THE ROVING EYE.DRIVE past the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. and you're bound to see a bunch of sleek Audi 8s parked outside. It's part of a unique arrangement the hotel has with Audi to provide the cars to guests free of charge. There's just one hitch. The lucky guests have to stay in one of the hotel's poshest suites before they get to slip behind the wheel of the black, all-aluminum beauties. And the tab for those rooms starts at $1,100 a night. The program started earlier this year as a promotion for the German carmaker, which for years languished behind Mercedes Benz Mercedes Benz expensive automobile and status symbol. [Trademarks: Crowley Trade, 368] See : Luxury and BMW BMW in full Bayerische Motoren Werke AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. as the Teutonic choice of U.S. buyers. Through the Peninsula program - the only one of its kind in the country -- Audi gets access to big spenders who essentially test drive the cars and hopefully spread the word. Four guests have gone as far as buying one of the A8s, which start at $62,000. "We targeted the Peninsula because we wanted a venue that was consistent with the style and sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. of the A8, our top-of-the-line car," said Stephanie Horton, a spokeswoman for Audi. Drivers should beware, however, when cruising down Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for H. Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927), an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. . The A8's top speed is 130 mph, and it will go from zero to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds. With those numbers, there may soon be a lot of police cars cruising near the hotel as well. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion