Category: News & Stories

We have become accustomed to hearing about how this and that team in Formula 1 was caught infringing upon the rules. Then we hear that the team was actually doing something the rule makers had not envisioned, so the team was technically not in violation of the rules… Then the rules are changed and the game goes on, with everyone looking for a way to gain an advantage. And gaining an advantage is what motorsport is all about.

There was a car which in 1958 was able to beat Jaguar D-types, built by a small private outfit, and based on sound engineering plus a modicum of creativity regarding the interpretation of the regulations. It was called the Lister-Jaguar, and was widely known as the “Knobbly”, due to its unique body shape. Presented officially at the Lister factory in Cambridge in February, 1958, it reflected the ingenuity of Brian Lister. In order to decrease the frontal area of the car powered by the pretty bulky Jaguar inline six, and at the same time comply with the FIA windshield height regulations, Lister checked how that height was in fact measured: from the base of the windshield.

Therefore he clothed the car in a sleek, lightweight body, with a sizeable dip in front of the windshield and a cowl tightly covering the engine beneath. The body was completed by incredibly aerodynamic fenders. The car, later also built with Chevrolet V8 engines (with an altered body shape) proved to be a formidable tool in professional racing, with a lot of its success due to the talent of the most famous factory driver, the handicapped Archie Scott Brown. The cars normally were built from aluminum, but superlight (and flammable) magnesium alloy was also used.

The Lister company has been revived some time ago, and it has built a series of continuation cars, using the original jigs. These are brand new cars, admitted to many race series, and driving them is not putting the old ones in danger. The silver car seen here is BHL158, the first of ten Continuation cars built for the first time since 1959 by the resurrected Lister factory. It was built with some alterations making it compatible with contemporary FIA Appendix K regulations. The car is equipped with a 3.8 Jaguar unit and is road-registered, so potentially it could take part in such events as Tour Auto, combining road sections and competitive circuit driving. So far it has competed at Goodwood and other British tracks, and is completely race-prepared by CKL Developments.

I decided to see how it would cope with modern traffic and whether it would be bearable to stay in it for long periods. The day was cold, sunny and crisp as I pulled my full-face helmet out of its bag. There is no heater in the Lister cockpit, but I was hoping for heat soak from the gearbox and the firewall. The first impression is that the cockpit is snug but comfortable, and applying opposite lock does not involve any contortionist maneuvers. Everything falls easily to hand in the slightly haphazard English manner. The engine fires up at the first turn of the key (!), and sounds downright scary. This is one mean machine, and the sound hints at the power beneath.

On the road, on broken and crowned tarmac, the Knobbly feels astonishingly good, taut and supple at the same time, with the wheels faithfully remaining on the ground. The steering is sublime, perfectly weighted for the challenges of the open road, and I can imagine it loading up progressively under cornering on a proper racing circuit. The engine pulls effortlessly in any gear, and progress can be made in fourth almost from a standstill. In one of the series of bumpy, difficult bends I inadvertently lose sight of the camera car, while feeling very comfortable driving at what I judge to be 4/10ths of the car’s capability.

When Tom and Alex, who are following me in a Land Rover, catch up with me minutes later, they tell me how fast I seemed to be going… The Lister encourages clean, precision driving, but helps its driver by delivering effortless progress, and few modern cars, designed 50-60 years after the original Knobbly, could keep up if I drove with some modicum of commitment. It is that good. It is also cheaper than the original 1958-59 cars, offered at £375,000 instead of a cool million, at least, which the vendor of an old Lister would ask.

I rarely feel so much at home in a car I am testing, but this Lister is an exception. Friendly and predictable, it helps to build up confidence. At racing speeds it probably requires more skill and talent than I have in order to be truly competitive and to win races, but I would be satisfied with just driving it in a gaggle of race cars of similar age, savoring the emotions, the sounds and the smells.

The DB11 AMR, launched last year, is a powerful GT car with its handling honed by Aston Martin’s Chief Engineer, Matt Becker, who spent the earlier part of his career working for Lotus. Mr. Becker not only has impeccable formal credentials, but he also has a rare talent for balanced chassis dynamics, and I fully intended to put this particular talent to the test. I planned to cover almost 1,000 miles on different types of British roads in order to see if the AMR would acquit itself as a long-distance weapon of choice. Motorways, twisty B-roads, heavy city traffic, rain, and snow were all on the menu.

The interior is exquisitely finished, and I am talking about a standard coming close to the Rolls-Royce level. The ergonomics are very good, but some things require a period of acclimatization, however after a few days I operated all controls intuitively in the dark, their haptics are by far the best in the history of Aston Martin Lagonda. The Bang & Olufsen sound system initially sounded extremely disappointing, but I discovered that some poor soul had adjusted the bass and treble controls in such a way that only a solo viola could possibly sound good on it. Since I very rarely listen to solo viola recordings (I assume they must be pretty irritating), I readjusted the sound and all was good from then onwards. The visibility from the cockpit is excellent for a modern supercar, and an array of cameras are there to help the driver avoid running over small animals and unwary children.

These are all minor things, the most important is how it drives. And… yes, it appears that Matt Becker’s wizardry with chassis calibration has paid off. The steering feels natural, well-weighted and linear, and the compliance of the suspension in normal mode (it is an adaptive Skyhook setup) makes this car a viable grand tourer. The stiffer suspension settings are better reserved for the track only, as the DB11 AMR drives best on normal roads with the suspension in the normal setting and the drivetrain using the hottest map, as it reduces turbo lag, sharpens the throttle response and speeds up gearchanges, at the expense of fuel consumption.

