1994 Bentley Continental R on 2040-cars

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The Macallan and Bentley Motors single malt whisky costs more than a car

Whisky connoisseurs will want to start saving to get their hands on a single malt whisky from Bentley Motors and The Macallan. The bottle costs more than an average car and is part of a collaboration to celebrate the distillery’s 200th anniversary.  “Our collaboration with Bentley Motors and the knowledge exchange we have undertaken as a result has inspired us to see things very differently. In the spirits world, everything is upright, such as our stills and our bottles,” said Jaume Ferras, global creative director for The Macallan. The sideways format upends all that. The bottle is made from recycled materials used by The Macallan and Bentley Motors. The design consists of a copper frame, aluminum ribbon and low-carbon leather. It sits inside a leather-lined wooden case made of oak inlay and features BentleyÂ’s Crown Cut Walnut veneer.    “Taking inspiration from the automotive industry, we are showcasing our creative vision and concept development of The Macallan Horizon, which is among the most unique projects we have embarked on in our almost 200-year history,” said Ferras. Placing the entire work of art on its side was meant to invoke the "horizontal trajectory of the automotive world." According to Vinepair, the whisky was distilled in sherry-seasoned oak casks and smells of plums and dark cherries with traces of cinder toffee, crystallized ginger and charred pineapple. Before you head to the nearest retailer, you will want to make sure you have the funds for this bottle. It will cost you $51,274.

Trump reportedly says he wants to wipe German cars off the U.S. map

BERLIN/FRANKFURT — A report that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to pursue German carmakers until there are no Mercedes-Benz rolling down New York's Fifth Avenue dented shares in the luxury car manufacturers on Thursday. An excerpt from German magazine Wirtschaftswoche's article, which cited several unnamed European and U.S. diplomats but did not include any direct quotes, could not be independently verified, while a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Berlin referred questions to Washington. The news and current affairs magazine said Trump had told French President Emmanuel Macron in April that he aimed to push German carmakers out of the United States altogether. Macron's administration in Paris declined to comment on the report. The Trump administration last week opened a so-called Section 232 trade investigation into vehicle imports, which could result in a 25 percent tariff on cars on the same "national security" grounds Washington used to impose metals duties in March. This could destroy exports by German carmakers, which control 90 percent of the U.S. premium market and are the biggest European Union exporters of cars to the United States. BMW owns Rolls-Royce, while Daimler has Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen controls Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche and Audi. Daimler, BMW and Audi declined comment. Porsche was not immediately available for comment. BMW shares were trading 0.5 percent lower at 0939 GMT, while Daimler and VW's shares were down 1 percent and 1.6 percent respectively, underperforming Germany's blue-chip DAX. Trump has railed against German carmakers before. And in early 2017, in an interview with German newspaper Bild, he said he would impose 35 percent tariffs on imported cars. At the time, the president called Germany a great car producer but said that the business relationship with the United States was an unfair one-way street. Germany's auto industry association VDA says its members exported 657,000 vehicles to North America last year, with total exports of vehicle components, cars, engines, as well as second-hand vehicles totaling 31.2 billion euros in 2016. Imports from the United States to Germany amounted to 7.4 billion euros, meaning a trade deficit of 23.8 billion euros the VDA's latest available figures show. However, German brands also have huge factories in the United States, where they built 804,000 cars last year, VDA said, providing jobs for U.S. workers. Berlin has reacted angrily to the U.S.

Bentley Continental GT celebrates 20 years in production with one-off

Another automotive birthday this year: The Bentley Continental GT is getting a cake for being 20 years in production. The superluxe GT segment was neither new nor unpopulated when a Cypress Green Continental GT with VIN 20001 came off the production line in Crewe, England, in December 2003. It's just that nothing else combined as much speed, handling, and all-out luxury as the Bentley. That coupe also introduced the world to a 6.0-liter W12 engine making 550 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque back when the four-seat Ferrari 456M was getting 442 hp and 406 lb-ft. from its V12 and the two-seat Ferrari 575M was making "just" 508 hp and 434 lb-ft. from the same engine. With the 20th anniversary being celebrated with China dishware, it's fitting that Bentley used Auto Shanghai to introduce a one-off celebration in the form of a Continental GT S. This one comes in Magnetic Dark Grey Metallic over 22-inch black chrome and black wheels. Red accent lines embellish the mirror caps and form a hem around the base of the coupe. Inside, specialty division Mulliner's made a unique arrangement of Beluga (black) and Hotspur (red) leather against piano black trim. The bi-finish fascia puts Granite Stone above Grand Black veneer, separated by red pinstriping. Special badging and laser etching appears in places like the treadplates, center console, and veneers.  The carmaker plans events in the Western hemisphere at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, a global relay of Continental GTs crossing three continents to pass a custom Bentley baton. There will also be drive hubs at the HQ in Crewe and in Geneva, Switzerland where invited guests can drive all three Continental generations, the first- and second-generation examples coming from the Bentley Heritage Collection. The culmination comes in another one-off Continental GT inspired by the first unit produced that will debut during Monterey Car Week.