Female founder of Dacora Motors tells us why her $500K model will shake up the industry

We had the chance to chat with Kristie D’Ambrosio-Correll, the female founder of Dacora Motors, an ultra-high-end American automaker.

Under her leadership, Dacora Motors is building a stylish $500,000 electric vehicle designed with pure luxury in mind.

Kristie sat down with us to discuss how her car will shake up the industry.

And one of the things she told us about the car is truly unique.

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Dacora Motors is a New York-based start-up founded by Eric and Kristie D’Ambrosio-Correll.

Kristie and Eric both studied and trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as engineers, but they also wanted to bring back the art of 1930s coachbuilding.

A clear focus of Dacora Motors has been the emphasis on using wood to craft the interior of its cars.

Speaking with the Supercar Blondie team, Kristie D’Ambrosio-Correll explained where the inspiration for the car’s bodywork came from.

Dacora wanted to pay homage to American classics, those iconic cars that combined metal and wood for the bodywork.

“We did it as a homage to American classics, the woodies,” Kristie said.

“We chose black walnut, which is native to America, but the tricky part was to make sure it didn’t creak the way old woodies creak.”

The American automaker’s insistence on using physical buttons and dials came about for similar reasons – to offer a vintage feeling.

“I grew up during the transition from flip phones to smartphones. Remember how you could type under the table because you had that tactile feedback?

“You don’t get that with modern screens, and we wanted to go back to that vintage experience,” she told the Spercar Blondie team.

Kristie, who’s also a bona fide car lover, said she also wanted to recreate the feeling people get when they climb into old cars, but with a modern twist.

“[My husband and I] have a 1970s Mercedes and it feels great, that’s the emotion we wanted to convey,” she added.

The car is not cheap, but marketing the car in the same territory as Rolls-Royce or Bentley was a deliberate choice.

“This price point is the sweet spot in the market,” she said.

“Also, because people who buy cars like this one don’t have to make a choice between one car or another, they can afford two or more.”

The choice of the powertrain, like the price point, was also a tactical one.

“We built our brand as a coachbuilder, not starting from the engine. So it was all about getting the best powertrain for our customers. Electric engines are fast and quiet, so it was a natural choice,” she explained.

Kristie did note that Dacora Motors is also exploring the potential of hybrid models in case of future demand.

But the biggest and perhaps most important selling point of this car is the customization level.

All luxury automakers allow you to customize your car before you buy it, but Dacora allows you to customize it after as well.

For example, you could buy leather upholstery for the winter and then swap it out for linen upholstery in the summer.

She also revealed that the company has filed patents for dog-friendly interior options.

Now, that’s something you certainly don’t hear every day.

Kristie D’Ambrosio-Correll also revealed the biggest challenge, both in general and personally, of running your own luxury car brand.

“In general, the industry doesn’t love newcomers.

“For example, I have a tech background, and newcomers are definitely treated differently in the tech world. In the car world, it takes time to establish trust,” she explained to the Supercar Blondie team.

For her, the biggest challenge was combining her passions for engineering and art.

“I have a background as an engineer but also as an artist, and it was certainly challenging to put these two together,” she explained.

“We designed the car with Pininfarina, and, as an artist, you always feel like you can go back and tweak a few things again.

But in the end, sometimes you just have to put your art out there and let the world decide.”

The American automaker has already received 79 reservations for its EV.

The first 50 units will be built in 2028 and, after that, the plan is to scale to 200 or perhaps even 300 units per year, with an end goal of 5,000 units.

We can’t wait to see the evolution of this American automaker over the next few years.