1976 Rolls-royce Silver Shadow Saloon on 2040-cars

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Ultra-luxury automakers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce need to hurry up with EVs

In the five years that I've worked at Autoblog, I've read a lot of press releases. They're all pretty flowery and self-serving, but the ones that go the extra distance with lavish words and pompous phrasing tend to come from the most luxurious brands, Bentley and Rolls-Royce. And something that they both love talking about is sustainably sourced materials for their vehicles. The descriptions read like they've seen the light about using resources responsibly. That would be great, except for one thing: There's nothing sustainable about multi-ton land yachts with eight or more cylinders. Only one of Bentley's models can be had with fuel economy better than 20 mpg combined when running on gasoline, and guess what, it's not one of the brand's two plug-in hybrids (which are to be commended, but still seem half-hearted when we're talking serious sustainability). And Rolls-Royce is even worse without a single model even hitting 15 mpg combined. These automakers should have at least one EV model apiece. Apparently, there are some coming, but they're still years away, and that frankly shocks and frustrates me for a number of reasons. One of the big ones is that these brands couldn't be better suited to electric propulsion. What makes these cars impressive is their refinement and performance. You can't get much better in either of those categories than with beefy electric motors, which provide nearly silent operation with no gear changes and enormous power and torque ratings. And it's all achievable with a lot less effort than making an 8- or 12-cylinder internal combustion engine quiet and smooth. Sure, battery technology is complicated, and it's expensive and heavy, but all of that is covered by these brand's typical products. They can command prices that would easily absorb the cost of batteries. And the size and weight of current cars mean that loading them up with batteries to achieve range comparable to their gas models wouldn't be a problem, either. Heck, that's the exact strategy being used by GM and Ford to get huge range in their electric trucks. 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S View 41 Photos And the cost of the EV technology shouldn't even be that great for Bentley or Rolls-Royce, since they're both owned by companies that are leaders in electric car development with existing technology and the ability to spread costs out over various brands.

Rolls-Royce looks to the heavens with diamond-encrusted Celestial Phantom

The Middle East is a vital market for Rolls-Royce, particularly in the Gulf emirates. So the British automaker wouldn't let the region's premier auto show go by unnoticed, and to that end has rolled into the Dubai Motor Show with an array of special editions.
Chief among them is the Celestial edition Phantom, a customized limousine that initially debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show but has returned to Dubai with the addition of 446 diamonds hand-set into the door panels, center console and cabin privacy partition. Taking the spirit of the Phantom's trademark starlight headliner even further, the Celestial edition reproduces overhead the constellations exactly as they were on the evening of January 1, 2003, when Rolls-Royce delivered the first Phantom to its owner, as verified by the South Downs Planetarium in Chichester, England.
The Bespoke division also fitted the Celestial Phantom with inky blue leather, special glassware and a custom picnic set. The wheel hubs are also engraved and the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament uplit, demonstrating just a few of the possibilities awaiting those with the means not only to buy a new Rolls-Royce, but also commission special features from the Bespoke department.

NBA sneakerhead P.J. Tucker has Rolls-Royce Jordan 3s that match his Cullinan

There aren't many sneakers that 33-year-old Houston Rockets forward P.J. Tucker does not own. The only sneakers he hasn't gotten his hands on are likely rare grails normal people have never even heard of. His collection surpasses 2200 shoes, and he spent more than $200,000 on sneakers just during the 2017-2018 season. For sneaker fanatics, nearly every time he steps on the court is a throwback to a moment in shoe history or the creation of a new one. Tucker debuted Jerry Lorenzo's Fear of God Nike collaboration. He wore Stewie Griffin-themed Nike LeBron 6s that are valued at about $20,000 on Christmas day. Highly sought-after Nike Off-Whites are like Converse Chucks to him. So, what can you gift the sneakerhead who has everything? Houston-based Post Oak Motors knew it couldn't just gift any old pair of kicks from Flight Club, so the dealership commissioned a pair of Rolls-Royce-themed Air Jordan 3s to match the Rolls-Royce Cullinan that Tucker had recently purchased. The custom kicks were crafted by Jake Danklefs and his crew at Dank & Co. As shown in his Instagram post below, they were made to mirror the color scheme of the Cullinan Tucker ordered, which has white paint over a red interior. From afar, they look pretty similar to the Pure White Jordan 3 retros, but the details set it far apart from that general release shoe. Aside from the red guts and icey translucent outsole, the shoe is made entirely of various textures and hues of white. It has gloss, it has matte leather, it has alligator print, and it has a secondary reptile print. It all comes together with the double-R Rolls-Royce logo on the tongue. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Tucker likes his cars, too. In addition to his Cullinan, he's flashed on Instagram a Miami Blue AWT Motorsports Porsche 911, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, and a Ferrari 488 Spider. He even has a photo of him with an old gold Nissan Maxima similar to the one his mom bought him for his first car when he was 14 years old. To some, this kind of sneaker obsession might seem frivolous or silly, but who are we to speak? We're car nerds, possibly the most money-sucking hobby there is. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: PJ Tucker via Instagram, Jake Danklefs Auto News Celebrities Rolls-Royce merchandise