If you’re old enough, you’ll remember a time when the cheapest cars on the market could be purchased devoid of options. Scarlet letters of shame were assigned to four-wheel drum brakes, hubcaps on steel wheels, and a big delete plate over where the big-shot edition’s air-conditioning controls would be. Times have changed, and so has the list of basic options. Wide-ranging consumer demand for gadgets and amenities has helped amortize their costs, such that on many models, it’s simply not worth it for the automaker to design and manufacture, say, a door panel with space for both a hand crank and power-window mechanisms. It’s one case of the trickle-down theory actually working; we don’t miss the days of cranking the window up with one hand while helping it with the other. Here, we’ve calculated the small share of stripper hallmarks installed in new passenger cars for sale in the U.S.:
- Extra, Extra: Which Vehicle Models Get Fitted With the Most Options?
- Which Vehicles Hold Their Value Best? And Which Are Total Depreciation Disasters?
- The Price of Power: Which Cars Offer the Most Optional Horsepower per Dollar?
Shotgun Wedding
Among the rarest of options at the expensive end of the market is a gun case offered by Land Rover. Just 30 will come to the U.S. this year. It’s more than just the case, actually, as the Holland Holland Range Rover, named for the famed London gunmaker, is a full trim level. For $245,495, its interior is laminated with walnut veneers sourced from the same trees as the guns’ stocks, and scrollwork on the interior metalwork mimics that on the guns as well. The gun case itself is removable, lockable, and leather clad, but even at this price, it’s empty. Stocking it with a new pair of Holland Hollands will set buyers back at least another $140,000.
Roll Tape
Lexus’s 2010 SC430 had an unlikely claim to fame. It was the last car sold in the U.S. with a tape deck. Now the question becomes: How much longer does the CD player have left?