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2022 Bentley Flying Spur Odyssean Edition launches the hybrid in style

The 2022 Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid will be the second plug-in hybrid in the company's lineup. And the brand is bestowing it with a special model called the Odyssean Edition to kick it off. It has some unique interior features that Bentley claims are more sustainable, but we would argue they don't do much to make the big sedan particularly green, at least not beyond its hybrid nature. Set that aside, though, and the Odyssean Edition is still a nice machine. The interior is the highlight of the Odyssean Edition, and in particular, the contrast stitching used on the seats. They've been dyed so that they start dark on the outer edges and fade to a lighter tone in the center. Bentley says this is the first time this stitching design has been used on a production car, with it originally appearing on the EXP 100 GT concept car. The rest of the interior is covered in natural leather (supposedly for its longevity), natural finish Koa wood (supposedly for less lacquer use) and some 100% wool spun into tweed panels on the backs of the front seats. You can get other Bentleys with leather and natural-finish wood, so they aren't really an extra step toward sustainability. On the outside, the Odyssean Edition is distinguished by champagne-colored accents on the 21-inch wheels, as well as the lower chrome and headlight and taillight surrounds. A badge also appears on the rear pillar. Bentley recommends six paint colors to match the accents, but if you really want to, you can pick from anything in the Bentley color range. Customers can also add options to the Odyssean Edition. We're a little surprised that some of those options include fairly common features such as ambient lighting, puddle lights, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control and a head-up display. But less common options include a leather headliner, light-up hideaway hood ornament, 3D diamond upholstery on door panels (shown in the gallery), revolving center display, wool carpeting and night vision. Availability and pricing were not announced. We would expect it to go on sale by the end of the year like regular Flying Spur Hybrids. And like those standard cars, the Odyssean Edition gets the same twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 hybrid making 536 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. Range from its 14.1-kWh battery is estimated at more than 25 miles. Related Video: Byron plays rich in the 2021 Bentley Flying Spur V8 | Autoblog

1931 Bentley 8 Litre is the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours Best of Show

A 1931 Bentley 8 Litre Gurney Nutting Sports Tourer took home the title of Best of Show at the 69th running of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It's probably the only time the owners will be okay with a bunch of tiny pieces of paper raining down on the immaculate open interior.  The 2019 Pebble Beach Concours took place on Sunday, August 18, 2019, and it capped a typical Monterey Car Week filled with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of automotive excellence. Some cars sold for eight digits, while others unexpectedly failed to meet reserve (even at eight digits).  The '31 Bentley had stiff competition for the top honor. The finalists for Best of Show included a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Figoni & Falaschi Teardrop Cabriolet owned by Richard & Melanie Lundquist, a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Erdmann & Rossi Special Cabriolet owned by The Keller Collection at the Pyramids, and a 1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato Coupe owned by David F. MacNeil.  The Bentley, which has custom coachwork from J. Gurney Nutting & Company Limited, is owned by The Honorable Sir Michael Kadoorie of Hong Kong. This is the first time a Bentley has won the Pebble Beach Best of Show since 1965, a fact that makes for a wild coincidence considering Bentley is celebrating its centenary this year, as well.  "The Centennial of Bentley may have played a role in this award, but the 8 Litre is the ultimate W. O. Bentley–era automobile," Kadoorie said, according to a press release. "This is the car that represents Bentley at its finest, and I have been very fortunate to have a car that has this elegance and finish, and that the Pebble Beach Concours feels is worthy." In other awards news, a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Figoni & Falaschi Teardrop Cabriolet won Most Elegant Convertible, a 1950 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Ghia Supergioiello Coupe won Most Elegant Closed Car, a 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Brewster York Roadster won Most Elegant Open Car, and a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Zagato Berlinetta Speciale won Most Elegant Sports Car. The Pebble Beach Concours live streamed a good portion of the sunny festivities, and we've included it below. Scroll to about the 3:27 mark to see the best-of-show presentation that capped off the day.

The Volkswagen Group switches official language to English

The Volkswagen Group can't be fairly thought of as entirely German anymore, so the news that the company is switching its official language to English to help attract managers and executives is a rational, if surprising, decision. While many VW Group companies are still staidly German in character and culture, consider the other companies that it controls: Bentley (British), Bugatti (French), Ducati and Lamborghini (Italian), Skoda (Czech), Scania trucks (Swedish), and SEAT (Spanish). Not to mention the large Volkswagen Group of America operation, which constructs cars in Chattanooga, TN. Volkswagen's explicit motivation is to improve management recruitment – making sure the company isn't losing out on candidates for important positions because they can't speak German – and that's inherently sensible in a globalized economy. Particularly considering, like it or lump it, that English is the lingua franca of said global economy. It also should make it inherently easier to communicate between its world-wide subsidiaries and coordinate operations. It's hard to say for sure if this will have any impact on the consumer, although it's easy to see the benefits if, say, VW Group hires some American product planners or engineers and they push for features and designs that more closely suit American needs. After all, the US is a hugely important market for any manufacturer, and so the switch to English almost certainly has something to do with the outsized influence of the US in the global economy. And there doesn't seem to be a downside from a purely rational perspective, although it could mean that the Group's corporate culture becomes less German. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your perspective. Related Video: Image Credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Audi Bentley Bugatti Porsche Volkswagen SEAT Skoda