1 Owner Very Low Miles Xtra Nice! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Rolls-Royce Arcadia Droptail unveiled as the third in a four-car series

If you're wealthy, you buy a new Rolls-Royce. If you're extremely wealthy, you work directly with the brand to design a one-of-a-kind car from the ground up. The firm has revealed its latest one-off, a convertible named Arcadia Droptail, and detailed the long development process. Built for an anonymous client in Singapore, the Arcadia Droptail borrows the first part of its name from a place known as "heaven on Earth" in Greek mythology. Rolls-Royce explains that the design perfectly reflects the customer's tastes and personality, including a passion for architecture and a subtle, restrained take on the concept of luxury. This likely explains why there's not much in the way of bright trim on the outside; instead, the Arcadia Droptail is characterized by a soft and almost organic design while remaining recognizable as a Rolls-Royce. Working directly with the customer, the brand put a great deal of thought into picking a color: the shade of white chosen is infused with aluminum and glass particles for a pearl-like effect that adds depth. These details help the Arcadia stand out from the two existing Droptail models unveiled in 2023. The overall design remains largely unchanged with an upright grille, thin rear lights, and a rounded back end. Santos Straight Grain wood trim dominates the interior and creates another link between cars and boats. Rolls-Royce explains that this was one of the most challenging parts of the project: Santos Straight Grain is difficult to work with, and the client plans to use the car all around the world so the trim needs to withstand wildly different temperatures and humidity levels. The brand initially considered applying the type of coating used in yachts but ruled it out because it needs to be re-applied on a regular basis. Instead, it went through the trouble of developing a specific lacquer that lasts for the life of the car. It adds that this part of the build required over 8,000 hours of work, including testing. The clock embedded into the dashboard was created in-house as well; it took over two years to develop and five months to make. Referred to as "the most complex Rolls-Royce clock face ever created," it features a guilloche pattern with 119 facets and hand-polished parts. Rolls-Royce hasn't published technical specifications. We're guessing that power comes from a V12 engine. All told, designing the Arcadia Droptail took over four years. There's no word on how much the project cost.

Rolls-Royce brings Pebble Beach 2019 Collection to Monterey

Rolls-Royce brought 13 Bespoke Commissions to Monterey Car Week, each of them only available to guests attending car week. Among the pride, said to be inspired by the resurgent natural landscape of Pebble Beach after years of natural disasters, are a single Phantom, four Cullinans, four Dawns, two Ghosts, and two Wraiths. The Phantom gets the most modest treatment, attired — as usual — for business in a Black Diamond and Gold Bespoke exterior. The interior highlight is the Phantom Gallery, which turns a swath of the instrument panel into a canvas for personalized art. The four Cullinan SUVs begin to taste the rainbow, drenched in the luxury maker's iced finish, which Rolls-Royce says is one of its most popular offerings. The ice finish entails a mildly paradoxical combination of a matte color with an elegant shine, and on the quartet of Cullinans comes in Burnout Grey, Black Green, Iced Gunmetal, and Galilea Blue. Outside the collection but just as interesting from a color perspective, Rolls-Royce showed a bespoke Cullinan in Fux Orange, the paint named after a collector who asked Rolls-Royce to color-match a woman's wrap he bought in Miami. The Ghost, Wraith, and Dawn go all the way with color as part of a Pastel Collection, their "painter's palette of colors" keyed off the riot of ground cover and wildflowers newly returned to the Monterey Peninsula. They include three Black Badge Commissions, the aim to show that Black Badge need not mean somber or dowdy. Rolls-Royce did the same thing last year with its Paradiso Black Badge Collection in Quail Blue.  This year's Ghost Black Badge comes in the new color Light Green Solid over a black interior livened up by Serenity Green splashes. The Wraith wears Semaphore Yellow over a Selby Grey and Lemon cabin speckled by the Black Badge Starlight Headliner. The Dawn shows off Coral Solid on its bodywork and Aero Cowling, made pristine by seven coats of paint and more than nine hours of hand polishing. The interior gets Arctic White and Sunset leather, evoking the "blooming northern California hills and valleys." Every one of the Black Badge Commissions will feature a "Pebble Beach 2019" treadplate, and the hardtops all get Black Badge Starlight Headliners. Anyone who is keen to put money down has one more day to get to Monterey.

Living Life Large: Driving $2 million worth of cars in one week

Monterey Car Week has quickly become one of my favorite events of the year. There's something for everyone – classic car shows, modern concepts and new vehicle debuts, auctions, racing, and so much more. From a media perspective, there's also a chance to drive a ton of cars. Many automakers bring their latest wares out to Monterey for us to test during our limited free time, and it's a great opportunity to experience fantastic metal against a gorgeous backdrop. That's exactly what I did this year. Instead of flying into Monterey and being driven around, my journey started in Los Angeles and ended in Napa, and I managed to get behind the wheel of some $2 million worth of new cars. Some were old favorites, and many were new experiences. But looking back, this was one of the best weeks of driving I've had in years. Rather than try to come up with some common arc to tie these cars together, here are my notes on all the cars I tested in California earlier this month, presented in the order in which they were driven. 2016 Mazda CX-3 The CX-3 pictured here isn't the exact one I drove in California, but it's close. The only difference was color – my delivered-to-LAX tester wore Mazda's awesome new Ceramic hue (pictured below on the MX-5 Miata). I used the CX-3 to slum through crummy Los Angeles traffic for two hours on the way out to Santa Barbara, with a quick stop at In-N-Out Burger on the way for good measure. A lot nicer inside than I remember. Everyone praises Mazda for its excellence in engineering and design, but there's a lot to be said for the improvements in overall interior refinement. Quiet, comfortable, and well-equipped; the CX-3 made sitting on the 405 freeway a lot more pleasant. Not all that functional. I had a hard time fitting a week's worth of luggage for two people inside. The cargo area and rear passenger compartment were filled, with only enough room on top to see out the back window. A Honda HR-V would've swallowed all that luggage with plenty of room for more. So good to drive. Not surprising, since this wasn't my first time in the CX-3. I knew this CUV would be good on twisty roads, but on the highway it's really exceptional. Road and wind noise are minimal and the overall ride quality is a comfortable sort of sporty. This is definitely something I could drive every day – it's enjoyable during commuting and entertaining on more interesting roads.