In default modes, the car, staying within speed limits, can offer a fuel consumption as low as 9.5 l/100 km: it is only possible because this turbocharged engine has a huge swept volume to start with (5.2 liters) and develops lots of torque before the turbos spool up. The paper figures are impressive, too, 639 hp, 700 Nm of torque, 334 km/h, 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. And it certainly feels that fast, albeit the default gearbox mode exacerbates the turbo lag. That said, the transmission, an 8-speed hydraulic torque converter ZF unit, is perfect for what this car sets out to do: absolute genius in stop-start traffic (unlike the automated manuals of some rivals…), almost invisible while cruising, and quick enough when pressing on.

What’s most important, a proper Gran Turismo should never become annoying, and this one doesn’t. On winter tires it did very well in snow and slush, braved very bumpy roads and long motorway jaunts while keeping me entertained with great feedback from the chassis. Over a series of bumps, the body movements were still controlled, and the tires remained resolutely stuck to the tarmac. Yes, twice it did go into “limp home” mode for no reason and twice reported a non-existent gearbox fault, but that is the charm of modern electronics. Those things happen. The faults were never repeated, and the car took me where I needed to go with no difficulties. What I like very much is the fact that there is absolutely zero stupidity in how this car is engineered and thought out, and there is nothing on it that is similar to the ridiculous reverse gear button on the Lamborghini Gallardo.

I don’t really care about the color of the car I am driving if it drives well, but here I will make an exception: the AMR (Aston Martin Racing) looks fabulous in its pale green hue with the lime detailing, and the lime stripe in the headliner is a stroke of genius. The car feels suitably special, and its price tag is fully justified. A useable, friendly supercar that just happens to be hellishly handsome. And the Becker effect? Yup, it works, combining fantastic suspension compliance with a rare surefootedness at medium speeds. If you are not a product of the video game generation, you will enjoy it just like I did.

Jaguar Land Rover has developed a system that projects the direction of travel onto the road ahead of self-driving vehicles, to tell other road users what it is going to do next. The intelligent technology beams a series of projections onto the road to show the future intentions of the vehicle – for example stopping and turning left or right – as part of research into how people can develop their trust in autonomous technology. In the future, the projections could even be used to share obstacle detection and journey updates with pedestrians.

These projections, tested on autonomous pods developed by Aurrigo, feature a series of lines or bars with adjustable spacing. The gaps shorten as the pod is preparing to brake before fully compressing at a stop. As the pod moves off and accelerates, the spacing between the lines extends. Upon approaching a turn, the bars fan out left or right to indicate the direction of travel. Trials were set up by a team of advanced engineers, working in Jaguar Land Rover’s Future Mobility division, supported by cognitive psychologists, after studies showed 41 percent of drivers and pedestrians are worried about sharing the road with autonomous vehicles.

The innovative system was tested on a fabricated street scene at a Coventry facility with engineers recording trust levels reported by pedestrians both with and without projections. The trust trial program – which also included the fitting of ‘virtual eyes’ to the intelligent pods in 2018 to see if making eye contact improved trust in the technology – was conducted as part of Jaguar Land Rover’s government-supported UK Autodrive project.

Hispano Suiza is a historic Spanish car brand owned by four generations of the Suqué Mateu family. Hispano Suiza Fábrica de Automóviles S.A. was founded in Barcelona in 1904 by Damián Mateu with the support of the Technical Director and engineer Marc Birkigt, also a partner in the company.

Between 1904-1946, Hispano Suiza built more than 12,000 luxury performance cars and 50,000 airplane engines. In 2000, Hispano Suiza built a prototype luxury two-seat supercar HS21, which was shown in Geneva that same year. The K8 and HS21-GTS models, both evolutions of the first, were presented in 2001 and 2002.

Since it was founded, four generations of the Suqué Mateu family have preserved the family brand, injecting impetus and dynamism to maintain the significant heritage. On taking control of the company, Miguel Mateu – the son of the founder – continued the production of prestigious, top-of-the-range cars. After his death, his daughter Carmen Mateu was nominated President and she continued her father’s work, keeping the essence of the brand alive through a diverse range of activities including events, exhibitions, conferences, book and magazine publications, research articles, and participation in rallies. Today, Hispano Suiza is overseen by its President – Miguel Suqué Mateu – the great-grandson of Hispano Suiza’s founder.

Hispano Suiza is part of the Peralada Group, which represents the pinnacle of luxury in gastronomy and entertainment through its global portfolio of casinos, restaurants, hotels, golf courses, vineyards, music festivals, and marinas.

Next month’s Geneva Motor Show will see the world debut of the ‘Carmen’ – a fully-electric hyper luxe grand tourer from iconic Spanish luxury car brand Hispano Suiza. Named after Carmen Mateu, granddaughter of Hispano Suiza’s founder, the new model is the ultimate expression of classically-inspired design, next-generation technology, exhilarating power, and expertly-engineered dynamics.

Designed, developed and manufactured in Barcelona, the handcrafted Carmen is based on a super-stiff, hand-laid carbon fiber monocoque. This provides the foundation for the car’s exceptional luxury, comfort, innovation and attention to detail, which is uniquely combined with technologically-superior, fully-electric performance. While the new model takes inspiration from the Dubonnet Xenia, one of the elegant and luxurious vehicles built by Hispano Suiza in 1938, development and build of the Carmen and its custom-designed electric powertrain will be led by the company’s production partner, QEV Technologies.

