2009 Rolls-royce Phantom Coupe 2dr Drophead on 2040-cars

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Michael Fux sure likes fuchsia — now there's a 'Fuxia' Rolls-Royce

Over the weekend, we told you about a McLaren 720S done up in a bespoke color at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, an eye-popping fuchsia that McLaren dubbed "Fux Fuchsia." And now it's showing up on a Rolls-Royce as well, unveiled at The Qual in a color RR calls simply "Fuxia." There's a lot more surface area on a Rolls than on a McLaren, so on a day when we're supposed to save our retinas by not looking directly at the solar eclipse, you might consider wearing your eclipse goggles to view the gallery above. The car is, well, vivid. Fux is a Cuban immigrant who made his millions in mattresses as the founder of Sleep Innovations. A mattress is clearly not where he stores those millions, since he has amassed a vast car collection. This "Dawn in Fuxia" car is his 11th Rolls, each highly personalized. "Michael is a very special patron of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars," said RR CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos in revealing the car. "Rolls-Royce designers love working with him because he constantly challenges them to take their work to an even higher level, delivering a true work of art." The color is said to be based on the petals of a fuchsia flower Fux found last year at Pebble Beach. He presented them to Rolls Royce to replicate. As with the McLaren, Rolls is using Fux's car to highlight the fact that it can build you a bespoke car in any color you want — Rolls says it offers a palette of 44,000 choices. Some of Fux's previous Rolls-Royces have come in these custom colors (each officially named using his name): Fux Blue was his Pebble reveal last year. Before it was Fux Intense Jade Pearl; a two-tone of Aequus Green Jade Pearl, Cornish White Jade Pearl; Deep Purple; Candy Red; and Yellow. Related Video:

Rick Ross crashes Rolls-Royce in drive-by attempt [w/video]

Rap star and exotic-car enthusiast, Rick Ross, had a double-close call on Monday morning, escaping harm in what appears to be an attempted drive-by shooting.
According to Fort Lauderdale Police, Ross was driving his 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost (pictured) with his girlfriend, Shateria Moragne-el, as a passenger at 5:00 AM on Monday. An unnamed gunman in another vehicle opened fire on Ross' car, causing the rapper to turn a corner, lose control of the vehicle and eventually crash into the wall of an apartment complex. Neither Ross nor Moragne-el was injured, despite reports that "dozens" of ammo casings were found at the crime scene.
Ross had been out celebrating his birthday on Sunday night; at nearby restaurant Floridian and a club called LIV in Miami Beach. Reports indicate that the restaurant was also the target of gunfire - some 15 shots that "sounded like they came from a high-powered rifle."

Zero-emission zones are forcing Rolls-Royce to develop its first EV

Rolls-Royce confirmed its first series-produced electric car will debut before the end of 2020. The BMW-owned firm is pivoting toward electrification to give its customers access to city zero-emission zones. Instead of putting batteries in one of its existing models, the company will enter the EV segment with a new nameplate. Unverified reports claim the car will replace the Wraith and the Dawn, so it could arrive as a coupe and/or as a convertible, and Automotive News learned it will ride on Rolls-Royce's modular aluminum platform. It's too early for executives to provide technical specifications. Rolls-Royce could choose to borrow components from its parent company, or it could develop the technology on its own. Regardless, the brand stressed its customers aren't clamoring for a zero-emission options, but regulations are forcing Rolls to go electric. "There is no demand from customers, but we need to be in a position to sell them a car if legislation forbids them from driving a combustion-engined car into the center of a city," a spokesperson told Automotive News. Company CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos announced the model is currently being developed, and it's scheduled to make its debut "within this decade." He added an electric powertrain fits the brand's image perfectly, because it's silent and it delivers the mammoth amount of torque customers expect, whether they're driving or being driven. Batteries add weight, but no one buys a Rolls-Royce thinking they're getting a nimble, feather-light car. In the meantime, Rolls-Royce will continue fine-tuning its mighty V12 engine, which it anticipates will power most of the cars it builds until the end of the 2020s. And, don't expect it to release a plug-in hybrid model. It's skipping gasoline-electric technology and going straight from 12-cylinders to electric motors. Rolls-Royce has been on the fence about electrification for about a decade. It introduced an electric version of the last-generation Phantom named 102EX at the 2011 edition of the Geneva auto show, and it briefly considered giving the sedan the proverbial green light for production. It backpedaled when it realized the technology still had serious limitations, notably in terms of driving range, and that its customers weren't interested in going electric. Engineers tested hybrid prototypes in the 2010s, but they remained at the test mule stage.