I was in a $50,000 luxury car the other day. Don’t worry about the manufacturer because it seems to be all the same these days. There was cheap plastic chrome that surrounded the air vents, the buttons on the dashboard, the cupholders. Even a smattering on the door panels and steering wheel.
Was it always this way? Of course not! Back in the good old days of the Clinton Era we had plenty of fake wood to choose from as well. Diamantes, Roadmasters, Town & Countrys… even Camrys were sometimes given the drop dead phony wood treatment throughout the interior if the dealer wanted it so.
Some looked nice. Others were cheap enough to flake into a near confetti state as time wore on. Either way, wood was the thing to have back in the day.
But then the world of near-luxury changed. Euros and Yens became more expensive, and the domestics had been given carte blanche to cheap out even their flagships models.
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