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Bear with me here – but assuming you could, would your conscience allow you to spend a small fortune on a car?
I’ve had this hypothetical question posed to me a few times in the recent past, and, frankly speaking, the more you consider it, the harder it becomes to rationalize. I, for one, don’t have a small fortune lying handy, so, fortunately or unfortunately, it’s a debate only in theory. Nevertheless, I would imagine that justifying the hypothetical purchase of an, albeit exquisite, automobile like the one featured in this issue – the Rolls Royce Ghost – could become a tricky one.
Sure, popular belief appears to be that India is destined for a tryst with ‘superpowerdom’ – and exotic machines are simply a by-product therein. That being said, we still have our fair share of destitute people on the roads – another figure that’s in the millions. So, where then does the justification for such excess come from? Simply by virtue of its surroundings, does your precious machine become just a vulgar expression of wealth, or do its intrinsic characteristics, which make it a unique and special machine in the first place, shine through regardless and win over the many jaded cynics?
I, for one, was so completely overawed by the Rolls Royce Phantom when we tested it last year that I suggested it was worth every penny of its 3.5 crore (US $750,000) price tag if you could actually afford one. Why? Because it truly is everything it promises to be. It’s simply on another automotive plane – in terms of craftsmanship, comfort and engineering. And that holds true for the RR Ghost featured in this issue as well. Yes, you could buy 10 Skoda Superb V6’s for the same money – also featured elsewhere in this issue. And the Superb V6 certainly appears to be everything you could ever ask for in a car, and more – it’s extremely spacious, comfortable, and powerful. But, at the end of the day, there really is no comparison. And that holds true even if you try and draw a comparison between the Rolls and the best from the German triumvirate of Audi, Mercedes and (Rolls Royce parent) BMW. If you think you know what it feels like to be in a Rolls because you’ve spent time in an S Class Mercedes or 7 Series BMW, you’d be wrong.
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All it takes is a single glance at a Rolls to get a sense of just how many man hours of painstaking effort go into crafting any of its panels – inside or out. Everything is so finely and exquisitely crafted that it truly is an art form – thereby making it an expression of art. And you can’t put a price on that, can you? Especially now, when robots perform most of the functions that go into the manufacture of a mass produced automobile, it’s actually a dying art. So, in fact, you’re paying to preserve an art form, and that’s a noble cause if there ever was one. Moreover, you wouldn’t typically raise the same concerns when valuing a Hussain, so why should this be any different?
From a slightly more rational point of view, it’s also a breeding ground for technological excellence – for the simple reason that the latest and most advanced technology is developed for cars such as these, which later filters down to more modest machines that most lesser mortals drive. So, really, by buying an exotic, or supercar, or uber luxury limo, you’re actually performing a service to society.
Okay, I may be puling at strings, but at the end of the day what it boils down to is the freedom of choice. There may or may not be a way of truly justifying it. But why should you have to, it’s a personal decision after all. One of the covenants of a free society is the right to choose, and spend your money any way you want – legally of course. So, buy one if you can afford it – but perhaps you really will consider contributing at least as much to charity when you do. After all, there’s nothing more satisfying than sharing the wealth (or the Rolls for that matter), is there?
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