Photo: Stefan Baldauf / Robert Kah
“The best in a different way” is apparently the tag line upon which Carlsson has decided to introduce what is arguably their kitschiest model ever at this year's Geneva Motor Show.
Officially named the Carlsson CS50 Versailles, this eye-watering S-Class is pretty much drenched in a pure gold finish both inside and out and it has been specifically developed for China's ultra-wealthy “Taipan” clients, also known as “the new royalty of the Middle Kingdom.”
Despite us throwing up into our mouths a little bit at its very sight, it seems that at least 10 of the limited 25 units to be manufactured have already been allocated to existing Carlsson clients even before the car was officially unveiled.
The utter kitschy model is priced from EUR 268,000 ($369,000) to EUR 395,000 ($544,000), which makes it no wonder that there are so many tasteless rich folks on our planet.
The CS50 Versailles was apparently named this way in honor of King Louis XIV (1638-1715), who was also known as Louis The Great or the Sun King after it transformed the Palace of Versailles into an architectural masterpiece.
It seems that the bodywork of each Carlsson CS50 Versailles needs over 200 man-hours of work, with the exterior being adorned with at least a thousand small sheets of wafer-this gold leaf, each measuring 80x80 mm.
The highly-elaborate process takes more than 14 days of hard work, and that is just the half of it, as the car further gets 278 interior and 30 exterior components finished in gold.
The interior requires at least 100 man-hours of work, with the value of the 985 gold used inside being around EUR 12,000.
In case you were wondering, the large difference in pricing between the cheapest and the most expensive version resides in the fact that there are actually three models available – CS40, CS50 and CS65 – each being based on the S 500 or the S 65 AMG.
Despite us throwing up into our mouths a little bit at its very sight, it seems that at least 10 of the limited 25 units to be manufactured have already been allocated to existing Carlsson clients even before the car was officially unveiled.
The utter kitschy model is priced from EUR 268,000 ($369,000) to EUR 395,000 ($544,000), which makes it no wonder that there are so many tasteless rich folks on our planet.
The CS50 Versailles was apparently named this way in honor of King Louis XIV (1638-1715), who was also known as Louis The Great or the Sun King after it transformed the Palace of Versailles into an architectural masterpiece.
It seems that the bodywork of each Carlsson CS50 Versailles needs over 200 man-hours of work, with the exterior being adorned with at least a thousand small sheets of wafer-this gold leaf, each measuring 80x80 mm.
The highly-elaborate process takes more than 14 days of hard work, and that is just the half of it, as the car further gets 278 interior and 30 exterior components finished in gold.
The interior requires at least 100 man-hours of work, with the value of the 985 gold used inside being around EUR 12,000.
In case you were wondering, the large difference in pricing between the cheapest and the most expensive version resides in the fact that there are actually three models available – CS40, CS50 and CS65 – each being based on the S 500 or the S 65 AMG.
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