Rolls-Royce has released the first official images showing Dawn Silver Bullet in its natural habitat – on the open road, as the first of the client commissioned Collection Cars roll off the production line at the Global Centre of Luxury Manufacturing Excellence, in Goodwood, West Sussex.

Photographed on the shores of Lake Garda, a series of in-motion and drone shots capture Dawn Silver Bullet in locations including mountain hairpins and corniche roads. The new photographic portfolio also includes static images, taken in the open air, highlighting the car’s charismatic expression.

Under the Italian sun, Dawn Silver Bullet lives up to its name, travelling with speed and precision. Its ultra-metallic Brewster Silver Paint is a vibrant nod to the epic trials cars of the past, such as the Silver Dawn, Silver King, Silver Silence and Silver Spectre.

The four-seat Rolls-Royce Drophead is transformed into an adaptable two-seat roadster, by the addition of a rakish Aero Cowling with vapour-blasted titanium finisher, heightening the Collection’s sense of speed and purpose.

Launched in 2020, Dawn Silver Bullet is a contemporary interpretation of the classic roadster spirit and driving experience, offering committed drivers a sublime blend of serenity and sophistication with an exhilarating sense of uncompromised freedom.

Dawn Silver Bullet is strictly limited to just 50 examples worldwide.

TVS Motor Company has introduced a new colour for TVS NTORQ 125 Race Edition – Yellow and Black. The Race Edition is currently available in Red & Black colour.

The TVS NTORQ 125 Race Edition Yellow & Black comes with race tuned fuel injection (RT-Fi) technology boasting of better real throttle feel. Launched in 2019, the TVS NTORQ 125 Race Edition (Red & Black) received an overwhelming response from the target audience – Gen Z.

The TVS NTORQ 125 Race Edition comes with signature LED DRLs and LED headlamp. Additionally, it is equipped with the hazard lamp which can be enabled by a red-coloured hazard switch. The vibrant chequered flag graphics along with the ‘Race Edition’ emblem on the scooter accentuates the TVS Racing pedigree. The scooter comes in a splendid three tone combination of matte black, metallic black and metallic yellow colour.

TVS NTORQ 125, India’s first Bluetooth connected scooter, stands for performance, style and technology. The scooter is paired to an exclusive application – TVS Connect and the race edition users can access special race inspired User Interface. The two-wheeler comes with 124.8 cc engine which churns out maximum power of 9.3 PS at 7000 rpm and maximum torque of 10.5 Nm at 5500 rpm

TVS NTORQ 125 Race Edition Yellow & Black is priced at INR 74,365 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Tyre manufacturer Continental is bringing its range of Generation 6 tyres for passenger vehicles to India. The UltraContact UC6 and ComfortContact CC6 range of tyres are designed to cope with challenging road conditions found across the country.

Continental has developed the Generation 6 products by conducting extensive tests to deliver the premium product quality that the company represents. UltraContact UC6 and ComfortContact CC6 have been designed based on an in-depth understanding of the needs and driving habits of the Indian consumer. Both the range of tyres are aimed to provide higher safety, low noise levels, higher mileage, robust sidewalls, improved fuel efficiency, and greater comfort.

Claude d’Gama Rose, Head of Tyres Business, Continental India, speaking on the product, said, “Continental has a rich legacy as a premium tyre manufacturer. Our flagship range, the UltraContact UC6, and the ComfortContact CC6 are trusted by our customers worldwide for its high performance, safety, better mileage, and comfort features. With the entry of Generation 6 tyres in India, our offering in the passenger vehicle segment is well established. It gives our customers the choice to upgrade to the premium product in the market”.

The tyres will be produced at Continental’s Modipuram plant. Adding his views on Continental’s localisation strategy, Claude d’Gama Rose said, “We have a strong focus for localization of our products in India. Our philosophy “in the market, for the market”, complements the entire manufacturing value chain, enabling us to bring German technology for the local market”.

BMW Group India launched the new BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo ‘Shadow Edition’ today. Locally produced at the BMW Plant Chennai, the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo ‘Shadow Edition’ is available in petrol variant at all BMW dealerships across India from today onwards.

Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India said, “The BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo is a unique vehicle concept in the segment and has become a trailblazer with its distinctive and modern character. The new ‘Shadow Edition’ is an amalgamation of luxurious elegance and sportiness in even more sophisticated form. Available in limited units, the ‘Shadow Edition’ offers our discerning customer one last opportunity to own this legendary icon of the successful model. It combines the best of both worlds – an embodiment of pure dynamism and a sense of spaciousness. Its emotional appeal and pronounced driving pleasure is designed to offer sheer driving pleasure.”

The BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo ‘Shadow Edition’ will be available in M Sport design scheme and at a special ex-showroom price of INR 42,50,000.

The BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo Shadow Edition is available in Alpine White, Melbourne Red Metallic, Black Sapphire Metallic and Estoril Blue Metallic paintworks. The upholstery is available in a choice of Sensatec Black/Red highlight | Black and Sensatec Veneto Beige | Veneto Beige.

The BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo ‘Shadow Edition’ with M Sport impresses with its sporty and elegant design. The striking lines, muscular surfaces and discreet design elements made of black high-gloss unit bring exclusivity to the exterior and are characteristic of the vehicle. The boldly designed kidney grille with nine slats in high-gloss black produce an especially athletic effect for the front end. The dark shadow elements further extend to the LED headlights and taillights. The 18-inch star-spoke alloy wheels in jet black along with exhaust tailpipe in black chrome further enhance its distinctive looks.

The interior of the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo ‘Shadow Edition’ is designed to create an exclusive experience. The aluminium door sill plates, key with M logo, M sports leather steering wheel, mood-lifting colours of ambient lighting and chrome edging of air vents all catch the eye. The driver-oriented BMW cockpit offers easy access to all controls. The raised seating position and generous space allow freedom of movement. The Panorama Glass Roof fills up the cabin with natural light and brings in a sense of spaciousness. The model comes equipped with universal wireless charging as a complimentary accessory.

The petrol-powered engine from the BMW EfficientDynamics family offer considerably more spirited power delivery as well as spontaneous responsiveness even at low engine speeds, thanks to BMW TwinPower Turbo Technology. The two- litre four-cylinder petrol engine of BMW 330i Gran Turismo ‘Shadow Edition’ produces an output of 251 PS (252 hp) and maximum torque of 350 Nm at 1,450 – 4,800 rpm. The car accelerates from 0 -100 kmph in just 6.1 seconds.

The eight-speed Steptronic Sport automatic transmission performs smooth gear shifts. At any time, in any gear, the transmission collaborates perfectly with the engine, enabling it to develop its full power and efficiency. For even greater driving pleasure, the eight-speed Steptronic transmission is available with steering wheel paddle shifters.

The BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo ‘Shadow Edition’ boasts of performance coupled with safety. BMW’s safety features provides optimal support in any situation with six air bags, Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) with brake assist, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) including Dynamic Traction Control (DTC), Cornering Brake Control (CBC), side-impact protection, run-flat tyres with reinforced sidewalls, emergency spare wheel, electronic vehicle immobiliser, a fully automated and chargeable key and a crash sensor.

The BMW ConnectedDrive features BMW iDrive (the on-board Driver Information system) with 22.3 cms display, touch functionality based BMW Navigation system Professional with 3D maps (integrated Global Positioning System-GPS), BMW Apps, Park Distance Control (PDC), Rear View Camera, Apple CarPlay, Connectivity through Bluetooth and USB/AUX IN connectivity.

Adding to the joy of the upcoming festive season, Ford India expanded its Ford Freestyle model lineup with the edition of a new, top-of-the-line variant, Freestyle Flair.

The new Freestyle Flair is available at an introductory price of INR 7,69,000 for petrol variant while at INR 8,79,000 for the diesel engine powered variant.

“Ford Freestyle has been a benchmark compact utility vehicle, thanks to its affable design, value-for-money credentials and outstanding fun-to-drive capabilities,” said Vinay Raina, Executive Director, Marketing, Sales & Service at Ford India. “The trendy new Freestyle Flair takes it a notch up & promises to give UV intenders a cool looking vehicle to drive home during the upcoming festive season.”

The trendy new Freestyle Flair flaunts sporty red and black theme across exteriors and interiors to up the cool quotient. The smart theme builds on Ford Freestyle’s youthful exuberance.

The doors of the new top-of-the-line variant will be adorned with an especially designed, prominent Flair badge, housed in all-around black and red graphics.

The attractive black and red theme will continue across the exterior surfaces, including – a black-painted roof with red roof rails, black and red ORVMs, all-new black alloys and a black skid plates with smart red-painted insets on the front bumper.

Interiors of the Freestyle Flair sport an all-new black and grey upholstery that’s inviting and add to a sense of space inside the cabin. The red and black theme continues in the cabin with contrasting red accents on black door handles. The seats too will feature the smart Flair badge.

