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Rolls-Royce unveils new bespoke Phantom 'Iridescent Opulence'

The Rolls-Royce Phantom is already a fairly solid symbol of conspicuous consumption, but its Bespoke program churns out cars that push the envelope even further. The latest, a feather-and-fleck adorned model dubbed "Iridescent Opulence," certainly checks those boxes.  While Bespoke creations generate buzz with regularity, Rolls-Royce called this one out in particular because it shows off what its designers can do with otherwise "empty" space in the cabin. In this case, the party piece is on the dash, but that's not what the British super-luxe company is calling it. Here it is, straight from Rolls: THE GALLERY   An understanding that the marque’s patrons are increasingly collectors of fine and contemporary art led the Rolls-Royce Design Team to create a space in which to curate and to commission, to exhibit, admire and reflect. A space aptly named ‘The GalleryÂ’, is an application of glass that runs uninterrupted across the fascia of Rolls-Royce Phantom, providing an unprecedented opportunity to present artwork within your car. Assembled in a highly technical Clean Room at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England – a sterile environment within which delicate and highly Bespoke items can be assembled, from a simple application of wood or metal, to a more complex use of materials not normally viable in an automotive context –  ‘The GalleryÂ’ extends the patronÂ’s experience of curation with the marque to a new realm. See? It's not a dashboard; it's an exhibition space. Here, it's used to show off a collection of more than three thousand tail feathers. Yep, feathers. Sustainably sourced, Rolls-Royce insists, but still pretty, and draped over a 3D-printed shape designed to emulate the musculature of a bird wing, so you can pretend those peacocks (we're spitballing here) were absorbed by the machine, rather than slaughtered so their fluffy bits could adorn it.  Feathers and additively manufactured materials are only the tip of the iceberg for these new gallery concepts, Rolls-Royce says, so we expect to see more like this in the future. Just, you know, one at a time. Rolls-Royce Phantom 'Iridescent Opulence' View 13 Photos

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:

Rolls-Royce planning plug-in hybrid

Rolls-Royce is not the first marque you'd think of when it comes to environmentally friendly transportation. Its cars are big - often the size of SUVs - and pack ginormous twelve-cylinder engines displacing over six and a half liters. Those upright Parthenon grilles can't be very aerodynamic, either. But the way the wind is blowing these days, Goodwood will have to get with the program sooner or later.
It developed an electric version of the Phantom a couple of years ago called the 102EX and showed it to customers around the world. But people weren't interested, so Rolls-Royce killed the program. Not to be deterred, however, Rolls is now said to be working on a plug-in hybrid that would countermand some of the shortcomings - like range and recharging times - that killed the 102EX.
The technology would apparently be borrowed from parent company BMW which is developing it for the X5 eDrive and allow Rolls-Royce to reduce its carbon footprint and offer a more environmentally friendly mode of transportation to those who don't want to skimp on the luxury and prestige.