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Rolls-Royce Cullinan and BMW 8 Series spied south of Death Valley

Recently, we've stumbled upon a number of manufacturer prototypes running around. Usually, spy photographers sit and wait for hours with cameras primed in order to get a few shots of a car. We just got lucky. First, we caught the new Chevy Corvette ZR1 convertible during a Facebook Live video. A week or so later McGraw snapped a video of a ZR1 coupe cruising in his neck of the woods. Today, our ace photographer Drew Phillips caught a BMW test fleet filling up the new Rolls-Royce Cullinan and 8 Series coupe in Baker, Calif. Baker sits along Interstate 15, about halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It's just south of Death Valley, and, being late August, suggests that BMW was doing some hot weather testing. Drew was filling up his car when the fleet rolled in. There were at least two of the new king Rolls and a single 8 Series. Both cars were wearing a full swirl camouflage wrap. It's not an uncommon place to see prototypes. Still, seeing a whole fleet roll in is quite a sight. We've seen official photos of the Cullinan before, but these pictures give us our best view of the profile and rear we've had so far. From a distance, it looks like a high-riding version of the new Phantom with a hatch in place of the trunk. The taillights are obviously just filler units. Expect the final version to look very much like the squared off LED units on the Phantom. Likewise the interior and engine should be straight from the Phantom. That means a twin-turbocharged V12, though power is likely to be sent to all four wheels. We've seen the full BMW 8 Series concept a few times now. The proportions on the production car look the same, with a long hood and even longer wheelbase. The nose isn't quite as aggressive as the concept, but we expected the styling to be toned down to meet crash and safety standards. As for engines, look for six, eight and (hopefully) 12-cylinder power under the hood. A plug-in variant is also expected. Both cars have been in development for a long while, so look for full debuts sometime this auto show season. Maybe we'll happen upon some more test mules between now and then. Related Video:

BMW to show car that can park itself in a multi-story garage at CES

Automatic parking systems are something of a novelty, in their present form. Sure, modern parallel parking systems work well enough. And they're great if you lack the special awareness required to complete such a task. But frankly, how often is the average owner of such a system in a position to use it? Perpendicular parking systems, meanwhile, are basically an admission that you don't really deserve a driver's license. Novelties these systems may be, but they promise a future where we won't even need to be behind the wheel to park our cars. BMW is going to deliver a vision of that future at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show with the Remote Valet Parking Assistant, a smartwatch-activated system that takes the driver out of the parking equation and replaces them with an advanced collision avoidance system. Fitted to an i3 for CES, the BMW system relies on four laser scanners to map the surrounding environment and identify obstacles. Combined with a digital site plan for a building, the company claims its car can navigate its way to an open parking spot, moving around even unexpected obstacles like improperly parked cars. The car's owner can step out of the vehicle at the intended destination, and then tap the smartwatch app for vehicle parking and retrieval. BMW claims this system will allow more precise control than GPS, particularly in something like a multi-story parking deck. While it's an intriguing route with autonomous technology, we wonder how much is required of these digital site plans. There are more practical uses of this technology, beyond valet parking. According to BMW, the collision-avoidance technology can aid a driver in low-light conditions, automatically braking the car for its driver when an obstruction is detected. Look for more on BMW's Remote Valet Parking system as the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show approaches. Until then, scroll down for the full press release. BMW Innovations at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. 360-degree collision avoidance and fully-automated parking in multi-storey car parks. BMW Remote Valet Parking, CES 2015. (12/2014) Munich/Las Vegas. BMW was already demonstrating at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 how perfect control technology can provide highly automated mastery of all drive statuses right through to very tight margins.

Dinan S3-R BMW 1M Coupe

I nearly shed tears a few years ago upon learning that BMW was only planning to produce a very limited quantity of its then-new 2011 1 Series M Coupe. In simplest terms, the two-door was a 1 Series fitted with a modified version of the automaker's twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, and the running gear (gearbox, driveshaft, axles) from contemporary M3 models. It was also a return to form for the brand. Aggressively short and stubby in stature but packing telltale flared wheel arches that hinted at its potential, the four-seater was a spiritual successor to the original (and much loved) E30 M3 from decades earlier.
After spending a day with the original high-performance 1 at New York's Monticello Motor Club, I declared, "The little coupe with the big flares is old-school retro cool and deliciously fun to drive ... the new BMW 1 Series M Coupe doesn't target boy-racers, it targets enthusiasts." Yet sadly - and despite strong demand - BMW limited the model's production to just one year. All told, only 740 units made it to the States, and each was gobbled up at a starting price of $46,135, a price tag history will show to be a bargain.
Since I had little hope of even driving one again, I deliberately pushed all memories of BMW's 1 Series M Coupe from my mind - until my phone rang recently. On the other end was a representative from Dinan Engineering who wanted to know if I would be interested in driving the company's new S3-R BMW 1M. A quick Google search revealed it to be a heavily modified version of the discontinued 1 Series M Coupe. As if they needed an answer...