Luxury Hits the Road in a Load of Gadgetry

Everything in life, as E. B. White observed, is somewhere else, and you get there in a car.

And where is this more true than in Southern Califonia, where the unofficial flower is the cloverleaf and where the average motorist makes three or four trips each weekday (more on weekends), traveling about 30 miles daily and spending at least an hour on the road?

This being the case, what are you doing tooling along without having access to a refrigerator between your bucket seats? Or not sitting in a specially made contoured orthopedic seat with thigh and lumbar supports? Or not having a “jukebox” in the trunk that will give you access to sound from 10 separate compact discs--all controlled by buttons inside the sun visor?

Flash on the Inside

Ah, the up-to-date and well-appointed car. It isn’t what’s outside that counts. Creature comfort is the name of the game.

“We are noticing more and more demand for interior modifications to improve on what arrives from the factory,” said Andrew Cohen, co-owner of Beverly Hills Motoring Accessories.

“Car owners--sometimes the wealthy and famous--don’t want flash on the outside. They don’t want to appear ostentatious. But like everybody else in California, they spend a lot of time in their cars, and they want to be comfortable.

“And it isn’t just drivers with luxury models. Somebody with, say, a Honda or Toyota, realizes it will hold its resale value even better if the interior is improved.”

For openers, consider contoured orthopedic Recaro seats from Germany, available at Cohen’s shop, 200 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills, for $450 to $2,060 each.

“The soft cushion in the upper thigh area helps prevent bad blood circulation,” boasts an advertisement for one of the models.

Doctor Referrals

Furthermore, Cohen said, “more than half of these seats that we sell are because of referrals from doctors and medical clinics. Some people get their medical insurance to pay the cost.”

Another hot item at his chic emporium are Driving Mocs ($40)--shoes made of glove leather and with soles that have rubber nubs extending over the heel, so the foot won’t slip off the pedal.

“In just the six months they have been on the market, we have sold thousands of pairs,” Cohen said. “They come in women’s and men’s styles, and they save wear and tear on your regular, expensive shoes.”

Naturally, you and your passenger wouldn’t think of planting your feet on something other than a set of one-inch-thick mouton floor mats ($600 to $800).

And then there’s the Rain Guard system ($60 to $100), available through Cohen’s store. Although technically not an interior improvement, this electronic system is water impressionable and protects whatever goodies your chariot has on the inside. When, for instance, raindrops are detected, installed electronic sensors close convertible tops and activate electric window lifts and sunroof motors.

Sound systems for cars are advancing to the point where you might as well be in a theater. For instance, for about $3,000 to $5,000, Electronic Entertainment Inc., 1056 S. La Cienega Blvd., will install a 12- to 16-speaker system, parametrically tuned, that provides 120 watts of amplification.

“It is a jukebox with 10 compact discs that fit into the trunk,” said Howard Becker, owner of the company. “The driver has random access to 10 hours of non-repetitive music by means of controls recessed into the sun visor on either the driver’s or the passenger’s side.

“You can drive to Vegas and back, and never hear the same song twice.

“The system was developed for us by a former sound engineer at Paramount and Universal, and is powered by the automobile. You can use either the discs or the car radio and get the same quality that would be heard in a sound studio or at a professional music performance.”

Factory-Installed Pleasantry

For whatever it is worth--and this is one pleasantry that was factory installed--the Toyota Cressidas used to give birthday greetings:

“Until it was redesigned in 1986, with more sophisticated and practical technology, the owner could program a couple of birthdays,” said Bill Fuller, Toyota spokesman at the company’s Torrance headquarters. “When the car was first started on those particular days, the computer would sing ‘Happy Birthday.’ ”

All well and good for taking care of sounds, but every day is thirst-day in a car, and what is worse than a lukewarm cola?

To remedy this, consider having Rodeo Auto Accessories, 9065 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywod, install a mini-refrigerator (about $1,750) between your car seats.

“It has both front and rear doors, and also has air-conditioning vents on both ends to provide additional cooling inside the vehicle,” manager Bart Chielens said. “It is recommended mostly for the Mercedes, but can be mounted in almost any other make. It operates off a separate, chargeable car battery.”

