Luxury car

Luxury car /luk-shuh-ree kar/ noun (countable)

A luxury car is a motor vehicle that provides a superior level of comfort, quality, equipment, and refinement, with its design prioritising these attributes over performance, economy, or practicality. It is the automotive equivalent of a first-class airline suite, a machine whose primary purpose is to isolate its occupants from the vulgarities of the outside world. The experience is one of supremely quiet, almost floating transportation. The car operates in a world of deep-pile carpets, hushed engines, and suspension that treats potholes as distant abstractions. The British, with Rolls-Royce and Bentley, wrote the rulebook for this kind of opulent detachment, creating mobile drawing rooms for those who considered the act of driving itself to be a job for the staff.

The Full Story of the Luxury Car

The philosophy of the luxury car is a battle against reality. Where a sports car is designed to connect the driver to the road, a luxury car creates a protective bubble of calm and smoothness, a sanctuary from the noise, bumps, and general unpleasantness of the world rushing past.

For most of the 20th century, the global benchmark for this was British. Rolls-Royce dedicated itself to the singular pursuit of mechanical quietness and a perfect ride. Their advertising famously boasted that at 60 miles per hour, the loudest noise came from the electric clock. Their engine's power was never quoted in vulgar horsepower figures, and was described as simply "adequate." This was the British definition of luxury: understated, effortless, and built with the quality of a fine shotgun. It was a piece of mobile real estate, upholstered and engineered to perfection.

The great challenger to this British ideal came from Germany. Mercedes-Benz, with its formidable S-Class, pursued luxury through a different lens: technological superiority. While the British were focused on handcrafted wood and leather, the Germans were pioneering safety features like ABS and airbags. Their cars were built with clinical, flawless precision. It was a fascinating clash of philosophies: the British mobile gentleman's club versus the German mobile engineering laboratory.

Across the Atlantic, the American interpretation of luxury, from brands like Cadillac and Lincoln, was about sheer size and a long list of features. American luxury cars were the first to popularise automatic gearboxes, power steering, and air conditioning. They were vast, floaty land yachts, designed to cruise down wide, straight highways with barely a whisper.

This established world order was shattered in 1989 by the arrival of the Lexus LS400 from Japan. Here was a car that offered a level of hush, sophistication, and build quality that matched or even exceeded the Germans, at a significantly lower price. Most unnervingly for the European establishment, it was utterly, boringly reliable. It proved that luxury did not have to come with a temperamental personality and eye-watering repair bills.

The modern luxury car is now a fusion of all these ideals. At the very top end, the German-owned but British-built Rolls-Royces and Bentleys still offer unparalleled levels of bespoke craftsmanship, now with the benefit of German technological discipline. They are a magnificent, rolling paradox: a handcrafted anachronism stuffed with more computing power than the lunar module.

For The Record

What is "waftability"?

It's a piece of motoring jargon, most often associated with Rolls-Royce, used to describe the effortless, serene way a large luxury car proceeds. It implies muted performance and a suspension that glides over bumps, detaching the occupants from the road surface.

Is a Bentley a luxury car or a grand tourer?

It depends on the model. A Bentley Flying Spur or Mulsanne is a pure luxury limousine, designed to be driven in. A Bentley Continental GT is a grand tourer, designed to be driven by its owner across a continent at high speed. The brand straddles both categories.

What's the difference between a luxury car and a premium car?

It's a blurry line, but a premium car, like a BMW 5-Series or an Audi A6, is a high-quality, well-equipped vehicle for the mass market. A true luxury car, like a Rolls-Royce Phantom or Mercedes S-Class, is in a different league of price, materials, quality, and bespoke craftsmanship.

Why don't luxury cars handle like sports cars?

Because their priorities are the opposite. The soft, long-travel suspension that is perfect for absorbing bumps and providing a smooth ride is the enemy of sharp, responsive handling. The heavy soundproofing and luxury features also add a great deal of weight, which blunts agility.

Is the "Spirit of Ecstasy" a standard feature?

The famous flying lady mascot on a Rolls-Royce is indeed a standard feature. Since 2004, it has been fitted with a mechanism that allows it to retract swiftly into the grille to deter thieves and for pedestrian safety in the event of an impact.