Rare White 2006 Bentley Flying Spur on 2040-cars

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Bentley recaps its 100 years in a $250k book

Bentley's 100th anniversary might be remembered more for the book that celebrates the milestone more than the cars. The carmaker worked with Opus, a "luxury publisher" with the tagline "Greatness immortalized greatly," on a tome that tells the story of the last 100 years. The limited-edition result of their work weighs roughly 66.5 pounds, is filled with exclusives, can be customized like a Bentley, and can cost more than a Bentley. There will be three versions, in Centenary printed in a run of 500, the Mulliner printed in a run of 100, and 100 Carat with just seven examples, representing the seven continents. All come wrapped in hand-bound leather from the same herds that provide hides to Bentley cars, buyers able to choose what color leather they prefer. The cover is adorned with nothing other than the same special Bentley badge that gets affixed to cars during this anniversary year. The content begins with a foreword penned by well known collector Ralph Lauren. Then the book spends nine chapters and more than 800 pages telling the story of W.O. Bentley and his Le Mans racers before lavishing time on the decades of brand-defining grand tourers, the limited editions, the one-offs, the designers, the craftsmanship, and the sports cars that have brought us to today's GTs and limousines. In the last chapter, called "The Future," current brand CEO Adrian Hallmark expands on what the next century will bring. Never-before-seen content in every edition includes historical photos, new photography shot by Opus, and gatefold pages with artwork that spreads nearly 6.5 feet when fully opened. The "entry-level" Centenary edition costs GBP3,000, or $3,800 in green money. The Mulliner edition adds extras like 20-inch by 24-inch Polaroid photos highlighting ten of Bentley's landmark cars, and 56 watercolors painted on silk paper. A piece of the left front Michelin tire from the Bentley Speed 8 that won Le Mans in 2003 will grace the inside cover of the Mulliner's clamshell case. Owners can go further with customization, having their own Bentley photographs included in their copies, or having their cars photographed by Opus to be included. More equipment means more money, the Mulliner edition costing GBP12,500, or almost $16,000. Beyond the Mulliner's bespoke options, the 100 Carat edition encrusts the book with 100 carats of diamonds and a wings badge set in either white gold or platinum.

Audi's Project Artemis woes could delay range of VW Group EVs

Two years ago, Audi's then new CEO Markus Duesmann announced his first big initiative called Project Artemis. The plan's marquee component is "to implement a new lighthouse project for Audi in record time," being "a highly efficient electric car scheduled to be on the road as early as 2024" on a brand new platform that would be shared with Porsche and Bentley. An ex-VW and -Porsche man named Alex Hitzinger, who'd also spent time at Apple working on the tech company's electric car, was brought on board to lead Project Artemis and come up with new ideas. Parent Volkswagen Group said it wanted to become "as agile as in a racing team," removing the bureaucratic molasses and bottlenecks interfering with getting the best product on the road in the best time. However, in any grand venture, failure comes before success. Automobilwoche reports that Artemis is struggling through issues large enough to push the product plans back by years. The issue, as it was with the ID.3 lineup on the eve of that car's launch, is software. Well, that's the latest, largest problem; Artemis has already been through copious struggles before getting to the software bit. Two months after Hitzinger came on, in December 2020, VW raised its EV volume target from 50% to 70% by 2030. That necessitated a rethink of the VW Group's entire platform strategy considering the far greater production scale. Hitzinger only lasted six months in the job, ousted in May 2021, supposedly because Audi believed his ideas were "not suitable for profitable series production" among other reasons. By that time, the pace of software development was already said to be six months behind schedule, with the Car.Software division working on VW.OS 2.0 "not yet running at the speed hoped for." Internal frictions were noteworthy and costly as well. VW's commercial division plant in Hanover was meant to build Artemis vehicles for Audi, Porsche and Bentley, but Automobilwoche reported in January of this year that Porsche paid a ""small three-digit million amount" — like $100 million or so — to get out of the deal mandating its vehicles come from the Hanover facility.    So Audi effectively brought Artemis in-house to lead vehicle development, and Car.Software turned into Cariad to get VW.OS and VW.AC, which stands for Automotive Cloud, to market.  The first Audi vehicle under Project Artemis was planned to arrive by the end of 2024, a production version of the Grandsphere concept.

2014 Bentley Continental GT V8 S

Bentley still appeals to those with an appreciation for strong, Old World traditionalism. Cars wearing the storied Flying B have been discussed in wood-paneled drawing rooms by men wearing earthy tweeds and corduroy through clouds of fragrant cigar and pipe smoke, for decades. It is a company that has spent nearly 100 years building cost-no-object autombiles, for rich drivers who require a tremendous way to waft above the Sturm und Drang of mortal motoring.
The Bentley Continental GT, while unmistakably a party to that legacy of wooly privilege, has always seemed better suited to the nouveau riche than the landed gentry. The Mulsanne and the Continental Flying Spur still carry forward the brand's heritage of unfathomably fast, gargantuan sedans, while the GT has been busy inveigling an entirely new class of buyer with its lottery-win good looks.
A microsecond version of that analysis was all I had time for as I careened around another heroic left-hand sweeper in this Ice (white) 2014 Bentley Continental GT V8 S. For a car with roots in rainy England and German-engineering genes, the V8 S felt remarkably at home while crushing the desert-strewn distance between San Diego and Palm Springs - almost the epicenter of the New World's Golden West.