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Bentley's idea of future luxury includes holographic butler

Anybody can daydream, and British carmaker Bentley is no exception. Their vision of an autonomous luxury car is taken so far into the future that it will come with a hologram of a butler. This isn't just a fan-made, Photoshopped image designed to stir a little fantasy, but an official image released by Bentley depicting what their cars might look twenty years from now. The "Future of Luxury" concept image is the work of Bentley's design team, headed by German Stefan Sielaff. Sielaff has worked with Audi and Volkswagen interior design for decades, with a short interim over at Mercedes-Benz's Interior Competence Center. Sielaff has been at Bentley since 2015, and his team is hard at work conceiving the direction of luxury cars in the semi-distant future. Even if Bentley is traditionally closer to Alec Guinness than Princess Leia, a holographic interface is an interesting glimpse into the science fiction thought process of today's car design. Other touches seen in the interior concept image have to do with mood lighting, screensaver-style images displayed on the side panels, and a touchscreen music interface that appears to display Beck's 2005 album Guero. Still, 2036 isn't that far in the future that a Bentley passenger wouldn't take the time to write a few letters by hand. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Future of Luxury Concept Auto News Design/Style Bentley Technology Emerging Technologies Gadgets Infotainment Concept Cars Future Vehicles Luxury

Bentley Mulsanne Grand Convertible due in 2017, Speed 6 still in play

Automobile outlines the near-term future of the Bentley line-up, finding a few items of gold and perhaps one that brand purists will consider a goldbrick. Dealers are taking orders for the the Bentley Grand Convertible, a ragtop Mulsanne introduced at the LA Auto Show last year, and it is expected to reveal its production form sometime late next year on its way to showroom floors by early 2017. Brand CEO Wolfgang Durheimer said "Mulsanne will get further derivatives," plural. Perhaps that means that with a convertible on its way to reality, a coupe something like a modern Brooklands will follow. A long-wheelbase Mulsanne is in the works, too. The Grand Convertible will wear the Mulsanne's new face, scheduled for reveal at next year's Geneva Motor Show. Automobile says the front will be "squarer" and the grille "more upright," which we didn't think was possible, and boast "three brick-shaped air intakes," apparently to emphasize the upright squareness. Plus, new headlights. The third-generation Continental and Flying Spur ranges would come after that, laid atop the MSB platform and rolling out of Crewe over a two-year period starting in 2017. They should still be powered by 4.0-liter V8 and 6.0-liter W12 engines, but the bodywork around those motors will be "both evolutionary and daring." This, then, should be the leap that Bentley wanted to make with the second-generation Continental but couldn't. Whither the EXP 10 Speed 6? Durheimer said the customer response has been, "Don't ask us questions, just do it." The last news we had over the summer was that Bentley was deciding whether to expand the line-up next with a small SUV or the Speed 6. It's not clear which will come first, but Durheimer said, "I'm confident that with EXP10 Speed 6 we will find a good solution," and the business case for it goes to the board a year from now. Automobile suggests it will go on sale in 2020 with a 600-horsepower, twin-turbo V8. That smaller SUV is still on the table, though, an entry-level offering that would use the re-engineered bones of the Audi Q5. Featured Gallery Bentley Grand Convertible: LA 2014 View 16 Photos News Source: AutomobileImage Credit: Live images copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Bentley Convertible Coupe Crossover Future Vehicles Luxury Performance bentley mulsanne bentley flying spur bentley exp 10 speed 6 bentley grand convertible

Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R named Road & Track Performance Car of the Year

With a 526-horsepower, 5.2-liter V8 that roars to 8,250 rpm, it's really hard to consider the 2016 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R an underdog in any fight. However, the Shelby held the lowest as-tested price and was only middle of the pack in terms of power in Road & Track's 2016 Performance Car of the Year challenge. The 'Stang's numbers clearly didn't tell the whole story about the potent coupe because Ford's muscle car grabbed the title in this year's test. A model needs to be new or significantly updated to be eligible for the honor, and R&T found an impressive slate of eight candidates this year. The challengers included the Bentley Continental GT3-R, Cadillac ATS-V Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper ACR, Mercedes-AMG GT S, and Porsche Cayman GT4. The Ferrari 488 GTB was the most expensive of the bunch with an as-tested price of $347,942, which is five times more than the Shelby. Once the group was together, R&T hustled them over curving roads and on the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park. There was a lot to love about the Shelby, even in this impressive crew. "With a flat-plane crank and Sport Cup 2 tires, the GT350R is a Mustang turned up to 11," editor-in-chief Larry Webster said in the announcement of the results. The GT350R joins some great company. Past winners include the Porsche 911 GT3 last year and the Corvette in 2013. For some fantastic photography and the complete appraisal of these performance machines check out R&T's website for the full story. Related Video: ROAD & TRACK NAMES THE FORD MUSTANG SHELBY GT350R THE 2016 PERFORMANCE CAR OF THE YEAR New York, NY (November 9, 2015) – Road & Track today named the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R the 2016 Performance Car of the Year, beating out seven of the world's best new sports cars. The article appears in the December/January issue, on newsstands November 17, and on RoadandTrack.com. "With a flat-plane crank and Sport Cup 2 tires, the GT350R is a Mustang turned up to 11," said Larry Webster, editor-in-chief of Road & Track. "Not only does the car have soul and harness so much firepower with such ease, but the real achievement here is that it's so approachable. It's a car you can't help but love." The Mustang Shelby GT350R was the winner by a runaway vote.