Moving the Corner Office Into Your SUV
Reprinted from the April 22nd, 2002 issue of Business Week
Fancy conversions have caught on with mobile VIPs
On the outside, it looks just like any other hulking $40,000
Ford Excursion or Chevy Suburban. But peek inside, and this
is what you see: a personal limo that seats four or five with
wet bar, deep pile carpeting, and luscious leather seats that
recline to nearly horizontal. Press a button, and the divider
between driver and passenger rises, revealing a wide screen
television.
More and more, there's an office tucked in there, too. The
computer is nestled in the cargo area behind the rear seats
(next to the refrigerator), with a wireless keyboard and mouse
- plus printer, copier, and fax machine - in the passenger
compartment. Want satellite phones for those annoying moments
when your cell service fades in and out? That's another option:
four lines and a satellite Internet connection for $16,000,
plus $1.19 per minute - perfect for video conferences.
Kareem Burke, better known as Biggs in the music industry, gets
around in one of these babies. One of the three owners of Roc-A-Fella
Records in New York, part of Universal Music Enterprises, he
spends more
time in his car than his office, crawling through traffic to
meetings and music studios. He uses the time to listen to new
artists, catch up on phone calls, and check e-mail. "It's
like having a Bentley or Gulfstream IV, but it's hidden inside
a Ford Excursion," he says.
Burke paid a near-Bentley price, $200,000, for his Excursion
at Becker Automotive Design in Oxnard, Calif. Howard Becker,
53, took over his father's electronics store, but made his name
installing custom sound systems in the cars of Hollywood celebrities.
When the SUV craze hit in the early '90s, he was well placed
to do SUV conversions for them. "They wanted a big American
SUV, but the hated the seats, the carpet, the fit and finish,"
he says. What they wanted was the look and feel of a European
luxury car, so Becker took off all the chrome, buffed up the
paint job, used better wheels, and installed wood interiors,
expensive sound systems, and luxury seats and carpets.
From there, it was a short step to personal limos for executives
who already had a driver. They want privacy and a mobile-office
environment but don't want to attract attention or create
resentment among their employees by plying the streets in
a showy stretch limousine. As his business gravitated toward
chauffeur-driven vehicles - nearly half of which are in the
Northeast, according to Limousine and Chauffeured Transportation
magazine - Becker shuttered his retail store outside Beverly
Hills, Calif., and moved to an industrial park in Oxnard,
50 miles north of Los Angeles.
Becker has built 50 limos since 1998 and an equal number
of SUV conversions for the drive-it-yourself crowd. Now, close
to half his production goes to executives instead of celebrities,
though he admits there's overlap. Buyers include film producer
Arnon Milchan, New Jersey Nets owner Lewis Katz, and New York
real estate executive Andrew Farkas. Vincent Chhabra, chief
executive of USA Prescription, an Internet pharmacy, will
take delivery of his any day now. Diet queen Jenny Craig just
ordered one as a gift for her husband Sidney.
Prices start at $85,000 for a basic Excursion limo with leather
seats and no exotic woods. With a Rolls-Royce quality interior
and all the executive toys, the price can easily top $200,000.
Since September 11, some customers are demanding even more:
armor. Becker is happy to oblige. Enough steel and Kevlar and
bulletproof glass to stop handgun fire will add about $65,000
to the tab. For that amount, you can travel in style, securely
and productively - and completely incognito.
more
time in his car than his office, crawling through traffic to
meetings and music studios. He uses the time to listen to new
artists, catch up on phone calls, and check e-mail. "It's
like having a Bentley or Gulfstream IV, but it's hidden inside
a Ford Excursion," he says. 