Also based in Barcelona, QEV Technologies boasts a team of highly-skilled engineers with experience across design, engineering, R&D and production for Formula-E teams, supercar brands and mainstream car manufacturers. QEV Technologies has its foundations in motorsport with Campos Racing and is also the technology arm of Mahindra Formula-E Racing, plus the European R&D facility for Chinese firm BAIC.

Following the House of Rolls-Royce’s recent announcement of the highest annual results in its 115-year history, the marque reflects on some of 2018’s finest examples of Bespoke engineering, design and craftsmanship. Rolls-Royce ignores mass-luxury ‘tick-box’ options in favor of Bespoke creations that no other manufacturer can hope to achieve.

2018 will be remembered as one of the most ambitious years for the marque’s Bespoke Collective, the specialized unit at Goodwood, West Sussex, UK. Customers are offered almost limitless opportunities to bring their own personal vision to their Rolls-Royce motor car. The brand has an expertly honed understanding of the super-luxury market’s requirement for personally tailored and finely crafted items that are more frequently found in the world of watchmaking, yachts, architecture and private aviation.

Rolls-Royce Phantom ‘Whispered Muse’ is a contemporary masterpiece that reinterprets Charles Sykes’ original drawings of the Spirit of Ecstasy, the legendary Rolls-Royce radiator mascot. Whispered Muse’s design embraces Phantom’s unique glass ‘Gallery’, an area in which to exhibit unique works of art and design, by incorporating a sculpted silk adaptation of the Spirit of Ecstasy, created by British artist Helen Amy Murray. The feminine form of the ‘Graceful Little Goddess’ is echoed throughout the Bespoke treatment of the motor car. As a finishing touch, the Spirit of Ecstasy is crafted from Rose Gold – a first for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ Bespoke division.

An impressively creative twist on Dawn delivers an important narrative that pays homage to Czech and Slovak airmen who served in RAF squadrons No. 312 and No. 313 during the Battle of Britain. The livery of Spitfires used by these Czechoslovak Squadrons inspired Dawn’s solid Grey exterior and Black coach line. Inside, the door flight on the driver side carries the motto of the 313th Squadron: “Jeden Jestráb Mnoho Vran Rozhání” (“One hawk chases away many crows”), while the passenger side commemorates the guiding principle of the 312th Squadron: “Non-Multi Sed Multa” (“Not many, but much”). Intricate embroidery on the headrests depicts the badges of the two squadrons and between the rear seats, there is an interpretation of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that powered famous fighter planes like the Hurricane and the Spitfire.

Another outstanding example of Rolls-Royce’s pinnacle motor car is a highly Bespoke Phantom known as the ‘Gentleman’s Tourer’, which presents an aesthetic carefully tailored for trans-continental Grand Touring, echoing a grand tradition of the past. The interior is a masculine, operational space, created for long, ultra-luxurious journeys. One feature in particular highlights the technical modernity of this motor car, the Gallery is fashioned from ruthenium, a precious metal from the platinum group, never before used in a car. With only 20 tons mined annually worldwide, compared with 2,500 tons of gold, this is an especially precious addition to a contemporary Phantom.

Google’s Vice President of Engineering and a well-known car enthusiast, Benjamin Treynor Sloss, took delivery of a very personal Rolls-Royce Dawn Black Badge at 2018’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance. The Bespoke Collective at Rolls-Royce reinterpreted the yellow-and-blue color scheme favored across the rest of his collection, inspired by the colors of the Modenese flag. A new, intense deep yellow named ‘Superflare’ is paired with the darkest of navy blues named ‘Pikes Peak Blue’ – due to Mr. Sloss’s interest in that king of timed hill climbs. The vivid color scheme is continued throughout the interior, with the seats, dashboard, tonneau cover and rear seat ‘waterfall’ clad in Navy Blue leathers, highlighted with Bright Yellow seat piping and stitched Double-R headrest logos.

A Bespoke Phantom was delivered in 2018 to a renowned collector, Michael Fux, during Monterey Car Week. The Phantom was his eleventh Bespoke model from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, following the ‘Dawn in Fuxia’ that was handed over during Pebble Beach 2017. As with a number of his other cars, the Phantom is finished in a truly unique paint color, which is his alone to use – ‘Fux Intense Fuxia Pearl’, the ultimate in individualization. Carrying over some of his favorite hues from earlier cars, the interior is trimmed in a combination of vibrant purple ‘Fuxia’ and ‘Arctic White’ leather. This striking Phantom joins Mr. Fux’s collection of more than 140 unique motor cars, which he uses to help raise funds for his charity – the Michael Fux Foundation – providing support to children and their families at the Miami Children’s Hospital.

In 2018 Rolls-Royce paid homage to the original Silver Ghost with the creation of 35 Bespoke examples, the ‘Silver Ghost Collection’. These motor cars boast carefully-considered references to the past: a solid sterling-silver Spirit of Ecstasy, a hammered-copper insert that pays tribute to the material in the original’s engine bay, and the newly created hallmark ‘AX201’, a tribute to the famous registration plate. Further references to the model’s heritage include open-pore Tudor Oak veneer with silver inlays throughout the cabin and a Bespoke coach line that incorporates 100% pure silver particles.

Rolls-Royce unveiled Adamas in 2018, its first-ever Black Badge Collection, comprising 40 Wraiths and 30 Dawns. The character of these motor cars is reflected by the Adamas name, meaning ‘untameable’ or ‘invincible’, with the resilience of a diamond. These Wraiths and Dawns showcase a darker side of contemporary craftsmanship, with unbreakable carbon structures woven into the motor cars to create a beguiling beauty that captures the rebellious spirit of Black Badge. For the first time, the Spirit of Ecstasy is formed from machined aerospace-grade carbon fiber, while the dashboard clock is encrusted with laboratory-grown black diamonds.

