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Dubai man shells out $9 million for license plate

An Indian businessman lived up to Dubai's wild reputation last week when he dropped a cool $9 million on a single-digit license plate for his Rolls-Royce. According to the Independent, Balwinder Sahani, an Indian-born property developer living in Dubai, won plate number D5 at a government auction on Saturday, October 29. This isn't the first time Sahani has scored a coveted low-number plate at auction, either. The self-proclaimed 'simple man' spent nearly $7 million dollars on plate O9 at an auction last year for his other Rolls-Royce, and picked up a second, unnamed plate at Saturday's auction for a piddling $272 thousand. Sahani considers the money he spends collecting license plates a form of charity and public service. Dubai has no income tax, and the money spent chasing elite license plates goes directly to Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. "I believe in giving back," Sahani told the Independent. "This city has given me a lot." Single digit license plates are highly sought after as status symbols by the rich and powerful in the UAE, and the lower the number the higher the price. Back in 2008, a businessman named Saeed Al Khouri in Abu Dhabi set a record by paying $14 million for plate number 1. These displays of conspicuous consumption are de rigeur in the Emirates. Earlier this year, a set of gold and diamond encrusted tires certified as " The Most Expensive Tires in the World" by Guinness sold in Dubai for around $600,000 dollars. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: The Independent, FortuneImage Credit: AP Auto News Weird Car News Rolls-Royce license plate dubai

Rolls-Royce Cullinan revealed: Ultra-luxury SUV is so British, it curtsies

Why did we ever expect the Rolls-Royce Cullinan to look like anything other than a Phantom on a lift kit, minus the trunk? The Rolls-Royce of SUVs perfectly employs Phantom cues, from the raised hood to the strong shoulder line and coach doors. The English off-roader brings a bunch of brand-redefining firsts with it, including all-wheel drive, an off-road driving mode, and a suspension that actively extends the dampers to keep every wheel on the ground. All of the vehicle's innovations serve the tagline that will help sell the Cullinan to wealthy owners: "Effortless, Everywhere." View 30 Photos The Cullinan stretches 210 inches long on a 130-inch wheelbase, 17.2 inches shorter overall than a Phantom on a wheelbase 9.8 inches shorter. However, the SUV is 5.6 inches wider than the sedan and its roof stands 7.2 inches higher. Built around the same all-aluminum Architecture of Luxury as the Phantom, the extra bits that make the Cullinan ready for dirty work add just 200 pounds compared to the car, for a curb weight of 5,864 pounds. The 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 (Rolls-Royce still refers to it as a 6.75-liter) produces 563 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, matching the Phantom's horsepower but losing 37 lb-ft of torque. However, the remaining torque comes 100 rpm sooner in the Cullinan than in the Phantom. Rolls-Royce whipped up another narrative trick to keep the Cullinan from being associated with the two-box SUV herd, calling it "the first 'three-box' offer in the SUV sector." With only two boxes visible from outside, we assume Rolls-Royce refers to the available glass partition in the cabin separating the seating area from the cargo, for Cullinans equipped with individual second-row seats. That would make for three distinct areas, and serve as a "nod to the era when luggage was mounted on the exterior of the motor-car, so the occupants did not travel with their belongings." Speaking of which, the feature we normally call a "tailgate" is called "the Clasp" on the Cullinan, a reference to when drivers put luggage on the outside of the car. The electrically operated two-piece hatch has a narrow lower section that folds down to help support the electronic drawer in the Recreation Module. The module provides custom designed storage for tools suitable to an owner's hobbies, like hawking, hunting, or drone racing, or it can stow the seats and cocktail table for the Rolls-Royce Viewing Suite. The Cullinan earns its chops in the cabin and under the skin.

Rolls-Royce considering carbon coachbuilding?

There's any number of applications in which you might expect to find carbon fiber on an automobile, but a Rolls-Royce is not one of them. That could change in the near future, however, as the super-luxe auto marque is reportedly looking into using the lightweight material on a range of special models.
The idea, according to Edmunds, would be to rebody certain models in carbon fiber as a sort of in-house coachbuilding operation for discerning customers looking for something a little different from what the neighbors in the next mansion or ivory tower over have in their gold-paved driveway. While the carbon-fiber bodywork might help shave off some of the weight from a range of cars that tip the scales at 5,500 pounds or more, the principal notion here is exclusivity.
The business case for these bespoke automobiles apparently stems out of two developments. For one, the vast majority - over 90 percent - of Rolls-Royce customers opt for some manner of customization or another. For another, parent company BMW has been working hard to reduce the cost of carbon-fiber production in particular for the new i3, and that expertise could turn these premium-priced creations a greater cash cow for Rolls-Royce than the development of a sport-utility vehicle ever could.