InsideLux – The Luxury News Authority

Without a concrete date set, CEO Wolfgang Duerheimer of German luxury car maker, Bentley, confirmed rumors of an SUV in the making. This new development comes as no surprise with the existing competitive luxury SUV market. With BMW, Lexus, Range Rover, Audi, and Mercedes all optioning luxury SUVs, it was only a matter of time before Bentley joined the ranks. The future Porsche  Cayenne will mirror the Bentley SUV sprouting the latest in auto-technology, but to prevent rivalry, Bentley will jump up a price point, adding more of a luxury feel, rather than sport utility.

Not much is known about the buyer-other than his serial luxury vehicle buying- this installment puts his collection in around the 200s. To make this Bugatti L’Or Blanc extra special, the luxury carmaker went outside the box and enlisted the services of KPM, a German porcelain producer to create custom décor for the car’s exterior. The white shell and royal blue lined body is ornamented with porcelain fuel caps, wheel badges and oil caps.

Stefan Brungs, Chief of sales at Bugatti, says “Installing porcelain in the world’s fastest convertible car seems like a pretty odd idea… but Bugatti has made a name for itself by not shying away from the extravagant ideas.” Doing so has obviously paid off, considering that pre- L’Or Blanc, the Bugatti 300 Veyron 16.4s was the world’s most expensive car, priced at $1.74 million.

With a wide range price tag between $79,990 and $104,490, Range Rover’s new Evoque allows customers to mold their vehicles to their exact specifications. Complete with an array of options, consumers can tack on between an extra $5,750 and $9,260 on everything from body styles and engine capabilities, to wheel designs and glass roofs.

Available in two and four-wheel drive versions, three and five door body styles, and petrol or diesel engine capabilities, Range Rover wanted to allot their patrons the same environmental friendly capabilities as a common coupe.  Director of programs at parent company, Land Rover, Murry Dietsch said, “We have combined state-of-the-art powertrains with a lightweight body shell and a range of low-carbon technologies to deliver fuel efficiency, which is outstanding for a premium SUV.” Similar to Ford’s Ecoboost, the Evoque houses two turbocharged diesels and a petrol unit (in manual or automatic) which produces 110kW or 140kW, reaching up to 400NM of torque.

Not only is the newest Range Rover within the environmental guidelines, but they stuck to their luxury reputation and included an extraordinary amount of comfort and entertainment possibilities. The three main design themes, Pure, Dynamic and Prestige, all include different accessories, styling and equipment packs. 16 different interiors, seven alloy wheel designs, a panoramic glass roof and several stereo and video packages are naming just a few customizations that leave Evoque’s styling with endless possibilities.

Priced at $1.1 million, this is one concept car that InsideLux can reveal will be on the Jaguar showroom floor in 2013.  Much like the Mercedes McLaren partnership, Jaguar has followed suit with a partnership with Formula 1 maker Williams who will provide the chassis and a hybrid system. Jaguar has announced an impressive 0-60 m/p/h in under 3 seconds with a top speed of 200 miles per hour.

Vaca Limousines, located in Guadalajara, Mexico, innovates new limousines from used ‘lesser value’ car parts. Turning ordinary into extraordinary, the shop takes body parts from vehicles like Fords, and crafts them into something like a Hummer limo.

Owner Martin Vaca has earned his fame through the six-month endeavor of taking the body of a jet and converting it to a drivable limo. First sliming the body to fit through the city streets, Vaca then added the engine of a Mercedes Bus, allotting a top speed of 150kmH.

The party airplane is equipped with a bar, big screen TV, lounge room, sound system, dance floor and room for 50 guests. Renting out at around $1,000 a night, the $6,000 airplane body purchase has more than paid for itself.

First presented at the 2009 World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, Antonia Terzi’s Superbus has since evolved from an eco-friendly and convenient idea, to a fully manifested electric superbus. Antonia, formerly the chief aerodynamicist at the BMW Williams Formula One team received a 7 million pound (11,409,510 USD) grant to create the sleek shuttle bus destined to run between Abu Dhabi and Dubai in only 30 minutes. Funds gathered from several major optimistic backers such as, the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), the Dutch government and US chemicals giant, Dow, were put to use in the making of the first Superbus prototype.