Wraith Luminary Collection, a ‘highly charged’ series of just 55 Wraiths presented a world-first for Bespoke craftsmanship. On opening the coach doors, the owner is met by a truly innovative statement of modern luxury, with intricately perforated Tudor Oak wood veneers admitting light from an array of 176 LEDs. The wood is sourced from the forests of the Czech Republic, selected for its depth of color and the density of the grain structure.

Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke engineers developed a unique shooting star headliner, adding a playful aspect to the configuration of the 1,340 fiber optic lights. Further technical mastery is showcased through a unique stainless steel hand-woven fabric used to highlight sections throughout the cabin, including the area on the doors.

In 2018 a special Dawn was built as well. A Bespoke, lightweight ‘Aero Cowling’ tonneau cover is fixed in position over the rear seat area, creating a roadster-style motor car that can still be converted to a full four-seater when desired. Crafted from ultra-lightweight carbon fiber and aluminum, the Aero Cowling is sculpted to funnel airflow for enhanced comfort, less turbulence and noise, and can be matched to your personal specification of a Dawn. This is one bespoke creation that can be ordered by other customers.

The Rolls-Royce Viewing Suite is automatically deployed at the touch of a button. Two rear-facing, beautifully contemporary, fine leather chairs and a cocktail table gracefully emerge from within the rear compartment – creating a luxurious viewing platform from which to take in the surroundings; whether that be a sporting engagement or some of the world’s most breath-taking vistas, an airshow or a polo match. The launch of this feature previewed the near-limitless opportunities for enhancing Cullinan with highly Bespoke modules to suit all manner of lifestyle requirements.

Owners of the Aston Martin Valkyrie already know they’re due to receive a truly exceptional car, but the marque’s personalization service ‘Q by Aston Martin’ is set to realize the unique automotive dreams and desires of this exclusive collection. Borne of the partnership between Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the Aston Martin Valkyrie is a real-life expression of the no-compromise pursuit of performance. As such, it is fitting that this 150-unit road-going hypercar can now be further optimized with the AMR Track Performance Pack. The pack’s track-only components – which can be interchanged with the existing road-legal parts – are set to deliver approximately 8% quicker lap times on top of the standard Aston Martin Valkyrie.

The AMR Track Performance Pack features a new aerodynamic front clamshell delivering greater downforce and efficiency, the second set of all other exterior body panels, lightweight titanium brakes, track-focused suspension and a matte black magnesium performance wheel and carbon-fiber aero-disk set. Customers can also include a suite of a personalized pit garage and race suit accessory options to their package, providing owners with the ultimate track day and hypercar ownership experience. Customers choosing the AMR Track Performance Pack are also able to choose between three spectacular AMR livery designs or their own unique finish, which can be tailored using ‘Q by Aston Martin – Commission’, Aston Martin’s bespoke VIP customization service.

For those choosing to keep their Aston Martin Valkyrie on the road, the options are boundless. Four beautiful Designer Specification themes are available for those who want their Valkyrie to stay close to the designer’s vision, featuring exclusive Valkyrie colors including Slipstream Green, Liquid Petroleum, Ethanol Silver and Maximum Orange. For customers who have something very special in mind, there is the Ultimate Personalisation program, which invites owners to work with the Aston Martin Design team to refine their specification, enhanced even further by ‘Q by Aston Martin – Commission’. The roof and rear engine cover, in gloss black paint as standard, can be customized to be presented in exposed carbon fiber, which can continue across the contrails with a gloss lacquer and the silver textured tailpipe and muffler can become black by the specification. Owners can also have the first Aston Martins with full titanium wings badges, showcasing the exquisite craftsmanship that is synonymous with the brand.

Inside Aston Martin Valkyrie, the minimalist ergonomics of the cockpit are clothed appropriately: a wide choice of Alcantara colors, patterns and finishes are available for the seats, along with six bold choices of color for the seat harness, which complements the external livery and contrasts with the choice of hardware presented in carbon fiber. The intricate craftsmanship of woven leather, first seen on the Aston Martin One-77, can be selected to add an extra element to the door pocket and armrest trim.

All driver-focused switchgear for Aston Martin Valkyrie is positioned on the steering wheel. The switches are made in anodized silver, black or red for a stealthy or track-inspired appearance. Alternatively, customers can again enlist the bespoke ‘Q by Aston Martin’ service. The ultimate choice is switches crafted from titanium, which truly reflects the lightweight DNA of Aston Martin Valkyrie. ‘Q by Aston Martin’ offers many exquisite personalization options, including the indulgent Gold Pack which features a 24-carat gold leaf livery that is meticulously laid under the paint lacquer. The Mokume Carbon Fibre option pack will excite the connoisseur with its ‘Carbon Jewelry’ adorning areas such as the inner scoop of the headlights, sidepod vanes, armrest, central interior vent and the steering wheel faceplate. Created uniquely by Aston Martin’s design studio, the Mokume Carbon Fiber has a beautiful and technical appearance and the obvious weight saving credentials of this material.

With such a generous array of options to choose from, Aston Martin has provided customers with the opportunity to view their final creations using an industry-leading immersive virtual reality experience. Used in real-time during the specification process at Gaydon, this technology has been employed to great effect, ensuring customers leave the company’s headquarters, safe in the knowledge that every selection made to their Aston Martin Valkyrie fits their exact demands.

