2015 Rolls-royce Wraith on 2040-cars

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BMW bringing 9 Series concept to Beijing

It appears that BMW is ready to take another step upmarket with a new concept flagship luxury sedan at the Beijing Motor Show at the end of April. The showcar is said to preview the company's rumored 9 Series, a sedan that would be positioned against top trims of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, like the rumored S600 Maybach.
According to Automotive News Europe, the concept sedan wears styling language adapted from the curvaceous BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe (pictured above) shown at the 2013 Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance in May. It rides on BMW's new, modular platform - codenamed G11 - for the company's largest cars, an architecture also expected to be shared with the next 7 Series and future Rolls-Royce vehicles. It's rumored to bring the weight of the 7 closer to the 5 Series, which would be several hundred pounds lighter when comparing the base models of both current vehicles. We spotted the next-gen 7 Series testing over a year ago, and both it and the 9 Series are expected to go on sale in 2016.
Unfortunately, at the moment there is no official information about the concept. "We don't have any official news yet on anything in Beijing," Julian Arguelles, BMW USA spokesperson, tells Autoblog. However, it's heartening to think that BMW might be adapting the gorgeous shape of the Gran Lusso for production.

Rolls-Royce Dawn dons Aero Cowling for the Geneva Motor Show

Rolls-Royce will not be bringing the Cullinan SUV to the Geneva Motor Show, but it is instead displaying four special takes on its existing portfolio. The most striking of these is the Rolls-Royce Dawn Aero Cowling. The titular leather-lined cowling made of carbon fiber and aluminum covers the Dawn's rear seats, effectively giving it the appearance of a two-seater, and is fitted with storage compartments. Rolls-Royce claims it is very light, but then the 570-horsepower V12 convertible weighs more than 5,600 pounds, so even a heavier decking setup would really only strain the person lifting it. In addition to the Dawn, Rolls-Royce has brought three custom Phantoms. The most restrained one is called "The Gentleman's Tourer," which features a two-tone grey and silver bodywork and a dark interior. The concept harkens back to 1930s Continental Saloons. The second one, a long-wheelbase Phantom, is called "The Whispered Muse," and it has the Dashboard Gallery option, featuring a silk motif. Rose Gold appears throughout the vehicle, including the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament — the first one finished in Rose Gold. The last Phantom, also a long wheelbase, is called "A Moment in Time," and its blue paint is a newly created hue. The three cars show off the customization capabilities of Rolls-Royce's bespoke division, and reportedly almost every customer will special-order their Rolls-Royce. Related Video: Featured Gallery Rolls-Royce Dawn Aero Cowling: Geneva 2018 View 14 Photos Related Gallery Rolls-Royce Geneva 2018 View 10 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2018 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Geneva Motor Show Rolls-Royce Convertible Luxury rolls-royce phantom 2018 Geneva Motor Show rolls-royce dawn

I got to see the Rolls-Royce Dawn

It may look like a Wraith convertible, but that doesn't do this new Rolls justice. In mid-May, Rolls-Royce announced the name of its forthcoming convertible: Dawn. Two days after that news was released, I saw the new car in Beverly Hills, CA. And as you can probably guess from earlier spy shots, not to mention my choice of lead photo, it looks like a Wraith convertible. Well, sort of. Before getting a full briefing of the new Dawn, I was frisked, security guards waved handheld metal detectors around my limbs, and my iPhone was confiscated. I was left standing outside a glamorous mansion with no more than a blue notebook, a pen, a glass of champagne, and gorgeous views of the Hollywood hills and Pacific Ocean. I was told to keep my mouth shut about everything I was about to see, until further notice. So no, I can't tell you everything I know about the Rolls-Royce Dawn; the company wants to save some information for the car's official unveiling in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. I don't have photos. I don't even have a napkin sketch. Instead, I'm now allowed to tell you my impressions of the car I saw. It may look like a Wraith convertible, but that phrase alone doesn't do this new Rolls justice. Fabulous places. Shared social occasions. That's the sort of imagery Rolls-Royce wants to convey with the Dawn. In an effort to really convey this, Rolls-Royce opted to give the car a totally different name – that's why it isn't called Wraith Drophead Coupe, like the convertible version of the flagship Phantom. "'Dawn' perfectly expresses the character of the new Rolls-Royce. In its tentative, inchoate, anticipatory state, dawn is the world coming to light from the ethereal dark of the night," the company said in its original release. The Dawn name also harks back to the incredibly exclusive Silver Dawn from the 1950s, pictured above. Fabulous places and fabulous people. Shared social occasions. That's the sort of imagery Rolls-Royce wants to convey with the Dawn. After a hearing details that shall not be mentioned here (yet), I met the Dawn for the first time. The car drove up a path to the Beverly Hills mansion's courtyard, top up, modern music playing in the background. This was the first time in recent memory that a convertible was introduced with its roof affixed, but this was intentional. With the roof on, the differences between Wraith and Dawn are immediately noticeable. View 8 Photos With the roof up, the big droptop sort of looks like a hot rod.