King gets fancy new car
Salı, Şubat 19th, 2008
It’s big and shiny and expensive and, of course, luxurious. But it’s environmentally friendly as well, as cars go, making the king’s new car politically correct.
King Harald’s new Lexus LS600h. PHOTO: MAGNE JOHANSEN 
The car’s back seat offers a number of entertainment and comfort options for the passengers. PHOTO: MAGNE JOHANSEN |
Aftenposten’s car critic, Magne Johansen, got a chance to test drive the car that palace officials (and the Norwegian taxpayers) have bought for their reigning monarch. The car will be used for representation, so it’s supposed to be nice.
It is. Johansen was suitably impressed, saying it’s a dream to drive as well as to sit in its ample backseat.
The Lexus LS600h is a Japanese hybrid vehicle, running on a combination of petrol and the car’s own electricity. It can go from zero to 100 kilometers an hour (60mph) in 6.3 seconds and it costs around NOK 1.84 million in high-tax Norway (about USD 340,000 at current exchange rates).
At that price, it’s only right that the car features hand-sewn leather seats that warm up and cool down at the touch of a button. The entire vehicle is loaded to the extreme, with a TV/film screen that descends from the ceiling, a sound system with 19 speakers and a highly advanced security system that even warns the driver in case he or she starts to doze off behind the wheel.
The royals opted against a few luxury items, however, including the electronic massage system that Telenor chief executive chose for his company’s Lexus. And the palace didn’t order the sun-roof option either. It seems that would have made the ceiling too low for the hats the royals often wear, and an open sunroof can simply ruin one’s coiffure.