Apparently, fear of the masses has forced the 1 percent in NYC to give up their limos in favor of tricked out cargo vans, at a cost of $200,000-500,000+. The New York Times:
As the economy limps along and more attention is paid to the so-called 1 percent, some of the richest New Yorkers have taken to driving around in vehicles that ooze neither wealth nor privilege. But on the inside, the vans may be as lavishly decorated as the private railroad cars owned by turn-of-the-century industrialists.
When I say “tricked out”, I really mean freaking tricked out. And of course, chauffeur driven.
“I have two big-screen televisions; I have a couch in the back that goes into a bed,” Mr. Kantor [investment banker] said. “I have four chairs that go back and massage you. It has a desk, a table and an intercom so you can have meetings in there if you want to.”
[...]The most popular model is made by Mercedes: a stripped-down, basic version of the van, the Sprinter, starts at $41,315; Mr. Kantor’s version, which Mercedes-Benz Manhattan arranged to have customized, is fitted with satellite television, a Wi-Fi network and flat-screen monitors, and sells for $189,000. Even that is not quite enough for some New Yorkers, who employ designers to install even pricier custom details that easily drive up the total cost to $500,000.
Via Boing Boing
