Bentley by Lunaz remasters every surface, creating an interior that feels both timeless and contemporary

There’s nothing like a 1960s Bentley for grandeur and prestige. Now a UK company, Lunaz, is hand-crafting a contemporary electrically powered version with all the appealing parts, and none of the drawbacks

If you think there is something special – a kind of aura – about the most luxurious cars from a few decades back, we think you would be correct. The reason? This was an era in which there was far less wealth in the world. China, Russia, and many of the world’s current wealthiest territories were not buying luxury goods. As a result, there were fewer luxury creations altogether, and those that were, may feel that they were much more rarefied, even when experienced now.

Lunaz reconstitutes the Bentley interior, elevating the comfort and luxury by integrating modern features, including air conditioning, heated seats, and a touchscreen infotainment system

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An excellent example is the Bentley Continental S2, which was produced  in the early 1960s. Climbing into it felt like putting on a bespoke suit intimately and painstakingly made for you, rather than anything remotely mass produced. But there are some disadvantages to cars from that era; notably, the amenities, reliability, archaic performance and polluting nature.

Bentley by Lunaz offers the glamour of the vintage experience without the archaic performance

But we were driving the best of both worlds. A contemporary of JFK would recognise a Bentley by Lunaz instantly, but the interior and also the mechanicals have been carefully re-crafted and remade for the 21st century.

Read more: Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina Review

It’s electrically powered for a start, giving it a smooth and clean burst of energy you would never have had with the original. Key elements like the brakes and the lights have also been upgraded – if you have driven a car from the 1960s you will know how bad the lights were back then. And you get air-conditioning, digital linkups and more, all craftfully hidden within what looks like an original car.

The interior of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud by Lunaz

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Meanwhile, the most attractive aspect of the original – wafting around feeling like royalty – remains very much intact. The car is not dynamic by modern standards, retaining a significant element of the original’s floaty, gentle nature. It sits beautifully on a motorway, but you certainly wouldn’t race it down any country roads.

Lunaz offers the luxury of the Bentley without the climate impact

It’s most at home in town, or specifically driving from Scotts in Mayfair to your house in Belgravia, ideally with you and the Prince of Moravia in the back, and a chauffeur in the front. Although if you do drive it yourself, be sure to light up a Cohiba for extra authenticity. One of the most attractive old/new combinations we have seen, and a car you certainly won’t see any of your neighbours driving: such is its rarity. Very LUX.

bylunaz.com

The old-school but high-tech Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 63

Mercedes-Benz’s performance division AMG has produced a new two seater high performance coupe that is back to the best of the past

In a taxi in a European city recently, I was party to a rather poignant scenario. We were stopped at the traffic lights, and two young local guys were in the lane alongside, in a VW Golf GTI, and iconic car for any aspiring car enthusiast.

They had plainly pimped it up to make it faster, with a loud exhaust and an engine that sounded screamier than the original. They were playing around, revving the engine, ready to screech off at the lights. My taxi was electric, a comfortable bland machine whose manufacturer I can’t recall. When the lights changed green, the young men alongside us screeched forward with a chirp of tyres and zing of engine and exhaust.

The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 63 in action, crossing mountainous terrain

My taxi driver, with a hint of amusement, simply extended his foot in his electric family car we cruised severely passed them, their little sports car desperately sounding like it was trying to keep up as the taxi wafted down the road gaining pace rapidly but with seemingly no effort, and in silence.

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This made me ponder. That coming weekend, I was due to take delivery of an AMG GT 63, a petrol powered touring car several leagues above the little Golf GTI I had seen on my business trip. But still, however fast a car is, there is always an electric car, often a very bland booking one, that is much faster, simply because of the physics of electric propulsion.

‘There is something unashamedly old school about it [but] of course it has an excellent touchscreen information and entertainment system, all the latest safety gadgets, and a hi-fi system’

So what is the point of a V8 petrol powered grand touring car like the AMG GT, which once would have had its own performance as its starring factor?

