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By Michael Hastings
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Steve Fossett's fastest toys don't fit in his garage. That's impressive when you consider what he does keep under the roof at his oceanfront mansion in southern California: a $205,000 Ferrari 465 GT and a $234,000 Aston Martin Vanquish, both of which can hit 186mph. But when Fossett wants to go really fast, he takes a jaunt on his $17 million Citation X, the speediest personal jet on the market. For Fossett, a 61-year-old retired trader in soybean futures, the possibilities abound. Perhaps today he'll go for a sail on his $5.5 million catamaran or just float away in a $500,000 custom-made hot-air balloon. Fossett is not your typical superrich vehicle hobbyist. He holds 69 world records for speed or distance. Three years ago he made the first nonstop solo balloon flight around the globe--in 13 days; he followed it up last year with the first round-the-world solo flight in a jet--in 67 hours. Fossett is part of a growing group of affluent thrill seekers for whom conventional wheels, no matter how expensive, are too boring. Any billionaire can plop down $600,000 for a Mercedes SLR--as Donald Trump recently did for his latest new wife, Melania Krauss--but only a connoisseur of thrills appreciates the feeling of getting from here to there in a way that's uniquely his own. "There's no one doing exactly what I'm doing," says Fossett. "That's what's intensely interesting to me."
Individualists like Fossett are pushing the envelope of what luxury vehicles truly mean. For them, upscale brands like a BMW or Porsche are too affordable, and the fastest road car topped out at a smidgen over 240mph a decade ago. Adventurers these days want to be able to drive themselves anywhere--over land, through the air or under the sea--to places nobody else can reach, or to get wherever they're going faster than anybody else. The more exotic the vehicle, the better. The guys who go for this--and they're almost never women-- have lots of cool technology to choose from. In recent years, specialized vehicles designed for the military and big corporations--helicopters, jets, amphibious vehicles and submarines--have begun to trickle down to the well-heeled citizen with some leftover millions to spare. Moreover, improved software and controls have made complex vehicles easier to manage.
The most striking development is in the sky. Technological advances have put ballooning within reach of the adventurist. Before Fossett first tried to sail his around the world in 1996, the best models available lost 10 percent of their lift each night, as the cool air would cause the balloons' helium to compress. Record seekers like Virgin mogul Richard Branson had time enough to make it only from Japan to Canada. But engineers at Cameron Balloons, a company based in England, invented the Roziere, a helium balloon surrounded by a larger hot-air balloon; the hot air keeps the helium balloon warm at night. Cameron built a custom version for Fossett, who stayed afloat for two weeks when he rounded the globe solo in 2002, setting the world speed record. Cameron has made 40 Rozieres, each bought by a wealthy adventure seeker for between $300,000 and $400,000.
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Dario Franchitti, a race-car pro, prefers another way to take to the skies: he owns a helicopter. "I love cars," says the Scottish-born driver, who's married to film star Ashley Judd, "but helicopters are awesome." Franchitti and others have benefited from easier-to-read instrument panels. Last year Franchitti picked up a $1 million EC120, a starter craft from EuroCopterUSA for enthusiasts and businessmen in part because of its low-maintenance design. In May, Franchitti upgraded to EuroCopter's B3, largely because of its mammoth 800-horsepower engine (300 more than the EC120's), which gave a test pilot enough oomph to land on the summit of Mount Everest in April--a first for a helicopter.
The high seas have been a playground for the rich ever since J. P. Morgan built his 321-foot Corsair II yacht in the early 1900s. These days, the race to have the most extravagant boat has gotten more competitive. Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen's new yacht, the 413-foot Octopus, cost more than $250 million and includes a helipad, music studio and pool. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, promptly ordered boatbuilders to stretch his Rising Sun, already under construction, from 420 feet to 452 feet. The crown prince of Dubai has commissioned a yacht that exceeds 500 feet.
A new generation of the superrich are also looking to travel beneath the waves. L. Bruce Jones, the owner of U.S. Submarines, a Florida firm, recently spent 15 months in Dubai building several small personal subs for "Arab royal-family members." (He won't say whom.) The subs, which typically cost between $1 million and $6 million, can dive to 1,000 feet--deep enough to explore the Great Barrier Reef or Caribbean shipwrecks. The company has also designed a $78 million, 213-foot-long luxury sub that can go to similar depths while guests relax on leather sofas and sip cocktails from the bar. So far, Jones hasn't found any takers.
Thrill seekers who can't decide whether to go by land or sea can now buy amphibious vehicles, made with military technology. The $1.2 million Terra Wind motorcoach can be driven off the road and into a lake. It looks like most luxury coaches on the outside, but when it hits the water "it's an RV yacht, the ultimate play toy," says John Giljam, president of Cool Amphibious Manufacturers in South Carolina. Newest of all is Giljam's Hydra Spyder, a cross between a Ford Mustang and a motorboat. It reaches speeds of 150mph on land and 60mph on water. "Take a lightweight sports car, have it on the back of a yacht, and no matter what country you go to, you can drop the Spyder in the water and go into town." After all, the sky's no longer the limit.
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