Aston Martin’s Executive Vice President & Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman said, “This is simply the best car in the world if you want something bespoke and we are really pushing the boundaries to match the dreams of our customers. Every single element of this hypercar, including its performance, can be personalized. The materials are very much about science, the art of creativity and the ability to create a unique solution that doesn’t detract from this exceptional car’s performance capability”.

More: www.astonmartin.com

Bentley recently introduced the all-new Continental GT Convertible. Designed, engineered and handcrafted in Britain. The tailored convertible roof can be deployed or stowed in just 19 seconds, with the car traveling at speeds of up to 50 km/h. This transforms the Continental GT Convertible from a luxurious coupe into an open-top Grand Tourer at the touch of a button. Seven different fabric hood colors are available, including an authentic tweed finish for the first time. A newly designed neckwarmer (which is both warmer and quieter than in the previous generation model), is seamlessly integrated into the heated Comfort Seats, optimizing efficiency and airflow around the electrically adjustable headrests. The styling highlight of the new neckwarmer is a chrome center vane that stretches the full width of the duct, echoing Bentley’s famous ‘bullseye’ vents. Combined with a heated steering wheel, seat heaters and new heated armrests, these sophisticated comfort features create a luxurious driving experience in all environments, especially on sunny spring and winter mornings.

The all-new Continental GT Convertible heightens the sensory experience of open-air motoring with exhilarating performance. A powerful 6.0-liter Bentley W12 engine is mated to a dual-clutch eight-speed transmission. The new powertrain uses the latest engine management technology to produce 635 hp and 900 Nm of torque, and accelerate to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds, on to a top speed of 333 km/h.

A choice of three audio systems is offered in the new Continental GT Convertible. The standard system features 10 speakers and 650 Watts, while a Bang & Olufsen 1,500 W, 16-speaker system with illuminated speaker grilles is available, benefiting from the first automotive application of the BeoSonic system – a new way for tone setting with a simple, intuitive one-touch user interface. A Naim 2,200 W, 18-speaker system with Active Bass Transducers built into the front seats and eight sound modes is offered for the true audiophile.

Behind the wheel, the technological advancements in the new Continental GT Convertible continue. The driver-orientated instrument panel is fully digital and can be personalized by the driver. The Bentley Rotating Display offers the choice between a digital or analog journey. At first glance, there appears to be no screen in the center of the dashboard. Instead, the veneer flows uninterrupted across the dashboard, while a thin chrome bezel behind the steering wheel surrounds a digital instrument display. When the engine start button is pressed, however, the veneer in the middle of the dashboard glides silently forward and rotates to reveal Bentley’s largest-ever touchscreen, a 12.3” high-definition-quality digital MMI display, elegantly designed by Bentley with a customer-configurable home screen with three windows able to display the driver’s preferred functions, for example, navigation, media and telephone. The user interface is designed to be akin to a modern mobile phone and menus are structured to be instantly intuitive. The third side on the Bentley Rotating Display reveals three elegant analog dials displaying outside temperature, a compass and a chronometer. Such an innovative use of traditional elements underscores Bentley’s unique commitment to the past and the future and offers customers the choice of digital or analog display or clean, calm cabin.

Two technology option packs are offered at launch: City Specification for urban journeys and the Touring Specification for long-distance driving, both curated to optimize the customer experience. City Specification includes hands-free boot opening, pedestrian warning, traffic-sign recognition and city braking systems as well as a top-view camera. The Touring Specification pack, meanwhile, offers adaptive cruise control with traffic-jam assist, active lane assist, a heads-up display, night vision with an infrared camera, and pre-sense braking. The Mulliner Driving Specification adds a more sporting look to the car with 22” lightweight forged alloy wheels, unique ‘diamond in diamond’ quilting, embroidered Bentley emblems, additional veneer options, a jeweled-finish fuel filler, sports pedals, and indented leather headliner. Customers can also choose personalized stitching in the front and rear of the car as well as personalized treadplates. As with all Bentleys, the Continental GT Convertible can also be handed over to the highly skilled and dedicated craftspeople at Mulliner, Bentley’s personal commissioning division, who will respond to bespoke customer requirements.

The third generation of Continental GT Convertible features Bentley Dynamic Ride, an advanced 48-volt roll control system for car control. The system controls and adjusts the electronic actuators on the anti-roll bar of each axle and so improves handling and ride comfort, as well as making the car feel lighter and more precise. This system instantly counteracts lateral rolling forces when cornering and ensures maximum tire-to-road contact to deliver class-leading ride comfort and exceptional handling. While conventional anti-roll bars present a compromise between body control and ride comfort, Bentley’s active system provides variable torsional resistance, allowing the Continental GT Convertible to be both dynamically capable and comfortable for all occupants at all times. The use of a 48-volt system results in silent, instantaneous responses and sufficient power on hand to deal with all road surfaces. Through Bentley’s Drive Dynamics Control different modes can be selected: Comfort mode, Bentley mode or Sport mode; the suspension, engine, gearbox and other chassis systems will modify to match the selected drive mode. Alternatively, the driver can personalize his or her own dynamic settings. As a foundation for this impressive handling, the Continental GT Convertible boasts a body-in-white structure that manages to be both stiffer and lighter than its predecessor. This five percent improvement in torsional rigidity and 20 percent reduction in structural weight are achievable thanks to the intelligent utilization of aluminum and high-tensile steel in the platform.

The braking system is the most powerful iron system ever fitted to a Bentley, with a total of 28 pistons. Front brake discs measuring 420 mm are a two-piece construction utilizing a cast-iron friction ring and aluminum mounting bell. Front calipers feature ten pistons each, while rear calipers contain four pistons each that clamp 380 mm single-piece discs. Bentley has worked together with Pirelli to create bespoke tires for the new Continental GT Convertible right from the very beginning of the design phase. The car runs exclusively on Pirelli P Zero tires, using a different tire size between the front and rear axles for the first time, to enhance dynamic ability.

