Cherish Angula and her team has taken the phrase “Diamonds are a girls best friend” to an entirely new level, offering up what may be the world’s first $51,000 diamond-encrusted manicure. Named the “Ice Manicure”, this exclusive and expensive luxury treatment adorns the fingertips with 10 carats.
I can’t help but point out that for that price, you could indulge in something a bit more exhilarating…like approximately 12-24 exotic car rentals Miami style, experiencing the latest from the top luxury brands. Or you could just glue some diamonds to your nails and attempt to blind onlookers with them…that could be fun, too.
Imagine one of the world’s landmark luxury cities, Monaco. Now picture it rollin’…I mean floating…meet the ‘Streets of Monaco’ megayacht. I must say I do feel that the term ‘megayacht’ may not be sufficient for this billion-dollar beauty! Oh yes, I said a billion…with a B.
This luxury yacht charter is one of the most secure and expensive in existence, boasting scaled-down reproductions of Monaco’s landmarks expanding across the 500-foot superyacht. One such nod is a go-kart track on deck inspired by the Monaco Grand Prix, which gearheads are certain to praise! I wonder if there is a track to race your exotic rental cars onboard, or perhaps a private Ferrari Challenge at sea? Hey, it could happen.
Bugatti has always been a name synonymous with perfection, speed, power and poise, but did you know that the exotic car brand can now actually say, ‘Well, hello there, I have the fastest luxury car in the world…what’s up?’ Yes, the new Bugatti Veyron has many luxury carmakers out there grinding their gears. I would like to see this Bugatti added to our exotic rental car fleet!
Gulfstream knows luxury jets, and for the swanky G550 business jet, they have ‘pulled out all the stops’, so to speak! The Gulfstream G550 is an ultra-long range luxury business jet charter that has been setting records since its inception, beginning with a nonstop flight from Seoul, South Korea to Orlando, Florida in 14.5 hours, just two weeks after it entered service. This model certainly stands out among other private jet charters!
In fact, the G550 Gulfstream luxury jet established around 40 city-pair records within its first five years of service, not too shabby for a $50 million dollar advancement in aviation! Don’t worry, it is available for charter for far less, and there are always light jet charters and medium jet charters for smaller trips. The G550 jet effortlessly links Washington D.C. with Dubai, London with Singapore and Tokyo with Paris, removing the angst of commercial air travel from business trips.
In the nautical world, the ‘cigarette’ boat is the go-fast choice, offered in an endless variety of brands and specs. In fact, even the big players in exotic and luxury car brands have entered the speedboat arena, including Mercedes-Benz, with their $1.2 million dollar SLS AMG cigarette boat! So now you have to choose between an awesome speedboat rental Miami and a luxury car rental Miami? Think fast!
So what makes a Mercedes-Benz cigarette boat worth more than the average variety? Specifications include an 8-cylinder twin-turbocharged, quad-cam Mercury Racing engine with 4-valves kicking out 1,350 horsepower. This is Mercury Racing’s latest engine, and runs on 92-Octane fuel. This is one serious luxury racing boat! For those who love the brand but prefer dry land, a Mercedes-Benz rental Miami style may be more your speed!
This Luxury List Item is definitely not for the squeamish! Kopi Luwak is an exotic coffee hailing from Indonesia that is processed in a quite peculiar manner. These coffee beans are harvested after passing through the Asian Palm Civet, a cat like mammal indigenous to the area. Yes, the civet must first excrete these coffee beans before they make their way to your cup! I would think people would have to be paid rather than pay to drink these dirty beans, but pay they do, to the tune of $100-$600 USD per pound!
The civet eats the coffee berries, which possess a cherry-like pulp on the exterior of the coffee bean. The coffee berries then spend a day and a half in the digestive tract of the civet, where proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, which some feel reduce the bitterness of the coffee. The beans maintain their shape upon defecation, and are then gathered, washed thoroughly, sun dried, lightly roasted and brewed to yield an aromatic and sweet brew. Yum.
For those of you who are savvy in the world of shotguns and firearms, you already know that some of the best guns, according to some, are actually called “Best Gun”, as in “London Best”, a piece that costs more than a freakin Ferrari!
In fact, you may be able to purchase two Ferraris, Lamborghinis or other supercars in the typical $200,000 range for just one of these luxury collector guns. So what makes a “London Best” so special?
It is a double-barreled shotgun created as if it were a piece of art, with careful precision. Shotgun aficionados can spot a London Best in a crowd, much like women can spot a Coach bag or anything by Luis Vuitton. A best gun is made of the highest quality and finish and is top-grade by a top manufacturer. The quality is outstanding, and mirrors the same idea as opting for an Aston Martin rental over a standard car rental, you know you are getting something special.
