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Ex-Rolls-Royce design chief Ian Cameron killed at home

Former Rolls-Royce design chief Ian Cameron, the man who oversaw the automaker's design renaissance with the Phantom and Ghost ranges, was stabbed to death at his home in Bavaria (translated) on July 12. German newspaper reports have identified a suspect via surveillance camera (translated) whom police say is the killer. Apparently, the man went shopping at a store less than a mile from Cameron's house, then changed clothes and showed up at Cameron's door. A surveillance image before the suspect gets to the house shows him wearing the items that neighbors described, notably light pants, a dark blue hoodie, a red backpack and "yellow-green gloves." Someone reportedly cut the wires on the home security system, the suggestion being that the suspect or someone else involved had cased the house for at least a few days. It's said the killer rang the doorbell, attacking as soon as Cameron opened the front door, stabbing the designer to death. Verena Kloos, Cameron's wife, escaped to a neighbor's house and called police. This is a bizarre incident. Reports have floated the motivation that the killer wanted one of the vehicles in Cameron's car collection at the Bavarian property. Instead of going after a car, though, the killer ran off in his distinctive outfit, staying in the open long enough for neighbors to give a detailed description. He then changed clothes and ditched the backpack on a lakeside promenade not far from Cameron's house. Strangest of all, the man apparently left the clothes near the backpack, and the backpack contained items the man had bought during his shopping trip before the murder.  At the time of writing, police are searching throughout Germany but haven't caught the suspect. With a clear picture and a likely trove of DNA evidence, authorities have excellent leads. Anyone who can help is asked to get in touch with the Furstenfeldbruck Criminal Investigation Department at (+49) 8.14.16.120. Cameron's career started at Pininfarina in 1975, culminating in a greatest hits of designs while at BMW. He has exterior design of the third-generation Range Rover on his resume, as well as the BMW Z8. It was Cameron's Phantom, though, that helped create an entirely new Rolls-Royce after BMW bought the brand. CEO Chris Brownridge wrote on LinkedIn that "Ian played a significant role in shaping Rolls-Royce from when it was first acquired by BMW Group and moved to its home at Goodwood, West Sussex.

Rolls-Royce to auction one-off 115th birthday Phantom

Rolls-Royce and RM Sotheby's has announced a partnership amidst an expected luxurious environment, with a five-course dinner at Sotheby's redesigned 90,000-plus-square-foot New York City headquarters. As part of Rolls-Royce's 115th birthday celebration (the official date was May 4), the two announced a one-off, bespoke 2020 Rolls-Royce Phantom will be auctioned off this fall exclusively on Sotheby's online auction service. The lead image shows an early-stage sketch of what the special-edition Phantom could look like. There are extremely limited details about the car, but Rolls-Royce confirmed it will be red. It will also include "an original hand-crafted leather work of art" as part of the interior. We expect this to be in the same vein as the dashboard inlays and hand-stitching we've seen in past bespoke Rolls-Royces. Because the one-off car will be honoring a birthday, we wouldn't be surprised if it featured several indicators that mark the occasion. Think numbered door sills, treadplates, dashboard or console plaques, and possibly special-edition badges. This, of course, is speculation, but these are often features on these types of vehicles. The base price of a Rolls-Royce Phantom is approximately $450,000, and when we first tested the uber-luxe personal limo, it reached as high as about $650,000. And that was just a "regular" Phantom. As a guaranteed collector's item, a set price for this vehicle would likely cost significantly more. But its price is not set, as it will be sold through RM Sotheby's online auction. It seems likely that this thing could easily tick right past $1 million. Rolls-Royce said the car will be auctioned in the fall but gave no specific dates. We'll provide updates as soon as we get 'em. Related Video:

Check out Rolls-Royce's totally awesome AWD mule

No, this isn't just a super badass Phantom. The car you see here – codenamed Project Cullinan – is an early development mule for the new all-wheel-drive suspension system that will eventually be found in Rolls-Royce's upcoming SUV. It's made up of a shortened Phantom body, looks totally murdered out, and has a huge freaking wing on the back. We love it. Of course, Rolls-Royce properly poo-poos any similarities between this mule and the eventual production model. "The body may hint at the size of the new car, but it features no design aspects of the eventual high-sided, all-terrain motor car announced by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in February this year," the company said in a press release. The end goal of this mule is to create "a final all-wheel-drive system that delivers Rolls-Royce's hallmark 'magic-carpet' ride not only on the road, but off-road too." Screw the SUV. We'll take one as-is. PROJECT CULLINAN BEGINS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME AS ENGINEERING MULE APPEARS IN PUBLIC In its open letter on 18 February this year, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars gave an undertaking to inform stakeholders of the progress of Project Cullinan. Keeping this promise, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has today published photographs depicting the first key milestone in the vehicle's development programme. The photographs are of the first engineering mule, which will be seen on public roads this week. This early engineering mule, based on a shortened Phantom Series II body, has been created purely to begin the development of an all-wheel drive suspension system that will deliver a ride that will be Effortless ... Everywhere. The body may hint at the size of the new car, but it features no design aspects of the eventual high-sided, all-terrain motor car announced by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in February this year. The mule rides on the first iteration of an all-new suspension that will assist Rolls-Royce engineers in developing a final all-wheel drive system that delivers Rolls-Royce's hallmark "magic-carpet" ride not only on the road, but off-road too. The first series of tests will focus on Project Cullinan's on-road behaviour from suspension throw to high-bodied stability, and will test the new suspension across all types of international road surface specification at test facilities, as well as on public roads. Test surfaces will include; Belgian Pave, cobblestones, corrugated concrete, noise development and measurement surfaces, resonance road, and acceleration bumps.