Ford Freestyle Flair will be available with Bharat Stage VI compliant petrol and diesel engines. The three-cylinder 1.2L TiVCT petrol engine on the Freestyle generates 96 PS of peak power, 120 Nm of torque, while Ford’s 1.5L TDCi engine delivers 100 PS peak power and 215 Nm of torque. Both engines will be mated to a five-speed manual transmission.

Ford Freestyle Flair comes equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen-based infotainment system with embedded satellite navigation, automatic headlamps, automatic wipers, reverse parking camera, remote central locking, automatic air-conditioner and more.

Featuring enhanced connectivity, Freestyle Flair also offers Ford’s mobility solution FordPass, a one-stop smartphone app meeting diverse ownership needs, at no additional cost. With a factory-fitted cloud-connected device, owners will be able to perform several vehicle operations – such as check vehicle health, know remaining fuel levels and distance to empty in real-time via the FordPass app.

Freestyle will continue to make safety it’s top-priority with innovative and first-in-class intelligent Active Rollover Prevention (ARP), a technology that works with Electronic Stability Control and applies brakes on relevant wheels to decrease engine torque to help prevent any potential rollover situations. It will offer six airbags for all-around protection of driver and occupants.

Ford is also introducing its partnership with JioSaavn, music streaming platform. All customers who’ll book any variant of the Ford Freestyle before February 2021 will get a one-year premium subscription to ad-free music on JioSaavn. The music streaming app will also host exclusive Ford Freestyle playlists, featuring songs for every mood and journey.

Freestyle Flair will be available in three colours – White Gold, Diamond White and Smoke Grey.

It is now easier to buy an XC40 T4 R-Design as Volvo Car India has introduced ‘Hassle-Free Offer’ on the luxury SUV. Volvo XC40 is available at an ex-showroom price of Rs 39.90 lakh, but under ‘Hassle-Free Offer’ customers can buy the car at a special offer price of Rs. 36.90 lakh and receive complimentary accessories worth Rs 1 lakh as well.

With this offer, Volvo Car India is augmenting the buying experience of customers as they can simply walk into their nearest showroom and buy the car without the feeling of missing out on a better offer at another showroom of the company. The offer provides freedom to customers from the hassles of a complex buying process and makes it completely transparent for customers as well as dealers.

The offer marks the spirit of India’s freedom, as it gives freedom from hassles to customers. India celebrated 74th Independence Day on August 15.

“We want to create an ecosystem where our customers can focus on technology and comfort features of XC40 without worrying about the price. Hassle-Free Offer does that seamlessly by smoothing out their buying experience,” says Charles Frump, Managing Director – Volvo Car India.

Jaguar Classic will create six matched pairs of E-types to celebrate the iconic sports car’s 60th anniversary in 2021.

Each pair of E-type 60 Edition cars pay tribute to two of the oldest and most famous Jaguar E-types of all: ‘9600 HP’ and ‘77 RW’, which played pivotal roles in the unveiling of the car at its world debut in Geneva, Switzerland in March 1961.

An Opalescent Gunmetal Grey 3.8 l Fixed-Head Coupe registered ‘9600 HP’ was one of the first two E-types unveiled to specially-invited guests at the Parc des Eaux Vives. Driven ‘flat out’ to Switzerland from Coventry the night before the launch, public relations manager Bob Berry arrived with minutes to spare for demonstration drives.

With an outstanding reaction to the E-type resulting in overwhelming demand for drives with Berry, legendary Jaguar Test and Development Engineer Norman Dewis was told to ‘drop everything’ and drive a British Racing Green 3.8 l roadster registered ‘77 RW’ overnight from Coventry to Geneva.

Both cars were also used for media road tests, which proved the car’s sensational performance – including its 241.4 kmph (150 mph) top speed – matched its jet aircraft-inspired lines honed in a wind tunnel by aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer.

Every E-type 60 Edition built by the team at Jaguar’s Classic Works facility in Warwickshire will be an existing 1960s 3.8 l E-type fully-restored to exclusive 60th anniversary tribute specification.

Each E-type 60 Collection pair will include one Flat Out Grey ‘9600 HP’ coupe and one Drop Everything Green ‘77 RW’ roadster, with unique paint formulations exclusively reserved for these cars. Each E-type 60 Edition will feature a number of 60th anniversary commemorative design details created in conjunction with Jaguar Design Director Julian Thomson.

Synonymous with the revolutionary zeitgeist of the Swinging Sixties, E-types were owned by celebrities including Steve McQueen, Brigitte Bardot, Frank Sinatra, George Harrison, Tony Curtis and Britt Ekland. And, thanks to the beauty of its sculptural forms, its functionality and its impact on design, an E-type became only the third car to join The Museum of Modern Art’s design collection in 1996.

