1971 Rolls-royce Silver Shadow Wood Trim on 2040-cars

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Top Gear caught filming Best of British near Buckingham Palace

YouTuber and car-fan extraordinaire Shmee probably had very little trouble tracking down the Top Gear film crew recently, as the group was putting together an episode that could accurately be described as "excessive." With its flag-waving (literally) Best of British theme, the TG guys gathered a jaw-dropping array of British cars, and parked them all right in front of Buckingham Palace to make extra sure that the point was driven home.
Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May were outfitted with a trio of Jaguar F-Types festooned with gigantic Union Jacks, with which to survey the landscape of British motoring glory. In the video below, you'll see that this includes any number of Mini, Aston Martin, Lotus, McLaren, Land Rover, Bentley and Rolls-Royce models (just to name a few), as well as a healthy dose of weird stuff that most people would never guess at being built in the UK. The lawnmowers and military vehicles are especially cool.

Rolls-Royce Dawn becomes two-seater Silver Bullet convertible

Rolls-Royce has transformed the Dawn, the only convertible in its range, into a two-seater roadster named Silver Bullet. It's a limited-edition model that's part of the company's client-commissioned Collection Cars line. The stately Silver Bullet is "a contemporary interpretation of the classic roadster spirit and driving experience," according to the BMW-owned firm. It's clearly based on the Dawn, both models share their front and rear fascias, but it's finished in a specific hue named Brewster Silver Paint that's a tribute to past Rolls-Royce models, like the Silver King and the Silver Silence. Subtle black trim add a finishing touch to the low-key design. Bigger modifications are found inside, where designers removed the Dawn's rear seats and replaced them with a tonneau cover the brand calls an Aero Cowling. It features a finisher made with vapor-blasted titanium. The images released by Rolls-Royce don't fully reveal the Silver Bullet's interior, but it previously noted each example will feature an open-pore carbon fiber insert and a quilted transmission tunnel inspired by leather jackets. We'd expect nothing less from the purveyors of the most expensive regular-production SUV in the world. Power likely comes from the Dawn's 6.6-liter V12 engine, which is twin-turbocharged to 563 horsepower and 605 pound-feet of torque in its standard configuration. We think the 593-horsepower, 620-pound-feet evolution of the 12 found in the Black Badge model would suit the roadster's touring intentions much better, however. It was designed to be driven, and the brand will organize road trips to encourage owners to put miles on their Silver Bullet rather than storing it in a heated garage for a couple of years and later selling it at a big-name auction. Rolls-Royce noted it will build 50 examples of the Silver Bullet, though how many have been earmarked for the American market hasn't been revealed yet. Pricing information remains under wraps, too, but keep in mind the standard Dawn carries a base price of approximately $350,000 before options enter the equation. Autoblog asked whether any build slots remain available, and we'll update this story if we learn more. Related Video:    

Bloodhound SSC fires up Rolls-Royce jet engine for land speed record

RAF ST MAWGAN, England — Fizz, whirr, shriek, pop and silence ... It took several attempts to get the Bloodhound land speed record contender started for the first time on Sept. 28. On a bright and blustery day at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, in southwest England, the sense of occasion was palpable, if only the damn jet engine's blades would fire up. But the Rolls-Royce 20,232-pound-thrust turbofan wasn't going to give up its virgin status as a car engine easily. As driver, RAF pilot and current land speed record-holder Andy Green explained, the Rolls EJ200 is one of the most reliable military jet engines ever, but it's never been used before in a car. "I can show you figures of its incredible reliability," he said, "but every bit of its control software expects it to be in a Typhoon [fighter aircraft], and we have to keep telling it that it is in an aircraft, which needs some quick-footed work on the software." This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Quick-footed indeed, as right there on the RAF St Mawgan runway, without a pizza or a Coca-Cola in sight, software engineer Joe Holdsworth performed a virtuoso piece of recoding on the engine's software to persuade it not to shut down in alarm at some low-level electrical interference it simply doesn't see in its normal aeronautical environment. Then, with just 20 minutes left of the team's running permission window, the remote jet starter cart shrieked, its air-delivery pipe bulged like an elephant's trunk blocked with a coconut and the massive turbofan spun, popped, emitted a polite ball of flame and smoked into life. No cheers or high-fives here; this is after all a British team. But there was clear delight from the 20 engineers attendant on Bloodhound. After three successful starts, Wing Commander Green leapt from the cockpit and Mark Chapman, chief engineer, pronounced that he was well satisfied and that the sight of a jet car surging gently against its arrestor cable and wheel chocks was awesome. "We knew it was going to take a couple of starts to get it running," said Chapman, who explained why the engine appeared so smoky at first. "This is an inhibited engine, so it was tested a couple of months ago at Rolls-Royce and basically filled with corrosion inhibitor, and you've got to blow that all through at the start.