A few episodes ago we talked about the Nokia 8800 Aston Martin Edition. But did you know there is also a Lamborghini edition? It’s time to review car brand phones.
Nokia 8800 Sirocco Lamborghini Edition
While the Ferrari version was based on the original 8800, rival Italian supercar maker Lamborghini’s version was designed from the follow-up, the Nokia 8800 Sirocco. Sirocco is the name of a Mediterranean wind that can reach hurricane levels, although this is only a coincidence – the Lamborghini Huracan would not be unveiled for a few more years.
Either way, the Finns went a step further than just slapping a badge on the phone – Lamborghini-made ball bearings were used in the phone’s signature sliding mechanism. They have also engraved the famous Raging Bull on the front and more branding on the back.
Only 500 copies of the Nokia 8800 Sirocco Lamborghini edition were produced and they were available exclusively at Lamborghini dealers.
Lamborghini Spyder Phones and Tablets
Six years later, Lamborghini decided to become more directly involved in the manufacture of phones and designed three Spyder phones for the Russian market and a tablet as well (“Spyder” is a typical name for sports cars with two sunroofs. places).
The Lamborghini TL700 was an Android smartphone (running an obsolete 2.3 Gingerbread). It had a 4.7 “480 x 800 px display, a 5MP camera, an unknown Snapdragon chipset with 4GB of storage and a 1400mAh battery.
Lamborghini TL700 Spyder smartphone (image credit)
The metal frame of the phone was gold plated, the screen was protected by sapphire crystal (new for 2012) and the back was covered in crocodile leather. The price was set at 90,000 RUB ($ 2,783 at the time) – expensive, but not outrageous by Vertu standards.
The TL688 Spyder and the TL820 Spyder 2 were a pair of similar features. The former had a 2 “QVGA display and 3MP camera, the latter upgraded to a 2.4 VGA display and 5MP camera.
Lamborghini TL688 Spyder and TL820 Spyder 2 (image credit)
Both models had a gold-plated body and handmade leather back, just like their smartphone sibling. These two products were only slightly cheaper at RUB 60,000 and RUB 80,000 respectively. With luxury phones, it’s the exterior that determines the cost, not what’s on the inside.
There was also a tablet, the L2800. It also ran Android 2.3 Gingerbread with the promise to update it to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (Android UI couldn’t really handle tablets until 3.0 Honeycomb). The slate had a 9.7 “1,024 x 768px iPad-like display, Qualcomm chipset with a 1.2 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage.
Lamborghini L2800 tablet (image credit)
Was the Lamborghini style worth 75,000 RUB ($ 2,286)? It was up to the wealthy Russian fans to decide.
Acer Liquid Ferrari Special Editions
A few years ago, Acer and Ferrari teamed up for a special edition of the Acer Liquid E. The Android 2.1 Eclair smartphone dressed for the occasion in bright red, of course. At the rear was the shield of the Scuderia Ferrari in carbon fiber.
Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition
There were a few perks in the retail package as well: a dust and shock resistant carrying case for the phone, as well as a noise canceling Bluetooth headset, both of which are Ferrari branded, of course.
Both companies liked the end result enough to produce a sequel. The Acer Liquid mini E310 appeared in the Ferrari version in 2011. It was an odd choice – with a 600 MHz single-core processor, a 3.2 “320 x 480 px display, and a lonely 5 MP camera, this phone was far from the luxury of racing as it can happen.
Acer Liquid mini E310 Ferrari Special Edition
Vertu Ascent Ferrari GT
Of course, if you needed a phone and had Ferrari money back in 2011, the Vertu Ascent Ferrari GT was more your speed. The phone inside was actually even more basic than the Liquid mini, but that’s what matters on the outside – as far as luxury phones go, anyway.
Vertu Ascent Ferrari GT
And what was on the outside was forged aluminum with a matte black PVD finish and hand-sewn black and red embellishments (made from the same leather Ferrari uses for the interiors of its cars). The rear featured a ceramic battery cover with a design inspired by the grille of the Ferrari engine.
It was not the first collaboration between the two companies. The Vertu Ascent Ti Ferrari is available in Giallo and Rosso versions. The leather on the back looked hand stitched, but to our surprise we found that the color accents on the side were actually made of rubber. And no special rubber, as far as we can tell.
Vertu Ascent Ti Ferrari
Spyker Phones
All the kids have heard of Ferrari and Lamborghini, but how many have heard of Spyker Cars? The Dutch sports car maker has lent its logo to at least three phones: the Aeroblade, the C8 Laviolette and the Aileron.
Spyker C8 Laviolette (top left) and a few others (image credit)
Interestingly, all three models appear to have been named after the Spyper C8. The Laviolette was based on the original version of Spyder, but replaced the retractable top with a fixed glass roof. As for the phones themselves, unfortunately we couldn’t find much as they were buried under the internet sand of time.
BlackBerry Porsche Design
Before Huawei took over, Porsche Design styled several BlackBerry phones over the years. The BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9981 arrived in late 2011 and was based on the Bold Touch 9900. It used the same internals, but the angular body was made of stainless steel and leather. Even the famous BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard has been recreated in metal.
BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9981 • BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9982 • Porsche Design P’9983
Next is the 2013 Porsche Design P’9982, a touch-only smartphone (no keyboard at all) based on the BlackBerry Z10. This one featured a stainless steel and satin exterior and a similar angular design.
A golden Porsche Design P’9983
Don’t worry, the keyboard makes a comeback the following year with the Porsche Design P’9983. This one started life as BlackBerry Q10. Also, there was the gold-plated version, although it was independently created by Karalux in Vietnam.
Blaupunkt car phone
Let’s end on a light note. Our older readers may remember Blaupunkt as a well-known manufacturer of car audio equipment. The brand still exists, but like Kodak and Polaroid today, it is little more than a simple brand.
Blaupunkt car phone
Either way, the Blaupunkt car phone is not branded with a particular car brand, the phone itself is made to look like a car. Why? Why not! We miss the days when phones had the luxury of looking silly. Today’s black / gray tiles can get pretty boring.
More soon…
We don’t know what specifically interests phone makers. Why not call on artists for inspiration or aircraft manufacturers? Whatever the reason, there are a lot more car brand phones that we haven’t covered yet. And we plan to do so in the near future.
