? Be prepared to spend over $10,000 for the honor.
1 Toyota Century - Cassette Deck & Recorder
By no means a ridiculous feature in itself, cassette players were a common sight in cars of the past, yet, Toyota's top-end luxury car was available with one right through the 2000s, even as CDs fully took over as the main way to play music in a car.
The most luxurious model Toyota offers, and a Japanese luxury legend, the Century's cassette situation doesn't just end with the outdated tech being used through the 21st Century, though. While a cassette player is offered in the front, in the back seats lies a Century branded cassette recorder as well, allowing rear seat occupants to record any thoughts while being chauffeured.