1967 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow Coupe Mulliner on 2040-cars

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Lunaz electrifying classic cars with coachbuilt, millimeter precision

One day last year, as David Lorenz waited by the side of the road for repair help with his classic car, he had an idea: Why not update all of that ancient mechanical "character" with a modern electric drivetrain? That would give an owner the beauty of the past, the mechanicals of the present, and the powertrain of the future. Jaguar does it with the E-Type Zero, and Aston Martin's in the game with the reversible EV powertrain swap for the DB6 Volante. And so Lorenz founded the British engineering firm Lunaz Design, named after his daughter Luna and headquartered at the Silverstone Technology Park. The company's first products are almost ready for order, starting with a 1953 Jaguar XK120 and a 1961 Rolls-Royce Phantom V. Lunaz conversions aren't a matter of pulling an engine and installing a battery pack; Lunaz reengineers classics. Managing Director Jon Hilton oversees a team bringing experience from carmakers such as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Jaguar, McLaren, and Rolls-Royce, with Hilton's resume including six years with Cosworth Engineering followed by eight years in Formula One. To develop the Lunaz offerings, a chosen car is stripped to the metal and weighed so that engineers understand the weight distribution at each corner, then the car is stripped to the chassis and 3D-scanned. This yields information allowing designers to create a powertrain that fits to the millimeter and stays true to the handling dynamics of the original vehicle. During the rebuild, the company says, any imperfections are remedied "using traditional coachbuilding techniques." The Jaguar and the Rolls-Royce get battery packs in two locations, one under the hood and one under the trunk floor. Lunaz says it can fit more battery for its in-house design into each car that way. The Jaguar's 80-kWh battery feeds two electric motors sending 375 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels. The Phantom V uses a 120-kWh battery pack, but its output hasn't been released. While remaining true to the exterior and interior design of each car, Lunaz fits LED lights and modern tires, a modern suspension, better brakes with regenerative braking, power steering, an upgraded propshaft, and a fly-by-wire throttle. Safety and comfort additions include cruise control, traction control, and anti-lock brakes. Inside, the instrument cluster gets battery gauges, there's modern climate control, an infotainment screen with satellite navigation, and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

BMW warns profits will fall, plans $13.6 billion in cost-cutting

FRANKFURT, Germany — BMW said Wednesday that profits in 2019 will be "well below" last year's, and it will cut 12 billion euros ($13.6 billion) in costs by the end of 2022 to offset spending on new technology. The company said profits would be eroded by higher raw materials prices, the costs of compliance with tougher emissions requirements and unfavorable shifts in currency exchange rates. The Munich-based automaker also faces increased uncertainty due to international trade conflicts that could lead to higher tariffs. "Depending on how conditions develop, our guidance may be subject to additional risks; in particular, the risk of a no-deal Brexit and ongoing developments in international trade policy," said Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter. The company forecast a profit margin of 6 to 8 percent for its automotive business, short of the long-term strategic target of 8 to 10 percent, which it said still "remains the ambition" for the company if given "a stable business environment." BMW said it had no plans for layoffs even as it outlined cost saving measures that include dropping half of its engine variants as it seeks to reduce product complexity. The BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands are to get a single sales division. Peter said that given the headwinds to earnings, "we began to introduce countermeasures at an early stage and have taken a number of far-reaching decisions." The company said the measures were needed "to offset the ongoing high level of upfront expenditure required to embrace the mobility of the future." Automakers around the world have faced heavy up-front costs for technology expected to change how people get from one place to another in the next decade. Those include electric cars and renting cars through smartphone apps. Yet the returns from such investments remain uncertain and auto companies face competition from tech firms such as Uber and Waymo. BMW made 7.2 billion euros ($8.2 billion) in net profit last year, down 17 percent from 2017, when it booked a gain of $1 billion from U.S. tax changes. The company faced headwinds from increased tariffs on vehicles exported to China from the United States. It also suffered from turmoil on the German auto market when companies faced bottlenecks getting cars certified for new emissions rules. BMW faces uncertainty from U.S.-China trade tensions that could result in new tariffs if talks do not result in an agreement. U.S.

2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Road Test | Aboard the HMS Cullinan

A tenet of good writing says you can’t modify a superlative. “Very best” gilds the lily, and “one of the best” is a hedge. Best is all you need say. ThatÂ’s the spirit of the phrase “the Rolls-Royce of Â…,” which gets applied to any kind of thing, say a particularly nice vacuum cleaner. It's immediately understood — “Rolls-Royce” is all you need say. So itÂ’s a special occasion when the pinnacle of automotive excellence, and the symbol of supremacy in everything wrought by human hands, heaves to in oneÂ’s driveway. The Rolls in this case was the 2020 Roll-Royce Cullinan, the most expensive SUV in the world, this one costing $394,275. This Cullinan arrived in lustrous Jubilee Silver (a big improvement over the purple one our contributor Jason Harper drove a few months ago). The car appeared to be carved from a silver ingot. Our first-drive review back in 2018 called the three-ton Cullinan a monolith, and thatÂ’s spot-on. It looks imposing and not to be trifled with, like a British warship. And in fact this car was built to a nautical theme, with a two-tone interior of Charles Blue / Navy Blue. A hand-painted coachline of Charles Blue traced its gunwales. Cullinan even sounds a bit like a British warship (they have the best names). But its namesake is the 3,100-karat Cullinan diamond, the largest ever discovered, chunks of which are part of the Crown Jewels. The car is an enduring symbol of British Empire, though with a lot of German parts. What can one say? We drive a lot of expensive cars at Autoblog, but it's a bit hard to understand why there even is such a thing as a Rolls-Royce press vehicle. What sort of information could a critic impart? Do you expect to hear it wasnÂ’t nice? Well, it was. Was the V12 not smooth? Like English cream. Was it not comfortable? Its cabin was expansive and its seats accommodating, and its ride was every bit the “magic carpet” Rolls promises, with sensors alerting the air suspension of upcoming unpleasantries in the road surface. And like a magic carpet, the system settles the car back down to earth for a gentle landing when youÂ’ve arrived. Yet the self-righting wheel centers make it appear as if you'd never left. And who would benefit from criticisms, if there were any? Few reading this have the means, but those who do would likely choose something more anonymous for real-world use, such as a top-trim Range Rover. Even a Bentley Bentayga would be less expensive, if only slightly less attention-getting.