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Rolls-Royce sketching out SUV for possible 'late 2017' release

With each new story on the Rolls-Royce SUV, the Goodwood automaker comes off as more at ease with their reluctantly birthed yet necessary sport ute. Company design chief Giles Taylor told Autocar that his team is still "sketching to assess the viability of the concept," which to ours ears means they're trying to figure out if such a beast is even possible within the confines of the brand. If it is, Taylor says it will be "a shooting brake, not a crossover with a sloping roof. A proper SUV."
A different company source, unnamed, seems confident that Taylor's team will figure it out, telling the magazine it would start at 200,000 pounds ($335K US). However, that same source said the vehicle will be "a kind of Mercedes-GLK-plus-plus," which is a baffling description in several ways. More reasonable is the speculation that it will ride on Ghost, not Phantom, architecture and make its debut sometime around late 2017.
That Ghost platform is expected to take cues from the carbon, aluminum and steel bones that supported the BMW Vision Future Luxury concept shown at the Beijing Motor Show and destined for the 9 Series. Some of those tricks will also go into the next-generation Phantom, which Autocar says will come in 2017 and not 2020.

BMW preparing two concepts for Villa d'Este

Every spring, the finest automobiles ever to grace tarmac gather on the shores of Lake Como for the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. It's a chance for the most beautiful classics to compete for awards and for automakers and design studios to show off their concept cars under the soft light of the Italian sun. But while most of the vehicles old and new that show up for the concours are ones we've seen before, BMW takes things a step further.
As patron of the concorso d'eleganza for the past ten years, BMW regularly cooks up something new for the glamorous extravaganza. Last year it teamed up with Pininfarina for the Gran Lusso Coupé and revealed it alongside the Concept 90 motorcycle. The year before that came the BMW Zagato Coupe, preceded by the 328 Hommage and the M1 Hommage (pictured above) before it.
The theme for this year's event is the Roaring Twenties. BMW may not have been known back then on the same level as Bugatti or Duesenberg, but Rolls-Royce sure was.

Odell Beckham Jr.'s custom Rolls-Royce hood ornament catches the true Spirit of Ecstasy

Odell Beckham Jr. hasn't even played a single game for his new team, yet he's already making a splash in Cleveland. Not for his play, but for his car. Images and video of OBJ's custom Rolls-Royce Cullinan hit the web this week, and it suits his larger-than-life personality perfectly. The Browns orange wrap is a minor piece in a grand package that includes a custom hood ornament that replicates his famous one-handed behind-his-head catch. Sorry, Spirit of Ecstasy. OBJ's career has been too impressive to be defined by a single play, but his 2014 catch against the Dallas Cowboys (seen below) is certainly a top highlight. Widely considered one of the greatest catches in all of NFL history, it has now been immortalized in a hood ornament of all things. But not just any hood ornament. It takes the place of the sacred Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy on his custom Cleveland-themed Cullinan SUV. And yes, it can still be hidden within the grille. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. NFL players, and athletes in general, have been known to create some of the wildest custom vehicles we've seen, and OBJ's Double-R is no exception. Built by Dreamworks Motorsports in Roxboro, North Carolina, the Cullinan has an orange wrap, dark 26-inch Forgiato wheels with floating RR center caps, gloss black accents, and Suntek Films window tint. That's just the basic stuff. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Cementing his car as a truly unique piece are the sound system and the interior. Dreamworks built a subwoofer box to mimic the iconic Rolls-Royce grille, and the one-off starlight headliner was constructed just for this vehicle with a custom pattern. Plus there's that Spirit of Hubris up front. Whether it's a no from you, dawg, or it's a resounding yes, there's no doubt this thing will get people talking. Inspect the details in the gallery above. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.