There’s a certain luxury to space,” says Lotus design chief Russell Carr on the Eveeya/Eveyea/Evidja. And he’s right.
Certainly it’s true on the Evija front – Lotus’s upcoming electric hypercar does feel roomy, not claustrophobic, with two generous seats and a big swooping ‘halo’ of a floating instrument pack, slightly reminiscent of an exposed Maserati ‘birdcage’ chassis but with a 21st century carbonfibre racing bicycle twist. It feels extremely special.
But space equating to luxury is true in general life, too. Who has the most luxurious life? Who defines luxury more than anybody else? Roman Abramovic? Joaquín ‘el Chapo’ Guzmán? Royalty?
Whoever, I’ve seen their houses, and they’re massive. Luxury is, no question, space.
It’s even more valued in places where little space exists, like those London streets where rock stars live next to bankers, and where the quest for more space, more luxury, occurs underground – a garage here, a gym there, a swimming pool beneath it all – eking every last millimetre from buildings made when luxury meant you suffered gout and didn’t die at 35.
So in cities, and in motoring, space sits at odds with one of life’s other luxuries. Perhaps life’s biggest: time.
People sacrifice one for the other. I imagine many of us have at some point lived somewhere small but a ‘yeah, I’ve had a nice walk’ distance from work rather than in a big house that’s ‘sorry, bloody Thameslink, again’ away. A lot of us think time is more important than room. I’d say it’s the most precious thing any of us has.
Which is a thought that occurred to me the other day when I was in an expensive car. An Aston Martin DB11. It is, like the Bentley Continental GT we were testing it against, luxurious, if you accept that quality and cost of materials, design and engineering are also luxuries, which I do.
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Once again British Leyland got there first
The Allegro Vanden Plas
Here was a compact car with a very high quality interior and air suspension for a smooth ride.
Not only that but these days with the oversize grille and a blobby profile one could easily mistake it for a compact SUV crossover coupe - but with more style.
Are "Luxury" Cars Obsolete?
Affordable, mass market brands now offer the performance, comfort and features that not too long ago were the sole domain of high end vehicles. The "luxury" cars distinguish themselves mainly by snob appeal along with gimmicks and gadgets that are increasingly peripheral to the driving experience.
Already been done...
A compact car with Rolls-Royce trimmings? That would be the Van den Plas 1500 version of the Allegro!
I can't tell if you're being serious
The Van den Plas may have been many things (mostly bad things), but it was not luxurious.