Dan Pink, Director of Jaguar Classic, said: “The Jaguar E-type is a genuine icon, as sensational today as the moment it was unveiled in 1961. It’s testament to the E-type’s advanced design and engineering that it can still be enjoyed and admired as passionately almost 60 years on.

“The E-type 60 Collection is a lasting tribute for E-type admirers, honouring the car’s legacy and the achievements of the team that created it – many of whom have descendants working for Jaguar Classic today, expertly restoring, maintaining and future-proofing enjoyment for generations to come.”

Nissan India today released the interior images of the Nissan Magnite concept after the global unveil last month, highlighting the dashboard and the cabin space.

Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India, said, “The Nissan Magnite concept is an evolutionary leap in Nissan’s SUV history. Not only the exterior, but also the interiors exude premium-ness, sophistication and roominess. These core elements of design philosophy will be succeeded to the production model which is under development, coupled with superior technology on-board to be a game-changer in its segment.”

Building on Nissan’s SUV heritage and advanced technology, the Nissan Magnite concept is designed for tomorrow’s journey as a premium offering with stylish design. It reflects the lifestyle of the customer with its strong presence inside out.

Established in 2012 to bring together the world’s rarest cars, the Concours of Elegance 2020 is once again set to gather the finest line-up of vehicles on display in the UK this year. Cars continue to join the event by the day, with the latest new extraordinary additions so rare that it’s unlikely they’ll ever have been seen together before in the UK.

Acclaimed in 2019 as the Motoring Spectacle of the Year, the 2020 Concours of Elegance on 4-6 September will gather more than 1,000 cars in the beautiful gardens of Hampton Court Palace. However, at its heart is a collection of around 60 of the rarest, most beautiful and most innovative cars ever built. So fierce is the competition for a space in this line-up, that cars must be hand-picked by a committee of global motoring experts.

These are just the latest additions to that line-up:

Porsche 356 America Roadster
This isn’t technically a Speedster, but the Type 540 –known more commonly as the America Roadster–started the idea. The air-cooled, 1.5-litre flat-four produces 70 horsepower, which may not sound like much until you realize that in 1953 the regular 356 produced just 40. Not to be confused with the 356 Speedster—that came later and cost two-thirds the price—America Roadsters weren’t a commercial success. U.S. importer Max Hoffman convinced Porsche it needed a lightweight convertible to compete with the best from Jaguar. But the production methods used to create the America Roadster’s aluminium body proved to be too expensive, and in 1952 Porsche built only 17 units before its discontinuation in 1953.

Ferrari Dino 206 SP
As is well known, Ferrari was challenged by Ford at Le Mans in the mid-’60s and responded with a series of Sports Prototypes; the 330P-series. Early in February of 1966 Ferrari introduced the 4-litre 330P3 to the press in Maranello, alongside the smaller all-new Dino 206 SP. It was Ferrari’s intention to build 50 of these smaller V6 cars to qualify them for homologation as two-litre Group 4 sports cars. For various reasons that never happened and only 17 of these cars were created, including this example here, which raced at the 1000km of Nurburgring and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Aston Martin Cloverleaf
The chassis no. 1926 produced in 1923 is one of the oldest road-going production Aston Martin models in existence. Only 57 ‘Bamford and Martin’ Aston Martins were made in total and it’s estimated that fewer than 16 examples still exist around the world, in one form or another. Lionel Martin’s own Cloverleaf was scrapped in the 1930s. This machine is almost identical to Lionel Martin’s own Cloverleaf and took 2nd place at Aston Hill in1924. XR1981was competitively driven until the end of the 1960s, in the course of which it won the prestigious St John Horsfall Trophy race at Silverstone in 1969. It then languished in the family garage, unused for nearly 40 years, before undergoing a five-year restoration that brought the car to its current condition.

Facel Vega Facel II
Founded by Jean Daninos in 1939, Forges et Ateliers de Construction d’Eure-et-Loir (FACEL) specialised in the construction of aircraft components and metal furniture, before turning its hand to luxury cars like the Facel II. Powered by a 355-horsepower Chrysler V-8, the four-passenger Facel II was not only one of the fastest cars, but also one of the fastest accelerating – in fact it was quicker from 0-60mph than the Aston Martin DB4 and Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, while also boasting Rolls-Royce-like comfort. This example was the original press car, one-of-three right-hand-drive manual examples and has covered just 20,000 miles since new.