This is a sensitive subject for some, as some believe the most expensive mushroom is the white truffle. The white truffle is a rare and expensive fungus, but it is lacking one vital quality when vying for the title: it is NOT a mushroom. Does that settle it? Now, meet the new contender, Japan’s matsutake mushroom.
The matsutake mushroom of Japan, or mattake, is extremely rare. We all know how this works-something is rare, therefore it is expensive, the old ‘supply and demand’ strategy for marketing. Historically the matsutake mushroom is synonymous with autumn in Japan.
So why are the matsutake shrooms so rare? This has been bugging me. The plight of this mushroom is literally due to a bug, an insect that eradicates the trees that shelter the sumptuous shrooms. The decline of these trees has in turn led to a decline in the matsutake mushroom, as symbiotic relationships go. So the price per pound of this glorified fungus is a staggering $2,000. Yes. For fungus.
Preceded by the Porsche 911 GT1 and succeeded by the Porsche GT1, you will find the Porsche Carrera GT. This supercar hit a production run in 2004 that ended in 2006. Yes, for a delivery charge of just $5,000, a Porsche Carrera GT would have been delivered right to your door. Now you can see why Imagine Lifestyles added this to the biggest luxury list on the web.
That really isn’t too steep for a luxury car that sold for an MSRP of around $440,000 USD. Tack on a dealer invoice of around $14,800, and the Porsche Carrera GT boasted a price tag of around $421,000. Nice. So what went wrong?
The original production run called for around 1,500 of the Carrera GT models to emerge onto the market, but Porsche announced in 2005 that production of the supercar would come to a screeching halt, citing a change in U.S. airbag regulations. Lame. So as of May 6, 2006, 1,270 Carrera GT’s had been manufactured, with a mere 604 sold to the United States. I am assuming the cost to convert the design plan and budget of the Carrera GT to conform to the new airbag regulations was deemed excessive.
Getting down to specs, the Porsche Carrera GT is powered by a 5.7-liter V10 engine kicking out 605 horsepower. This is in stark contrast to the original concept Carrera GT, which featured a 5.5-liter version with 558 horses. The Carrera GT hits the 0-60 mark in around 3.5 seconds with a top speed of 205 miles per hour. A six speed manual transmission was the only option, which makes it a driving enthusiast’s choice.
As far as aesthetics, this luxury Porsche came in five basic colors:
• Guards red
• Fayence yellow
• Basalt black
• GT silver
• Seal grey
Owners could custom order colors from the factory. The Carrera GT features oversized side inlets and air dams to cool the larger sized V10 engine, framed by a carbon fiber rear bonnet. So how do you stop a supercar that powerful? With carbon fiber reinforced Silicon Carbide ceramic composite brakes, of course. The brakes are ridiculously effective and equally attractive. To show off, a rear wing spoiler deploys at speeds of around 70 miles per hour. Wouldn’t this be a perfect car to add to our fleet of Miami luxury rental cars or our every growing amount of Chicago exotic rental cars?
The interior of the Porsche Carrera GT is predictably plush, with soft leather, Bose audio system, navigation system and other luxe options. I will close with a fun fact: the ignition is located to the left of the steering column, paying homage to the early days of Le Mans racing when drivers where required to make a running start, hop into their cars, start them and race. That way, the driver could start the Porsche with one hand, and put it into gear with the other. Awesome.
This luxury SUV appears to have been based on a simple cardboard box…just replace the cardboard with carbon fiber. Oh, and slap on a price tag of $1 million smackeroos. Meet the Mercedes G-Couture.
This SUV is not only an eyesore; it makes no logical sense, yet there it is. Yet, it does please me greatly that companies are willing to add luxurious carbon fiber to SUVs, it will not only look great, but lighten the gas-guzzling load and lower environmental impact.
In my humble opinion, the G-Class SUV still bears too much of a resemblance to its original tank-ish beginnings. Now it is a tank with a luxury badge, and demands a heavy wallet. Now let’s get down to specs!
Engine: 5.7-liter supercharged (I love that word)
Power/Torque: 700 bhp
Top Speed: 158 miles per hour
0-60 Mark: 4.3 seconds
Fuel Economy: Don’t ask
Competition: Lunar Shuttle, Brabus G-Wagon, TechArt Magnum, Chuck Norris
dirty beans, but pay they do, to the tune of $100-$600 USD per pound!
with 558 horses. The Carrera GT hits the 0-60 mark in around 3.5 seconds with a top speed of 205 miles per hour. A six speed manual transmission was the only option, which makes it a driving enthusiast’s choice.