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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:

Ugur Sahin returns with Rolls Royce Jonckheere Aerodynamic Coupe II design

The "Round Door" Rolls-Royce Phantom I Aerodynamic Coupe (inset) is a magnificent black beast of a car (and you can see it at the Petersen Automotive Museum for a limited time) as well as a mystery: designed by the Jonckheere Works in Belgium in 1935, all records for the one-of-a-kind coupe were destroyed in World War II, so no one knows who designed it or who commissioned it. What remains of the original coachbuilding company now makes bodies for cars and buses, and has asked designer Ugur Sahin to reinterpret the most fabulous car from its history.
We've written about Sahin often before, recently about his Corvette-based Anandi being shown at Top Marques Monaco and going into production. For a man who favors long hoods and short bodies, this particular Rolls-Royce couldn't be better. Sahin says the word "Respect" guided his lines for the 77-year-old car, the most apparent changes being the front fender treatment, the headlights dropping into the fenders, and the serious downsizing of the fin at the rear. Sahin says that there are talks with potential investors about building a one-off.
You can find out a little more about it in the press release below, and check out the gallery above of high-res images for every angle.

Rolls-Royce commissions a Faberge egg

What you see above, is probably the equivalent of the movie The Avengers, but for the ultra-filthy-rich. It's the ultimate crossover of luxury brands, Rolls-Royce, and the famed jewelry company Faberge. It's a special egg made by the jeweler that's themed around the luxury car builder. And naturally, it's an "Imperial Class" egg. This means it's similar in size, complexity and quality to the original 50 made for the Russian royal family, the very ones that helped make Faberge so famous. It's also only the second to be commissioned, since. The other was commissioned by a Middle Eastern jewelry group. The egg is quite modern and simple in design. It stands about 6 inches tall, and it weighs nearly a pound. A rock crystal Spirit of Ecstasy sits in the middle, surrounded by arcing arms. Each arm is made of rose gold with 390 carats of amethyst and 10 carats of white diamonds. The whole egg sits on a machine-turned white gold base with a purple enamel coat. Like many Faberge eggs, this has mechanical workings. Pressing a lever causes the many arms to descend, making the Spirit of Ecstasy visible. The egg will be on display at Faberge's London store this December for the public to see. After that, Rolls-Royce says it will be heading for the home of a private collector of both Rolls-Royce and Faberge creations. Related Video: Featured Gallery Rolls-Royce Faberge Egg News Source: Rolls-Royce, The Daily Mail Design/Style Rolls-Royce Luxury