Teamed up with Antonia is Professor Wubbo Ockles, (known for being the first Dutch citizen sent into space), of Delft University of Technology in Holland, where the actual construction has taken place. Combining the nearly unfathomable top speed, optimized routing system and custom Superbus track, has allowed a cut of on-road travel between the two major cities from approximately 90-120 minutes to just 30 minutes. Made of ultra-light materials like aluminum, carbon fiber, fiberglass and polycarbonate, the 23 passenger, 16 door, completely electric vehicle weighs in at only 9,500kg (10.5 tons) and reaches a top speed of 250 kph (155.5mpH).

Not only is the revolutionary superbus eco-friendly and super quick, but the jet blue color, aerodynamic design and opulent interior make bus riding a new form of luxury transportation.

Negotiations with Dubai transportation officials are still underway, though, the RTA director of marketing and corporate communication, Peyman Younes Parham acknowledges the brilliance of the Superbus and comments, “I’m pretty sure there will be more discussion about this.”

Famed UK publisher Kraken Opus has announced a forthcoming book on Ferrari called the Magnum Opus.

The book will have text contributed by the world’s finest automotive writers and interviewers accompanied by hundreds of rare and previously unpublished archival images, including unseen pictures of Enzo Ferrari‘s villa and action inside Formula One racing pits as well as specially commissioned photographs and illustrations.

Each Magnum Opus book will be individually hand-bound and designed to stand the test of time and increase in value. The book will be limited to 399 copies, will be signed by all living Ferrari champion racing drivers and cost $40,000.

Not everyone knows Tag Heuer as an eyewear maker but as it turns out, they have quite an extensive eyewear range and recently it added this Squadra Night Vision optics and Purple Temples Glasses to its collection.

Both collections are engineered to enhance contrast at night, reduce eye fatigue and increase the ability to make out all those important details after dusk.

The one-piece lend is fitted with titanium arms, elastomer and soft rubber ; it is firm enough to hold your head and flexible enough to fit under helmets. The Sqaudra glasses were worn by the Audi drivers who won Le Mans this year. The Squadra Night Vision Optics is available in two shapes and is priced at $450.

The second collection by Tag Heuer is the Purple Temples; the collection comes in Zenith Rimless Curve, Zenith Rimless Curve Glamour and Squadra. Prices range from $330 to $350.

As a follow up to January’s electric sports and racing motorcycles  Roehr Motorcycles LLC unveiled its eRoehr series of electric sport bikes which includes the fastest production electric motorcycle currently available.

The new eRoehr models include the entry-level eSuperSport, the eSuperBike and the race ready eSuperBike RR.  The eSuperSport has the lowest-spec with a 48hp motor, 395lb weight, dual 300mm brake discs up front, 41mm inverted forks and 5.8Kw/h worth of batteries good for 80 miles of range and 100mph top speed. Step it up to the eSuperBike and you get two of the same motors for a combined power of 96hp but a total weight of 500lbs. Also, the rear shock gets boosted to an Ohlins unit and 7.7Kw/h worth of batteries good for 100 miles of range and 135mph top speed. Finally there’s the RR model which moves up to Ohlins suspension on the front as well as have lovely lightweight wheels.

Prices start from $16,995, with the eSuperBike costing $27,595 and the RR model going way up to $34,495.

Place your order now and one will be custom-built for you with your choice of colors.

The Life Ball, Europe’s biggest AIDS charity event has outdone its efforts to raise money this year. The event which usually auctions off one ‘Life Ball Mini’ unveiled three ‘Life Ball Minis’ created by three fashion designers.

Last week the three designers Francisco Costa, Diane von Furstenberg and Kenneth Cole unveiled their creations at Vienna’s City Hall Square; Kenneth Cole startled the crowd with his silver MINI Convertible that had shimmering interiors done with Swarovski crystals, Francisco Costa presented his MINI Countryman in matt black paintwork with a reflective logo on each of the front doors and tinted windows and Diane von Furstenberg turned heads with her bright red MINI featuring numerous colorful lips and pearl white touch wheels, mirrors and roof.

Francisco Costa’s The Life Ball 2010 MINI was auctioned off for 40,000 Euros during the amfAR Gala in Vienna, the other two will be auctioned off at forthcoming amfAR events.