The Dacora Wants To Be America's Fanciest Car—With a Wooden Hood

The Drive

14-06-2025

The latest car news, reviews, and features.
I take every 'new EV startup' announcement with more salt than you'll find on the rim of a Chili's Presidente margarita. But the ultra-luxe Dacora sedan concept is so arrestingly unique-looking that we just need to talk about it. I can't decide whether or not I like it, but I do appreciate the creativity on display here.
Dacora seems to have come out of nowhere this week with a press release stating, 'In 2026, Dacora will open its 100-acre Hudson Valley Garage—a one-of-a-kind automotive campus with on-site production, design atelier, guest accommodations, and immersive experiences. Each new owner receives a symbolic set of keys, granting access to curated events, the Hudson Valley estate, and behind-the-scenes interaction with Dacora's craftspeople and designers.'
Sounds like quite the party.
The release also says 'reservations already exceeding 150% of its planned first-year production capacity,' so this thing must have been on somebody's radar. (Or maybe first-year production capacity is one car, and three people have expressed interest.) Dacora
Whoever is interested in getting one of these will have to be loaded. Starting price is $500,000, and the reservation page asks for a $50,000 (refundable) deposit.
The exterior design is what caught my attention, though. The word 'timeless' appears a few times in Dacora's descriptive copy, but I don't think that applies at all. On the contrary, the vehicle has a distinctly 1930s- Rocketeer -robber baron streamliner aesthetic. With the covered rear wheel, chrome trim, and acres of wood? Come on, it's straight out of a Howard Hughes fever dream. Dacora
That said, there are a few fancy-pants features I have never heard of any car having, and they do sound like things people spending half a million on a novelty car might go for. I'll just rip the bullet points right from Dacora's release: Swappable Upholstery Collections: Twice-yearly drops let owners change interiors like wardrobes—think wool for winter, linen for summer, and limited-edition materials for seasonal expression.
Modular Seating Configurations: Choose from 3 to 7-seat layouts tailored to any lifestyles, from rear-lounge executive setups to family-friendly bench options. Each seat includes independent lighting and climate controls.
Adjustable Floor System: Engineered for ergonomic precision across all driver body types.
Heritage Wood Options: Owners can supply personal materials to integrate into the cabin's finishes. These images are pretty small for inspecting detail, but if you look closely, you can see that the central navigation screen appears to be overlaid with translucent wood or something. Dacora
Seasonally updateable upholstery—wow. Again, I don't know how practical or cool it will be in execution, but conceptually, that's pretty neat. And bring-your-own wood? They really are trying to revive the era of coach-built cars here.
There are a few more interesting features promised, too, like a solid wood dashboard, exterior luggage compartments for each passenger, and of course, a hood 'hand-hewn from walnut or a wood of your choice.'
Can you imagine what it's going to cost to insure one of these? The crash-test videos will be fascinating.
There are performance specs too, but I'm a little reticent to care about that at this point. The design elements and ideas have already been brought to life on at least one prototype, but I'm going to cling to some skepticism regarding its functional specifications. Here's what Dacora's planning to deliver, though: Range: 400 miles
Curb Weight: 6,500 pounds
Rear Leg Room: 45 inches
Horsepower: 800
Storage Capacity: 25 cubic feet
Ground Clearance: 7.5 inches
My buddy William Clavey wrote that this car will have an 800-volt architecture on Top Speed , but I haven't seen any more specs in Dacora's limited official postings.
I'm a lot more interested in this as a design exercise than as an actual car. Another land yacht to ferry royalty around doesn't do much for me, but I do love to see creative-looking vehicles, and this certainly steps up in that department. And now that I know they're building these in my neighborhood, I'll try to find out more and report back.
Meanwhile, you can check out this little sizzle reel to get a few more angles on the car:
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