It is not a widely known fact that Spaghetti Carbonara, one of the most iconic Italian dishes, eaten around the world, actually is connected with America. Yes, really. When Italy was finally captured by the Allies, American soldiers brought into the cuisine of the war-stricken and impoverished country a part of their lavish rations, namely bacon and eggs. Italians incorporated those luxuries into their cooking, and there we have it, spaghetti carbonara (some typical Japanese dishes also owe their provenance to the presence of the American army of occupation).

When Fiat teamed up with Chrysler thanks to the late and lamented Sergio Marchionne, many “purists” raised the alarm that by using Chrysler hardware and software, the Italians were contaminating the truly Italian brands. They were wrong. The Italian automotive industry had, in the past, benefited greatly from situations where American engines were installed in sports cars built in Emilia Romagna and other parts of Italy, those like Bizzarrini, Italmeccanica, Iso, De Tomaso and Intermeccanica. The current Maserati range shares some invisible components with other FCA products, and that is a good thing, as it improves reliability and lets the brand invest where it really counts for enthusiasts.

When I learned I was going to receive the new Maserati Ghibli Diesel Gran Lusso with an interior designed by the fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna I immediately knew I wanted to use it to search for something very Italian, but rooted here, in Britain. Italian engineering and cuisine have both seen widespread popularity all over the world, and the people who know that most Ferraris are red also know what a pizza looks like. The elegant Ghibli and its powerful turbodiesel are just the ticket to explore the tree-lined roads of Cambridgeshire. The throaty sound produced by the motor makes the journey more pleasant, although it’s produced by the Active Sound System, two resonators placed strategically next to the twin tailpipes, enhancing the sound without recourse to such gauche methods as those used by, for instance, BMW and Audi, with a fake engine note delivered via loudspeakers. It’s also a bit better than the sound from the Bowers & Wilkins stereo, which frankly disappointed me.

On the positive side, the steering is incredibly precise and beautifully weighted, and makes every corner a joy. The suspension keeps body movements in check in a way that other premium manufacturers have largely forgotten. This is a car which feels right at home in city traffic, on a highway and on twisty country roads with adverse cambers, crests and dips, and expansion joints; it makes the driver feel confident of using all the 275 hp and the huge 600 Nm of torque. The Ghibli Diesel makes the 0-100 km/h sprint in 6.3 seconds, and reaches a top speed of 250 km/h. Is it a viable alternative to the dominant German cars? An emphatic yes.

The drive to the old river port of St. Ives was all too short, but the promise of the perfectly cooked Italian food at the Amore restaurant (http://www.amorestives.co.uk) compensated for that. We started with a simple Bruschetta (perfect and aromatic) and a Calamari starter. The latter is a dish slow-cooked in order to remove every last hint of the prevalent sponginess of calamari. Marin, the chef, really knows the little secrets of his trade. Next, it’s time for the Rigatoni al Ragù di Manzo (tubular pasta in a rich beef stew, topped with parmesan shavings, cooked to perfection with the sauce just sticky enough to cling to the pasta). I am tempted to try the Guanciale di Bue, which is slow-cooked ox cheeks in red wine and rosemary sauce, served with vegetables and crushed new potatoes.

The beef dissolves in my mouth and requires no chewing, it’s probably the best-tasting stewed beef I have ever tried. I can hardly eat any more food, but I need to try one more dish, the intriguingly named Linguine ai Gamberoni e Alghe del Gargano. It is a specialty of Gargano in Apulia and consists of linguine cooked in tomato sauce with chili, roasted pepper, king prawns and samphire. The samphire imbues the sauce with a strong herbal flavor which perfectly complements the soft, ideally roasted peppers. The meal ends with that, and the drive home highlights the fact that almost everything about this car is Italian: the stylishly tailored Zegna upholstery, the sporty road manners and the fact that people actually look at it, while not sparing the plentiful Mercedes and Audi cars a second glance.

I could live with this car. It is sporty enough to replace a coupe, and comfortable enough to serve as a luxury sedan: the best of both worlds. And it can bring me to the Italian restaurant again… and to the gym later.

In terms of performance, the heavy 600 was no slouch, it reached a maximum speed of around 205 kph, and did the 0-100 kph sprint in less than 10 seconds (for comparison: the 1964 model Porsche 911 did it in 8 seconds…). The first Pullman I ever drove, however, was much slower than that. It happened on a gloomy day in Germany. I came to Fellbach by taxicab to pick up my ride. When I walked in I was shown a stripped out W100, ready for restoration work, and a refurbished M100 engine, so I could understand better what I was dealing with. Then I was handed a key. A single, well-worn and battered key with a piece of cardboard attached to it with a piece of string. On the cardboard I found a note: “Mr. Frankowski, the air suspension on the car is broken, please don’t drive it sideways.”

Indeed the air suspension was not functional (normally it provided three positions, low, high and lock for changing a wheel or for transport), and I was lucky they had let me have the car at all. It was THE single W100 Sonderschutz prototype from 1965, aka The Werkspanzer, which had been leased to the West German government for several decades but remained in Mercedes-Benz ownership throughout. During its 30 years of service, it had covered around 50,000 km, carrying such Chancellors as Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, and reputedly also such visiting dignitaries as the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev. The car, which weighed in at 5.5 tons empty, had additional torsion bars fitted in the suspension to carry the armored body with its full B7-grade protection. Its specially designed Fulda tires (their size for nerds: 9.00 H 15 8/10 PR) could not handle speeds higher than around 100 kph, but it had spent most of its life between Bonn, the then capital of West Germany, and the government residence in Petersberg, close to Bonn, where foreign dignitaries stayed overnight, including Brezhnev, who crashed the SL Mercedes given to him as a present on the access road, while completely drunk, against a tree.

