If you've got an extra $5,000 kicking around after buying a Maybach 57 Zeppelin, you might want to spring for the perfume atomizer option, suggests Phil Patton in the New York Times (3/1/09). By the way, the base price of the Maybach 57 is $520,000, while "the larger Maybach 62 lists for more than $600,000." The atomizer is "an illuminated Plexiglas globe" (what, no crystal?) that sits "on the rear console."

Backseat passengers can control it via "a thumbwheel," while the driver can use "a button near the steering wheel ... It comes with three glass perfume vials; two fragrances by Givaudan of Switzerland" come with the package. But if you prefer something other than the Maybach-supplied scents, you can insert your own aroma. Either way, the thing "shuts off automatically after 10 minutes or so."

If that's all too much, then you can get something like it for less at your local auto parts store or carwash, such as Scent a Vent's Elegant jar, which comes in vanilla and attaches to your air vent. A company called Animal Farm makes something similar that's shaped like a "fluffy pink pig." A variety of automotive atomizers are also available via Auto Freak, an accessory store: "There is even aromatherapy, offering tranquility in the form of a Midnight Lavender spray bottle," courtesy of a company called ... Carma. ~ Tim Manners, editor.