Exotic and super cars are an indulgence, with meticulous appointments all around, paint jobs included. Here’s a list of the five most expensive paint finishes to have been ever offered on a car, exotic or otherwise, and what they’re worth in India.
‘Individual Pure Metal Silver’/BMW M5
Available on the F10 M5, BMW Individual’s ‘Pure Metal Silver’ boasts a chrome-like finish and high metallic brilliance, apart from being the most expensive paint finish offered by the Bavarian manufacturer. The gleam is the result of a special effect pigment with a water based paint system, along with hundreds of thousands of ‘ultra-thin aluminum flakes’ that are added to the mix.
Since it’s a labor intensive job, and the car has to be completely removed from the production line, ‘Individual Pure Metal Silver’ is a £6,000 option in the UK, which translates to more than INR 6 lakh – enough dough for a brand new Maruti Suzuki Swift in India.
‘AMG Solarbeam’/ Mercedes -AMG GT
When the latest in line from Affalterbach’s arsenal is draped in this explosive shade of yellow, cash registers start singing. A splash of ‘AMG Solarbeam’ on the GT retails for about £10,695 in the UK, which translates to about INR 10.5 lakh. For that kind of money, you could get yourself a brand new VW Vento TSi.
Word has it that the paintwork glistens like a yellow ruby when the sun hits it. ‘AMG Solarbeam’ can be optionally had on the latest G-Wagen as well, apart from featuring on the iconic SLS AMG and C63 AMG Black Series models.
Satin Paint Range/Bentley
A Bentley will polish your crass, more so with the 120 different color options that the British company offers, including solid, metallic and satin finishes, the latter being the most expensive option. Starting at $27,345, or about INR 17.4 lakh, the satin paint range is subtly matt, and will buy you a brand new VW Jetta in India.
The bespoke Bentleys are hand-sprayed in different depths to make everything look even, and then hand polished with lamb’s wool for 12 hours. What’s more, apart from the aforementioned color options, Bentley will even spray the color of your choice, whatever be it.
‘Liquid Metal Silver’/Porsche 918 Spyder
$64,000, or just a shade over INR 40 lakh – that’s how much Porsche charges if you choose to drape your 918 Spyder in ‘Liquid Metal Silver’ or ‘Liquid Metal Chrome Blue’. For that kind of money, you could get yourself a brand new Mercedes CLA in India, with some change to spare.
Produced by BASF, the paint is highly vibrant and gives the surface the appearance of liquid metal. Nine coats of the Liquid Metal paint are applied with high precision, spawning three manual processing stages. Three final clear coats guarantee impressive light reflection and depth. Every reflection helps to accentuate the contours of the 918 Spyder. But the real secret involves the usage of magnets to line up the metallic flakes in set directional patterns, so that unlike ‘normal’ metallic finishes, the luster and metallic reflectiveness stays even.
Naked Carbon/Pagani Huyara
The fully exposed carbon Pagani Huayra does not come with a paint job as such, just a few layers of clear coat to give a lustrous, organsmic shine to the carbon fiber body panels, meticulously put together for their weaves to match. Yet, the finish is bone-chillingly expensive, and tops the list by a fair margin.
The full carbon bodywork option goes for $151,807, or close to INR 1 Crore! Think Audi Q7 4.2 TDI Quattro money in India, with some money to spare for a fancy registration number.