I touched the gloss black body with reverence. It wore its scars of service with pride. The multilayer bulletproof windows were splitting at the edges, but luckily I was not going to be shot at, or so I hoped. I had a rendez-vous with Dieter, the intrepid photographer, at Solitude Castle, and was going to drive myself there in the “Factory Tank”, which is a good linguistic approximation of the meaning of “Werkspanzer”. Holding tight onto a paper map, I squeezed myself into the front compartment. Since the bulletproof partition prevents the driver’s seat from sliding back, it is obvious that German chancellors must have been driven by overgrown midgets with huge torsos and very short legs. No matter. Feeling exactly the same as I had felt on my many trips to Asia in Economy Class, I started the engine and drove off. The steering, normally quite light in a Pullman, was heavy, due to the extra mass pushing down on the front wheels.

The ride comfort, however, was incredible, even without the air suspension fully functional. But the best effect of all was the one the massive black car had on other drivers in their small cars in all the villages I had to pass on my way out of Stuttgart: some of them instinctively stopped, even though the light for them was a solid green. It was stunning, I had never before felt so much like an impostor. Not knowing the correct route, I meandered through some wrong turns (the turning circle is huge), until I found the series of tight corners leading uphill to Schloss Solitude, actually a part of the old Solitude Rennen temporary racetrack. The big Merc went around the hairpin with fantastic precision, albeit this was the most intimidating part of my drive. It felt good, however, to push 5.5 tons of German metal up that hill at a brisk pace.

Having arrived and letting Dieter do his magic I had more time to look over the car carefully. The driver had absolutely no comfort to speak of, and he could talk to his passengers via a special interphone. There was also a PA system necessary to talk to people outside the car (lowering windows in an armored car to talk to strangers is really stupid…), with loudspeakers concealed in the engine compartment and microphones in the outside rearview mirrors. Another very neat touch are the twin orange-colored lamps in the back. They were switched on to improve the looks of politicians whose pictures the paparazzi took through the green-tinted bulletproof glass: otherwise they would all look deathly pale. There is, of course, no navigation system. The German government simply employed intelligent people who knew where they were going.

Pity the car couldn’t talk, I am sure it had heard and seen a lot of political maneuvering over its three decades of faithful government service. Or perhaps it would not talk anyway, being a good honest German. The sense of history was pervasive. Sitting in the back I tried to imagine how a German leader, forced to live with the idea of a divided Germany, spied on by Markus Wolf’s Stasi, could feel while being driven to meet his Soviet Bloc counterparts. It must have been unimaginably hard. Driving back into Stuttgart I was in a somber mood. History produced this magnificent automobile, perhaps the best car in the world at the time, but it also produced pain and suffering. The sole Werkspanzer was a witness to much of it. And no, I did not try to drift it. I had too much respect for this amazing piece of history.

At the beginning of the 1950’s a “Big Mercedes” could not mean only a huge body and stellar performance, society expected more of the Mercedes brand. The engineering teams at Untertürkheim and Sindelfingen wanted to build a car able to do all that other cars could do, but much better, and also able to do things no other car could dream of. The wanted to build a luxury automobile able to pamper the passengers and simultaneously able to perform like a sports car when the need arose. They wanted to build a car that was easy to drive, and extremely safe as well as reliable (crash testing was performed at an old USAF airfield). They also wanted a never before attained level of operating comfort, but this proved to be a daunting task.

The electric motors available at the time to assist the occupants in, for instance, raising or lowering windows, were deemed completely unsuitable by Uhlenhaut’s wizards. What the pedantic Rudolf did was that he ordered his people to run a competition. Werner Breitschwerdt designed a complete electric assistance system, and Ernst Fiala a hydraulic one. Finally, the latter won, and here’s how Breitschwerdt explained why this was the case: “Numerous functions which we wanted to have on the car could not be done at the time with electrics. It was a problem of space and weight, as among other things we would need to have a second battery in the car. The high-pressure hydraulic system we developed had the advantage of having small parts that were sufficient for operation with its high pressure. The hydraulics were simply smaller, quieter and lighter than the electric systems available at the time.” Some parts were developed at Sindelfingen, as aviation components used originally were too heavy. What the “Komforthydraulik” system did or helped with makes very impressive reading: it could close doors (door closing aid like on modern Mercedes cars), operate the sunroof, operate windows and the partition on so equipped cars, it could operate the trunk lid, open and close the 20 flap valves inside the heating and ventilation system, adjust front and rear seats, adjust the damper settings and unlock the parking brake.

Uhlenhaut paid special attention to the unity of two opposites: ride comfort and sporty handling. Air suspension, combined with the front parallel wishbones and the rear swing axle with brake dive compensation (a mechanical device, so-called “Koppelachse”, also used on the W126), gave the car the handling prowess so enthusiastically described by the first journalists who drove it. Reinhard Seiffert described in 1965 in the „Motor Revue“ magazine his feelings about the ride comfort of the Big Mercedes: “The abused cliche of sticking to the road like glue is wholly appropriate here, as the behavior is fully neutral and stays so also while driving in corners at high speed up until the stage when the lateral adhesion in the rear is a bit less than in the front, but all that is needed to retain control of the car is to unwind the wonderfully light and sensitive steering a bit. That is well outside the norm for production cars. One can drive the 600 over mountain passes as if it were a sports car, and a well-driven sports car will find it difficult to follow.”