Presented by A. Lange & Söhne, the Concours of Elegance is one of the global top three concours events and attracts many of the world’s most eminent car collectors together with their astonishingly rare, beautiful and valuable machines. The cars are displayed in the open air amid the ancient trees and manicured lawns of the Royal palace’s 60-acre Fountain Gardens, guaranteeing visitors plenty of space to view the exhibits in the safest and most enjoyable way possible.

As well as its main line-up of cars the 2020 Concours of Elegance will include unique coachbuilt Alfa Romeos, priceless pre-war Rolls-Royces, the McLaren F1 GTRs that finished 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 13th at Le Mans 24 Hours 25 years ago, a display of future classics and a new Junior Concours celebrating the best of half-scale cars. In total, nearly 1,000 cars will be on display over the course of the weekend.

Bridgestone is collaborating with Microsoft to develop a world-first monitoring system for detecting tyre damage issues in real-time. These issues are a serious matter, contributing to some 30 per cent of all car accidents caused by technical failure.

Tyre issues take four main forms: inadequate pressure, fatigue, irregular wear, and lastly, damage from curbs, potholes, or items on the road.

Fortunately, most of these issues can already be reliably mitigated against. TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring systems) have been mandatory in all cars built since 2012 in most parts of the world, and help motorists avoid low-pressure problems. Regular service and replacing tyres in time will guard against wear and fatigue.

The exception, and safety gap, has been tyre damage – which often cannot be detected without close, manual inspection, and which can potentially occur at any time. Damaged tyres can lead to accidents. They can also adversely affect other vehicle components, such as causing damage to the wheels, and thus create a further source of potential danger to motorists.

Now that gap can be closed. Bridgestone’s Tyre Damage Monitoring System delivers real-time awareness of damage. It uses MCVP’s cloud framework together with existing sensor data, from hardware that is already installed, and uses algorithms to detect events affecting the tyre surface and carcass. The driver can then be immediately notified of the hazard and act accordingly to remedy the situation. There is currently no other equivalent monitoring system available in the market. Alternatives would require extra hardware to be installed.

This tyre damage monitoring system has other valuable applications. The system not only understands when damage has occurred, but also where. It thus allows broader insight into road conditions and infrastructure, which can be used to alert the agencies responsible for road damage issues to the presence and location of potholes and other hazards. Future autonomous vehicles could also be beneficiaries of the system – as vehicles pass information about local hazards to others in the vicinity, as well as cloud data stores.

Currently, Bridgestone’s new Tyre Damage Monitoring System is available to all vehicle fleets and OEM’s that use MCVP. The partnership with Microsoft also enables Bridgestone to further develop its solution to meet the requirements of fleets and key OEM partners around the world.

MCVP provides one consistent, cloud-connected, horizontal platform across digital scenarios on top of which customer-facing solutions can be built, including in-vehicle infotainment, advanced navigation, autonomous driving, telematics and prediction services, as well as over-the-air updates (OTA). It includes the enterprise-grade global availability and scale that comes with Microsoft Azure.

MCVP will provide Bridgestone with a digital infrastructure that will accelerate its delivery of connected mobility solutions, providing access to a multitude of Microsoft Azure cloud, AI, and IoT capabilities.

In turn, working with Bridgestone helps Microsoft grow its ecosystem of supporting partners, and enables MCVP’s customers to integrate these partner’s solutions into their own offerings.

Laurent Dartoux, CEO and President of Bridgestone EMIA, says: “Digital is such a huge part of what we do today at Bridgestone; it’s imperative that we work with industry-leading partners who can support our needs today and in the future. By teaming up with Microsoft, we have the opportunity to bring our Tyre Damage Monitoring System to millions of drivers, offering them better safety and peace of mind.”

“Microsoft partners with mobility companies to support their transformation into smart mobility services providers. With the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform, our mission is to help businesses accelerate the delivery of safe and personalized connected mobility experiences. Using MCVP, Bridgestone has created Tyre Damage Monitoring System that offers a remarkable contribution to road safety and proves how the collaboration between industry leaders can unlock new business opportunities ahead”, said Tara Prakriya, General Manager, Azure Mobility, and Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform at Microsoft.

On this global partnership, Bridgestone India Managing Director, Parag Satpute said, “This tie-up gives Bridgestone India the opportunity to bring state of the art and pioneering technology in mobility solutions to India. This partnership will allow Bridgestone India to further collaborate with our OE partners and provide a higher degree of safety to our consumers. For our Fleet partners in India, the incorporation of this advanced offering means higher safety and better utilization of resources.’’