A gold and ruby-encrusted Mercedes SLR McLaren, the pride and joy of Swiss entrepreneur Ueli Anliker, is soon to be up for grabs for anyone willing to meet the sizzling sale price of 10 million francs ($11 million).

"/> A gold and ruby-encrusted Mercedes SLR McLaren, the pride and joy of Swiss entrepreneur Ueli Anliker, is soon to be up for grabs for anyone willing to meet the sizzling sale price of 10 million francs ($11 million).

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LUXURY

Swiss designer wants $11 million for red-and-gold ‘dream’ car

A gold and ruby-encrusted Mercedes SLR McLaren, the pride and joy of Swiss entrepreneur Ueli Anliker, is soon to be up for grabs for anyone willing to meet the sizzling sale price of 10 million francs ($11 million).

Swiss designer wants $11 million for red-and-gold 'dream' car

Described by influential TV show Top Gear as the car that “stalks your nightmares”, Anliker’s reworking of a classic model is not to everyone’s taste.

But the numbers behind the redesign speak volumes about the scale of Anliker’s ambition: more than 30,000 hours of work; up to 35 people involved in the transformation; untold quantities of 24-carat gold; and 600 rubies.

For 13 months, Anliker devoted all his passion and 35 years of mechanical experience to fine-tuning what he calls the Red Gold Dream.

“This car is very dear to me,” he told newspaper Der Sonntag.

Even so, he wants to sell it: “I am an entrepreneur, and I also have to think about all my dreams and money,” Anliker said.

The asking price doesn’t seem quite so outlandish when one considers the costs. The Swiss designer spent 5 million francs on the materials used to build the Red Gold Dream, and that’s not counting labour. When thousands of work hours are added, the cost of the vehicle comes close to Anliker’s valuation.

24-carat gold was used to cover the rims, logos, door handles, front and lateral radiators, as well as the upholstery. Five kilos of gold were mixed with the red paint – Anliker used up to 25 layers of paint on parts of the vehicle. The 600 rubies were used to substitute wheel bolts, indicators, and buttons located inside the car. 

Anliker wants to work on the car for a few more months before it’s finally ready to hit the market. His aim is for the Red Gold Dream to reach 1,000 horsepower, a vast leap from the current 700.

To protect his jewel, Anliker has built a GPS/GSM module into the vehicle enabling him to track it worldwide in case of theft. He has even installed a system that allows the car to be disabled via mobile phone.

Completing the security package is a two-zone radar sensor connected to a voice system that requests over-zealous voyeurs to kindly step away from the vehicle.

Anliker will try his hand at selling the car next February, when he brings the Red Gold Dream to Qatar for its first ever appearance in the Middle East.

Prospective buyers have already emerged in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and even China, Anliker told newspaper Der Sonntag. The roads of oil rich Middle Eastern states are already home to some of the world’s most extreme cars, he added.

Despite Anliker’s eye for luxury items, Martina Lens, his assistant for the Qatar show, told The Local that “he is a very down to earth man, although he owns many exclusive cars and motorbikes.”

The 53-year-old Swiss has previously tweaked a large number of fantastical motorbikes and cars, some of which he has kept for himself. Already he has his sights set on bigger and crazier projects after the sale of the Red Gold Dream.

“He’s just a very passionate man,” Lens said.

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CARS

From lizards to water, eco-bumps snag Tesla’s giant Berlin car factory

In the green forest outside Berlin, a David and Goliath-style battle is playing out between electric carmaker Tesla and environmental campaigners who want to stop its planned "gigafactory".

From lizards to water, eco-bumps snag Tesla's giant Berlin car factory
Tesla's gigafactory outside the doors of Berlin. dpa-Zentralbild | Patrick Pleul

“When I saw on TV that the Tesla factory was going to be built here, I couldn’t believe it,” said Steffen Schorch, driving his trusty German-made car.

The 60-year-old from Erkner village in the Berlin commuter belt has become one of the faces of the fight against the US auto giant’s first European factory, due to open in the Brandenburg region near Berlin in July.

“Tesla needs far too much water, and the region does not have this water,” said the environmental activist, a local representative of the Nabu ecologist campaign group.

Announced in November 2019, Tesla’s gigafactory project was warmly welcomed as an endorsement of the “Made in Germany” quality mark – but was immediately met with opposition from local residents.

Demonstrations, legal action, open letters – residents have done everything in their power to delay the project, supported by powerful
environmental campaign groups Nabu and Gruene Liga.

Tesla was forced to temporarily suspend forest clearing last year after campaigners won an injunction over threats to the habitats of resident lizards and snakes during their winter slumber.

READ MORE: Is Germany’s Volkswagen becoming ‘the new Tesla’ as it ramps up e-vehicle production?

And now they have focused their attention on water consumption – which could reach up to 3.6 million cubic metres a year, or around 30 percent of the region’s available supply, according to the ZDF public broadcaster.

The extra demand could place a huge burden on a region already affected by water shortages and hit by summer droughts for the past three years.

Local residents and environmentalists are also concerned about the impact on the wetlands, an important source of biodiversity in the region.

Tesla Street

“The water situation is bad, and will get worse,” Heiko Baschin, a spokesman for the neighbourhood association IG Freienbrink, told AFP.

Brandenburg’s environment minister Axel Vogel sought to play down the issue, saying in March that “capacity has not been exceeded for now”.

But the authorities admit that “the impact of droughts is significant” and have set up a working group to examine the issue in the long term.

The gigafactory is set to sprawl over 300 hectares – equivalent to approximately 560 football fields – southwest of the German capital.

Tesla is aiming to produce 500,000 electric vehicles a year at the plant, which will also be home to “the largest battery factory in the world”,
according to group boss Elon Musk.

In a little over a year and a half, swathes of coniferous forest have already been cleared to make way for vast concrete rectangles on a red earth base, accessed via the already iconic Tesla Strasse (Tesla Street).

German bureaucracy

The new site still has only provisional construction permits, but Tesla has been authorised by local officials to begin work at its own risk.

Final approval depends on an assessment of the project’s environmental impact – including the issue of water.

In theory, if approval is not granted, Tesla will have to dismantle the entire complex at its own expense.

But “pressure is being exerted (on the regulatory authorities), linked to Tesla’s significant investment”, Gruene Liga’s Michael Greschow told AFP.

In early April, Tesla said it was “irritated” by the slow pace of German bureaucracy, calling for exceptions to the rules for projects that help the environment.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier agreed in April that his government “had not done enough” to reduce bureaucracy, lauding the gigafactory as a “very important project”.

Despite Germany’s reputation for efficiency, major infrastructure projects are often held up by bureaucracy criticised as excessive by the business community.

Among the most embarrassing examples are Berlin’s new airport which opened last October after an eight-year delay and Stuttgart’s new train station, which has been under construction since 2010.

Brandenburg’s economy minister, Joerg Steinbach, raised the possibility in February that the Tesla factory could be delayed beyond its July planned opening for the same reason.

SEE ALSO: Tesla advertises over 300 jobs for new Gigafactory near Berlin

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