The braking system was also the focus of much attention from the engineers. The Big Merc had a dual circuit braking system with disc brakes front and rear, the front ones measuring 291 mm in diameter and gripped by twin calipers per wheel. The braking system was supposed to be really low-effort for the driver, and thus the air from the air suspension compressor (10 bar pressure) was used for brake assistance. A conventional vacuum booster would be too bulky, and it would only boost by a factor of 4, whilst the air booster gave a boost factor of 17. Special cross-ply 9.00 x 15 tires were developed for the Mercedes 600 by Fulda and Continental to match the suspension setup perfectly. Think the Pullman was an aerodynamic nightmare with the Cd of a barn door? Wrong. The angular 600 has a drag coefficient of only 0.458. In comparison, the 230 SL of the same era (with hardtop) comes in at 0.515, and the seemingly sleek 190 SL at 0.461. Surprised? The famous M100 engine was also installed in the contemporary S-Class, at first in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 (W 108), with unaltered power output. In 1975 the 450 SEL 6.9 (W 116) was launched with an engine enlarged to 6.9 liters and equipped with dry-sump lubrication, developing 286 horsepower. This engine evolution was also tested in the Mercedes 600, a test vehicle is known to have existed, but it was decided to continue with the 6.3 liter unit until the end of production.

Two wheelbases were used throughout the production run, 3200 mm (Normal) and 3900 mm (Pullman), both cars featuring four doors. Later came the Landaulet and the 6-door Pullman. Two very special order Landaulets were built, one, already mentioned above, for Graf Berckheim, in SWB form, and for the Pope, full of special features, on the longer wheelbase. Two stunning coupes were also built and are now in private hands. 2,677 examples of all types of the Mercedes 600 were officially made, of which 2,190 were four-door saloons, 428 were Pullman limousines and 59 were landaulets. 44 armored units were made and one very special prototype “Pullman Werskpanzer” (or “W100 Sonderschutz Prototyp”), of which later.

Celebrity owners of the Big Benz include Elvis Presley, John Lennon, George Harrison, Jack Nicholson, Coco Chanel, Hugh Hefner, Ronnie Wood, Aristotle Onassis and Rowan Atkinson (Nicholson also famously drove a 600 in the amusing movie “The Witches of Eastwick”. The list of dictator owners is also impressive and includes Nicolae Ceauşescu of Romania, Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Enver Hoxha, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. The Shah of Iran owned several and leaders of many democratic countries also ordered 600’s as their conveyances of choice.

Peter Schellhammer, who I had the pleasure of meeting a decade ago in Germany, was one of the 4 “Flying Doctors”, employed to keep Mercedes 600’s running around the world, including the Shah’s. He showed up at our meeting with his private handwritten notes from his time helping with 600 engineering, and then solving problems in different countries. Peter, whose English was careful and unaccented, was responsible for English-speaking customers, the other “Doctors” divided their responsibility according to the languages they spoke. Schellhammer and his colleagues taught service personnel in various countries when the first car was delivered, and customers were happy that this happened at the same time as the delivery. He remembers the hydraulic comfort system very fondly. The high-pressure system, running at 180 bar, used small valves and connectors. Bosch made the hydraulic precision switches. Screw-on connections were employed for the main hydraulic lines and plug-in connections for small volume lines. A drawback was the fact that when the hydraulics failed, they failed completely, therefore the “Flying Doctor” service was often needed at short notice. Peter told me that at the beginning the system used the Castrol Aero Hydraulic Oil, and if he arrived at some remote location he immediately would look for an aerodrome where he could source some hydraulic fluid to replace whatever had leaked out (the system capacity was around 2 liters only). The aviation fluid was safe to use, as its viscosity remained constant or nearly so in all temperatures.

Peter Schellhammer not only fixed cars, but he also demonstrated them to potential customers around the globe. Typically one would drive the customer over a bumpy railroad crossing at high speed to demonstrate the air suspension (chosen over hydropneumatic mostly for its low-speed ride comfort). The Shah of Iran was impressed, but he still told Peter: “The Rolls-Royce is the car for kings”. And Schellhammer, laughingly, commented, „You can’t argue with that”. Still, the Shah owned cars built by both brands. Safe is better than sorry.

The final word on how good these cars were in period should come from a very special luxury car test, run by the American magazine “Car and Driver” in 1965: “The Mercedes-Benz 600 proved to our complete satisfaction, that it is the best car in the world. A top executive at Cadillac paid it a light-hearted compliment when he said, “It’s probably the ultimate Cadillac,” and in many ways, he was dead right. The Mercedes is a complete luxury car, and it is far more American in concept than any previous European effort in this field. It has and will do, virtually everything one could ask of it. Its performance is superior to any other car in its class. Only the Cadillac can out-accelerate it. Only the Jaguar can go around a corner with it. Only the Rolls was able to approach its enormous stopping power. The Mercedes would probably have been able to win our six-way competition on the strength of its luxury alone, but it has married that luxury to a mechanical package of tremendous sophistication in the grand Mercedes tradition. Imagine if you can, a car with every luxury appointment known, a car that Stirling Moss can load with six full-grown adults and hurl around Brands Hatch within five seconds of the lap record for sedans, and you’ll be getting an idea of what we mean.” The comparison featured a 600 Mercedes, a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, a Lincoln Continental, a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, a Chrysler Imperial Le Baron and a Jaguar Mark X.