the 2011 bentley mulsanne: not that impressive after all

the beautiful lines that fail to exist outside of a lit studioa V8 engine that thinks like a V4. bravo!
the vintage beauty next to the muslanne is the original 8-liter that was first shown at the 1930 london motor show. a total of 100 cars were built in 1930 and 1931. it was capable of reaching more than 100 mph, which was surpassing every other manufacturer of the day.

now about the the grandson… at almost $300,000 the mulsanne comes with beautiful lines that fail to exist outside of a lit studio, and safety-first high-rise doors that ruin the lines of any car. it also includes a tail that is not worthy of showing, and an interior that is just as disappointing inside you will find a horrible digital screen that sits dead center on the dash, immediately killing any illusions of romanticism and the over-crowded cabin and its over-use of leather and wood make it to be the perfect candidate for the man who has everything in this world… but class.

all that said there are no new cars that are even worth reviewing short of the R8, the original boxter, or the first relaunch of the bug. so the muslanne must have something! and it does.

the nose with its distinctive over-sized lights could have won the prize had it not been ruined by all the “jeweled LED” trickery, but that said its still a nose of a noble man, despite the zits.

the other nice part is that the the new bently’s comes with a revised version of the automaker’s 6.75-liter v-8 engine, which has been updated with “cam-phasing and variable displacement technologies”, which translates into a ‘power-on-demand’ system that simply closes the valves of four of the eight cylinders to maximize fuel economy and reduce the mammoth co2 output by such a large and heavy car (5,700 pounds which is almost 3 tons… all to move one single, fat, rich, oily, man). it’s still far from a green car but an “A” for efforts is in order. by dd

a toyota worthy of the emperor of japan

the toyota century royal limousine is the official car of the emperor, while the prime minister zips around tokyo in a corolla

first off lets clarify what an emperor is. it’s not a king, so what is it? an emperor (male) is the ruler of an empire, where a king simply rules a kingdom. the kingdom could be a part of an empire. for example that settles the question about the various kings today who function under one empire, which is the US. the emperor traditionally may be seen as god on earth by his empire, when that fails there’s always religion to massage the masses. an emperor has maximum powers at his command and rules do not apply to him. this makes being a king of kings seem rather pedestrian, doesn’t it? today the emperor of japan is the only remaining emperor (on paper) in the world. but other empires have emerged under suspiciously “cuddly” names… and they don’t drive toyota’s either. by xy

Citroen SM


why are cars so ugly today? it seems there are no designers left with a sense of proportion. or is it that the practicalities of life have taken precedent over a sense of vision. extra head room, extra truck space and super size seats to accomodate the worlds ‘growing’ population. well, happy birthday citroen SM, it just turned 40. by fe

phantom of the opera: rolls royce coupe


ok i know how lame it is to post fancy cars on such a boho blog. but cars are so ugly these days, that when you see one, that is ok it’s worth a look. love the trunk, sorry i mean the boot, and the half suicide doors. by dd

maserati pin

not bad! minus the horrible blue neon headlight atleast here’s one ‘new’ sports car worth its weight. it’s unfortunate they cant redesign the clientele drawn to such cars. by xy

bently hearts royal college of art




students in the vehicle design masters course at london’s royal college of art collaborated with bentley in a competition to design a new bentley coupe that explores aerodynamic innovations while maintaining the brand essence. called the aero-ace project, the winner will be invited to refine their design with bentley’s head of exterior design, raul pires, and join the brand’s design studio on a six month secondment. this seems to be an efficient fusion of want and need with new creatives joining the increasingly competitive workforce… enjoy some of the finalist concepts. by kl

the honda EV-N concept: micro car fulled by solar roof and battery powered electric motor

looks like honda did a better version of the Cinquecento than fiat did itself

this car is so cute it could only come from japan!solar roof deck keeps the battery charged.
there is also a unicycle included that store in the door. no coordination required.

i’m buying one of these the day it comes out, and i highly recommend throwing away that SUV and getting one of these as well. next thing to do… buy some stocks in honda. by mj

2009 piaggio ape calessino




nothing to see with nigo’s “bathing ape” but none the less desirable. here is the new re-release of piaggio classic ape calessino. unfortunately for us dolce vita lovers, this is priced at 9150 euros which is not currently an option regarding the dollar/euro exchange rate!
electric version also available for an even less affordable price.
how about taking a loan to carry all tomorrow started crew at the next mark’s show? by pp’

Aston Martin AMV10 Concept: Sabino Design


here is the possible future look of aston martin… not bad, but there was a goofy thing about the bulky design of the old astons that i just loved. it made them look like a goofy guy that all the girls have a crush and that’s only cool. by vm

1976 ROLLS ROYCE CORNICHE COUPE


mark my words… one day i will move to california, buy one, fix it up, and lick it’s wooden dash every saturday morning before driving it to nowhere fast on PCH. i just hope i’m not 90 years old by then. why? well… one, ’cause that would suck, but more importantly ’cause you can’t drive this baby if you are past 36 years old or it ‘aint that cool. by dd

1961 the 250 GTO


1961 – the ferrari 250 GTO. almost as nice as raquel’s thoroughbred Arabian horse. now it doesn’t take too long to figure out that the most desired ferrari turns out to also be the most expensive. in the early 1990s, when prices for rare and classic cars were at a fevered pitch, a specimen sold for $15,000,000. now that “sanity” has returned to the market, a GTO was recently bid to just under $8million at an auction and went unsold!

part of the lure of the GTO is its exclusivity; only 39 were built. in theory at least 100 should have been built, as this was the number required to qualify the car at the time for international sports car racing. In fact the letters “GTO” stand for “gran turismo omologato” which translates into “your mother wears pajamas” or ore likely “grand touring homologated” or “approval” for racing. it was either enzo ferrari’s name, his inscrutable charm, or the head of raquel zimmermann’s horse, that enabled the rule makers to let the technicality slip by.

the price for a new GTO at the time of launch was about $23,000 (now go buy some more stock) which may seem ludicrous now but was a lot in 1962; so much that it probably was the limiting factor when it came to production quantity. by dd