I dunno. My guess is that Piano Black is something that's recently crept-in on the fashion radar, hence its appearance with Individual. I doubt that it's more expensive than conventional wood.

That's just my guess though.

Same goes for most of the individual paint jobs. You're just paying more because you're choosing colors that are out of their primary palatte. It probably costs BMW more to offer the exended range of coats, but I doubt that the paint in and of itself costs more.

At the luxury end of the market, there are so many things that could be offered - luxury can be re-invented in so many different ways.

Maybach, Bentley, and Pagani already offer quilted leather upholstery, and Rolls-Royce have special patterned leathers available but I think they could be much more adventurous.

Some inspiration.....

The strap of this watch is blue galuchat (stingray) - can you imagine using this beautiful and ultra-exclusive material in a Maybach or Rolls-Royce for example instead of wood.



special techniques on the wood surface to create really interesting effects.



The scraped wood technique on this tea set would look great in a car interior IMO.

Interesting observations Roberto.

I think the world of ultra-luxury, just like the world of mass market luxury, is due for a significant change in material selection and usage.

I imagine, mass luxury brands like BMW et al. will fire the 1st shot by ushering in fresh colors and materials as no-cost options. The bar has been ever so slightly moved by the E90 3er, with aluminum trim now being offered as a no-cost alternative to wood (if this has always been the case, somebody please correct me). There's also some subtle colors creeping into the no-cost pallate like "Terra" leather, which would have been BMW Individual turf just until recently.

Once the mass brands have stepped up their game, the ultra-luxury marques will have to reach deeper into their rolodex to source materials even more exotic and desirable than what their clientele has come to expect.

For the most part, this bottom-up phenomena has already rippled through car design, when we talk about brands like Kia vs brands like BMW. The "classy German" look was getting cribbed on all sides, so BMW reacted by reinventing their styling. Now it would appear that certain "German born" cues are quickly bleeding into the mainstream - requiring the "true" luxo-brands to reinvent themselves.

However, there's a big distinction to be made between design/styling and materials. Design is cheap. Let's just watch and see what Hyundais look like 5 years from now. Quality design is a marginal portion of the automotive product development process. The paradigm shift happened in a boardroom as opposed to a ledger.

Materials on the other hand are not cheap. Rolls and Maybach have considerable leverage here. My feeling is that the onus is on them and others to concoct envoronments that take advantage of their clients' financial elasticity by offering new and exciting material combinations that just wouldn't be possible if not for the cars' outrageous pricetags.

It shouldn't just be that the whole cabin is completely swathed in leather and wood - there should be something entirely unique there that's simply unheard of in common automobiles.

Magnificent post Osna

We are most certainly thinking along similar lines here. Luxury has become increasingly "democratic". For the cars at the highest echelons of the market to maintain their unparalleled ambiance and sustain international recognition as rarefied expressions of uncompromised luxury, designers must continue to find new forms of luxury and prestige. Ironically perhaps in such a high-tech world, the aesthetic value of hand-made or hand-crafted details will probably play an increasing role - certain materials, by their very nature, cannot be successfully adapted for industrial mass-production, they rely entirely on the skill of expert craftsmen to be transformed into expressions of ultimate luxury.

...ostridge leather upholstery anyone? ....this is in a 1930 Bugatti - it certainly is quite unusual anyway.

Woah. That's... unique.

I just saw this from the link in Alex's post about the classic car event in Como, Italy - it shows that wood doesn't have to look antiquated. It is a concept car of course so the details have that usual prototype look about them.

2006 Russo-Baltique Impression

Roberto...do you really like this?...

I have to add, that black wood trim inside the 3-series WAS amazing...

That combination of wood and hard, gray plastic is really really pissin me off...

I like the concept - I have reservations about certain aspects of it - but I think it does show that wood can look very "21st century" without loosing it's natural characteristics like black lacquered wood does - essentially black wood has a very limited emotional quality...but it can work well in conjunction with more sensual materials like soft leather or aluminium - aluminium can be a surprisingly tactile material.


Yes that gray plastic is a low point, but I think the intention is to simulate aluminium - it is a concept car after all.

Maybach 57S with CF.

Personally I would rather have the black wood than CF.







Mercedes-Maybach Concept