By PHIL PATTON


Devices that freshen the air inside cars have come a long way since scented cardboard conifers began dangling from rear-view mirrors and golden crowns started sprouting from the dashboards of livery cabs.

Now, the drive to deliver olfactory pleasure may have reached its zenith with the Maybach Zeppelin, a special edition limousine - limited to 100 units worldwide - from Mercedes-Benz’s ultraluxury division. In addition to lambskin carpets and engraved silver Champagne flutes, the car, which resurrects a nameplate from the 1930s, is available with a perfume atomizer.

The heart of this scent dispenser is an illuminated Plexiglas globe set on the rear console, suggesting a fortune teller’s crystal ball. Its pump is controlled by a thumbwheel in the rear compartment; in models without a partition between the seats, there is also a button near the steering wheel. The device shuts off automatically after 10 minutes or so.

It comes with three glass perfume vials; two fragrances created by Givaudan of Switzerland are supplied as part of the atomizer option. (Givaudan claims to have created the first designer fragrance, Shocking, for Elsa Schiaparelli in 1937.)

Owners are not restricted to the Maybach- provided perfumes - they can refill the hand-blown receptacles with their own scents.

The perfume atomizer option adds about $5,000 to the base price of the Maybach 57 Zeppelin edition, which costs nearly $520,000 in Germany; the larger Maybach 62 Zeppelin lists for more than $600,000.

Of course, there are less costly alternatives for custom-scenting a vehicle. Auto parts stores and car washes offer fragrance devices with solid, liquid and gel forms of coconut, citrus or patchouli. Some still hang from the mirror, though recent innovations include gadgets that sit in cup holders or attach to air vents.

The familiar dangling evergreen, mostly in the Little Trees brand, now comes in flavors including citrus, vanilla, leather or pina colada, and in the likeness of cartoon characters or the Virgin of Guadalupe. Others, like Scent a Vent’s Elegant jar, attach to the air vent. It comes in vanilla, as does a fluffy pink pig from Animal Farm.

Drivers in Japan have been flavoring their cars’interior air in dozens of clever ways. Some dispensers sold in Tokyo are available in the United States There is even aromatherapy for the car, offering tranquillity in the form of a Midnight Lavender spray bottle. The company behind this product is named, naturally, Carma.