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'Rich Kid of Instagram' victim of supercar arsonists

A 19-year-old in the UK is smarting after the possibility that his prolific social media use may be at the heart of four family-owned supercars going up in flames in barely a week. Aleem Iqbal has thousands of followers on Twitter and Instagram paying attention to his frequent posts about the high-priced cars he's driving. He's even been featured on the Tumblr page Rich Kids of Instagram. It appears that some people might not be so smitten with him, though.
According to his Twitter profile, Iqbal owns Platinum Executive Travel, a luxury car rental company in the England, and UK newspaper The Telegraph claims the company is also owned by Iqbal's father. On June 6, cameras caught three hooded men setting fire to a Lamborghini Aventador Roadster leased by the company for a wedding. A few days later, two Audi R8 Spyders and a Bentley Continental Flying Spur from Platinum also got the torch, and two men were caught on camera setting the blaze. Nobody was hurt in either of the attacks, and the Aventador appeared to be repairable with the fire causing most damage to the passenger seat and dashboard. Police are still investigating both of the crimes.
According to The Telegraph, Iqbal believes that the arsons could have stemmed from jealousy towards him and his family's business. Regardless, setting fire to a bunch of cars that are likely insured isn't a great way to show displeasure.

Bentley to debut Flying Spur S at Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Bentley Flying Spur isn’t short on power or performance, but itÂ’s not the most focused driverÂ’s car at its price point. Bentley hopes to change that with a new S variant of the car, which will follow the lead set by the Continental GT S as a sharper, more exciting version of the posh four-door. Bentley offers two powertrains in the Flying Spur S, including a surprisingly capable hybrid. The V8-powered car gets a 4.0-liter mill that makes around 542 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque. With the engine on board, the 5,000-plus-pound Flying Spur S takes just 4 seconds to run from 0-62 mph, and the car can go on to a top speed of 198 mph. The hybrid powertrain features a 2.9-liter V6 engine paired with an electric motor that makes a combined 536 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. The system can deliver an all-electric range of 26 miles, and the car still sees scorching acceleration just a tenth of a second behind its V8-powered counterpart. Keeping the Flying SpurÂ’s weight in check is BentleyÂ’s Dynamic Ride suspension system, which can apply up to 1300 Newton-meters of anti-roll torque to aid in cornering. All-wheel steering is also standard and can turn the rear wheels opposite the fronts by up to 4.2 degrees, giving the almost 17.5-foot long Flying Spur a much tighter turning radius than it would have otherwise. Looking at the Flying Spur, itÂ’s hard to see anything other than a stately Bentley, but the automaker gave the S a few styling touches to designate it as “the fast one.” Gloss black replaces polished metal and provides accents for the exhaust, grille, and wheels. The car comes with 21- or 22-inch wheels, red brakes, and exclusive “S” badges.  The Flying Spur SÂ’ cabin is every bit as plush as weÂ’d expect at a Bentley price point. A two-tone color scheme comes standard, with leather and synthetic suede upholstery called Dinamica. The material also covers the steering wheel and gear shift lever. Bentley embroiders the seats with an S logo and offers its logo as a no-cost embroidery option. Bentley will debut the Flying Spur S at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which takes place later this month in England. The festival features a popular hill climb event that has featured everything from VolkswagenÂ’s electric ID.R race car to boutique supercars from little-known constructors. Bentley intends to field several vehicles in the event, including the new Flying Spur S and versions of the Continental GT S and GTC S cars.

Salvage team boards burnt ship Felicity Ace off Azores, towing begins

LISBON — More than a week after a ship packed with around 4,000 vehicles, including Porsches, Audis, Lamborghinis and Bentleys, caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a salvage team managed to board the vessel on Friday and started to tow it to a safe location off the Portuguese Azores archipelago. In a statement, ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL) said the Felicity Ace remained stable, and the smoke that for days billowed from the vessel, adrift around 170 km southwest of the Azores, had stopped. The 22 crew members of the Panama-flagged Felicity Ace, which was carrying around 4,000 vehicles including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys from Germany to the United States, were evacuated last Wednesday, the day the fire broke out. Some of the vehicles are electric and their lithium-ion batteries have made the fire very difficult to extinguish, port officials have said. Previous attempts to board the ship to assess its condition and start preparing it for towing had failed due to the fire and rough seas. On Friday, the team was able to board by helicopter and the salvage boat Bear started towing the vessel to a "safe area off Azores," the ship manager said. It was not clear where exactly the vessel was being towed to. It was being escorted by two tug boats and another salvage craft equipped with firefighting gear, MOL said. Related video: Image Credit: Portuguese Navy (Marinha Portuguesa) via Reuters Green Weird Car News Audi Bentley Lamborghini Porsche Electric fire car fire shipping cargo ship