The upper strata of motoring

Consider the car cup holder. When it was first integrated into car designs in the 1980s, it was a luxury. Today, the number of cup holders and even where they’re placed around the cabin is a basic buying consideration for some car shoppers.

One ultra-luxury sports sedan now in development, DiMora Motorcar’s Natalia SLS 2, reinvent cup holders as a luxury feature once again. Stylishly designed, they will also be thermally controlled, to keep beverages hot or cold. Fiber-optic rings will glow red when they’re warming or blue when cooling.

While most high-end autos offer luscious leather, polished wood and high-performance engines, they will have to kick it up a notch – several notches, in fact – to compete with the Natalia. The “2” in its name stands for its $2-million price tag, making it the most expensive car in the world. And while the bottom has dropped out of the economy since 2007, when Palm Springs’ entrepreneur and company founder Alfred DiMora launched the auto’s development, he remains convinced there’s a market for his over-the-top auto. “There are people with money out there,” DiMora says. “Look at the world’s billionaire list. There’s a market for my car.”

Even in luxury car circles, the Natalia stands out. DiMora, an automotive innovator who also developed the world’s fastest field-programmable gate array supercomputer, says the Natalia is a five-year project “to look at the car from bumper to bumper and see if there’s a way to reinvent it for the 21st century. He says his company is about 18 months away from putting a prototype on the road for testing. When production starts, he expects to build about 75 cars a year.

The Natalia takes the concept of luxury to new levels. A V16 engine will produce 1,200 horsepower, getting impressive gas mileage because of an ultra-light engine block and variable-cylinder technology. The chassis and body will be made of aerospace materials. The 20-foot vehicle will weigh 1,500 pounds less than other luxury vehicles of the same size.

Advanced paint technology will allow the car can change colors like a chameleon, turning from black or blue when it’s cool outside to white when it’s hot. Night vision technology will be incorporated into the windshield display to extend a motorist’s forward view beyond the range of the car’s headlamps.

The headlamps could prove to be the most entertaining ever built. The Natalia’s lights incorporate a projector that’s connected to the car’s integrated video system. Stopped at the country club by curious passersby? Park next to a wall or building and educate them with a short movie about the car.

Inside, a handicapped-assist front passenger seat can glide forward, rotate 90 degrees and transport a passenger out of the car. Waterford crystal ashtrays and a humidor and cigar cutter will make life more comfortable for smokers.

Other luxury features come from DiMora’s personal interest in and experience with technology. The Natalia will include biofeedback sensors to monitor occupants’ heart rates, breathing rates and blood pressure and adjust lighting and audio settings according to the readings. And other options are just for fun, such as a matching $12,000 limited-edition purse designed by DiMora’s wife, Yvonne DiMora.

DiMora says the Natalia will be a sports car for people who want to be pampered. It’s one-of-a-kind features like those being planned for the Natalia that set ultra-luxury cars apart from mere modes of transportation.

For example, the Maybach 62S luxury sedan (around $505,000) includes leather-edged floor mats, a leather tissue dispenser, reclining rear seats with leg- and foot rests and a voice-operated control system in five languages. Maybach also offers granite trim for those who find wood or leather too common.

The Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren roadster (around $495,000) has a choice of gold or silver calipers for the brake system that are visible through its custom alloy wheels.

The Bentley Arnage Final Series (around $271,000) features document stowage areas, massaging seats, lamb’s wool rugs and even a lamb’s wool mat in the luggage compartment to coddle one’s cargo. Its leather steering wheel requires 15 hours of hand stitching.

DiMora believes everyone can enjoy the beauty of these vehicles, whether they can afford them or not.

“There are two ways people can enjoy the Natalia,” he says. “They can buy it or they can watch the process of us building it on our Web site. We like to see people become passionate about cars.”