His place also installs a color TV set ($3,600)with eight-inch screen, plus videocassette player, in the center console. To satisfy the Department of Motor Vehicles, however, the units are attached so as not to be operable while the car is in motion, Chielens said.

And before we leave the subject of wining and dining while wheeling, be advised that the Brookstone chain of stores can supply you with a Travel Fridge-Warmer ($115).

Although not all of the local outlets have them in stock, they can be ordered via the catalogue. “The units plug into the cigarette lighter, weigh 8 1/2 pounds, and can heat to 159 degrees or cool to 38 degrees,” a Brookstone spokeswoman said.

“Why, you ask, do I have all this stuff in my car?” replied Ken Fleiner. “I guess because I want to be a little different, a little distinctive.

“Besides, by now I’m used to having it all.”

Fleiner is the 34-year-old owner of the Paulee Body Shop, a Los Angeles auto-repair firm. In the garage of his Beverly Hills home is a Mercedes SEL for him, and one for his wife, Joyce.

The husband said they each trade in every year, and each of their models has pretty much the same interior comforts, some of them factory installed.

These include:

- Heated seats in the front and back.

- A radar detector that not only flashes red, but vocally warns:”Be careful, slow down.”

A complete sound system (installed by Becker), parametrically tuned for sound studio or theater quality music.

- Mouton floor mats.

- Cellular phone.

- Etak Navigator.

“We had refrigerators last year, but we didn’t bother this year,” Fleiner said.

“I guess it’s an ego trip. But if I am going to have a Mercedes, I want more than just something stock. I want ours to be different from the others.”

Regarding communications and other creature comforts while on the road, voice activation is the hot breakthrough:

For $400, Beverly Hills Communication Enterprises Inc., 9025 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, will hook up such a unit to your cellular car phone ($900 to $6,000).

“It is a hands-free voice recognition system that understands vocal commands,” said Mark Higgins, president of the company. “You can store 40 names to be recalled. You say ‘Call Jane,’ and it dials her number.

“Before you get out of your car, you can leave a forwarding number.”

Cellular phone usage in cars is having explosive growth in the Los Angeles area, if for no other reason than the relatively new accommodation of making calls to a special number for the purpose of checking traffic.

“You call the number and the operator will tell you why traffic is slow on your particular freeway,” Higgins said. “If she doesn’t know, she’ll call you back.”

If you have a Mercedes, Porsche or BMW, Reliable Motoring Accessories in Riverside can supply you with a cellular phone armrest ($400 to $600).

“It is fitted between the seats, replaces the original armrest and is a lockable compartment for the phone,” said Jack Rosen, president.

“If you don’t want to use it for that purpose, you can safely store documents or tapes.”

For sales people and many others, cars are becoming mobile offices.

More Electronic Gear

Take point-of-purchase terminals, sold and installed for from $400 to $1,500 by Communication Enterprises. “They are like electronic cash registers,” Higgins said. “They can, for example, verify credit cards and checks for cab drivers.”

His firm also installs in cars:

- Telefax machines ($1,200 to $3,000)to transmit written or picture data.

- Lap-top computers ($350 to $4,500), usually briefcase-size and used for inputting, say, daily orders and taking care of the accounting.

- Modems ($400 to $600)to transmit data from the car to the office computer.

You may be fortunate enough to already have an Etak Navigator (about $1,500), which electronically produces on a screen a chart directing you to an address. Fortunate, we say, because some retailers reported that their supplies are running out, some having been advised by the manufacturer that it is changing its avenue of distribution in favor of fleets.

No others with the following enchantment could be found, but it was none other than the late entertainer Liberace who had a certain touch added to his Rolls-Royce:

Over the rear seat, measuring 6 1/2 inches high, was a $4,200 chandelier, complete with rheostat controls to dim the lights.

And increasingly, although drivers are warned against being fully loaded, there is nothing that says their cars can’t be.

THE WELL-APPOINTED CAR Orthopedic seat ($450 to $2,060). Remote controls for compact disc player. Compact disc player with remote controls, 12 to 16 speakers ($3,000 to $5,000). Telefax machine ($1,200 to $3,000) transmits and receives pictures and written data. Mini refrigerator (about $1,750). From left, voice activator ($400), answering machine ($225), mobile telephone and lightweight handset ($900 to $6,000). The activator stores 40 names and automatically dials numbers when the names are spoken.