Within minutes of getting behind the seat of the AMG I had a strong inkling of the answer.

But, let’s look at the car itself. Produced entirely by Mercedes-Benz’s high performance division, AMG, there is something unashamedly old school about it.

Of course it has an excellent touchscreen information and entertainment system, all the latest safety gadgets, and a hi-fi system that makes you think you are in the Vienna Opera House.

But anyone can do that in a car these days.

A front view of the GT 63

What’s the GT has, in container-loads, is character and soul. You sit low and deep alongside your passenger, with a couple of tiny seats behind you indicating that family values perhaps are not of the highest concern for the driver and passenger.

Stab the button, and the engine comes to life a bit like waking up an Italian mastiff (or should that be a German mastiff?). No silent gliding here.

The car rumbles along the road, sounding and feeling much more like one of those overpowered muscle car coops from a 1960s movie than anything from the 2020s. The steering feels organic and real, rather than like you are playing with a game console joystick, which is sadly what a lot of cars these days feel like.

Just like every other car sold today, the steering is electric – you are not actually, controlling a mechanism that turns the wheels, you are simply sending a signal to an electrical program – but AMG have done a superb job in making you think otherwise.

‘This is not the kind of car you get into, cruise down the road and then 20 minutes later look in astonishment at the speed and realise you were going much faster than you thought. It’s a car with a feeling of speed’

It gather speed in bursts with its muscular V8 engine, and most importantly lets you know it is doing so. This is not the kind of car you get into, cruise down the road and then 20 minutes later look in astonishment at the speed and realise you were going much faster than you thought. It’s a car with a feeling of speed.

Read more: A palatial stay at the St. Regis Hotel

The same applies to the handling, which gives you all the sensations of cornering properly, including delightful feedback when turning in to a bend and, despite the car’s safety first four-wheel-drive, a real feeling that it could do one of those cop car swivels around the corner if you press the accelerate too hard at the wrong/right time. (It won’t, unless you turn all the safety systems off, for which you will need the skills of an advanced computer hacker.)

The AMG GT 63 is a contemporary sports car with the character of the great grand tourers of the past

It’s an interior full of sporting intent: nobody will get into the car alongside you and assume they are just in another set of wheels. It makes a statement, saying: This is my car I bought to drive, properly, while everyone else is wafting around in fear of speed limits and legislation.

If it feels a bit out of place in today’s roster of new cars, that’s because it has deliberately bucked a trend, perhaps more surprising coming from a manufacturer so devoted to electrification as it’s parent company Mercedes-Benz. There’s a soul in the company that invented the car, and it is manifesting itself in the AMG GT.

Does it have any drawbacks? Well, it’s a long, low car with it effectively only two seats, although you could perhaps sedate your children and stick them in the back. It does have a decent boot/trunk space, but of course it is not as convenient or easy as an electric taxi. That’s why exists, and you should buy one, although unlike ours, we would recommend a more poppy colour to make the exterior, which is slick but not exceptional, stand out more. Racing yellow or orange, perhaps. Or frog green. Do it while you can.

https://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/

The new Bentley Bentayga Hybrid is a lighter-feel luxury SUV that’s a wonderful mix of refinement and muscle

In the third part of our supercar review series, LUX gets behind the wheel of the Bentley Bentayga Hybrid

If you need an example of how the attributes of heritage luxury car brands have to change in the new world of sustainability and electrification, look no further than Bentley. This is a company that has been making cars that are primarily distinguished by their immensely powerful and vocal petrol engines for more than 100 years. Taking the petrol engines out of Bentleys would be like taking the leather out of a Chesterfield.

This latest model we drove is not electrically powered, but it’s a halfway point. The company’s luxury SUV is typically distinguished by its massive 12-cylinder engine (although there are models available with a V8). Here we have a hybrid version, with a six-cylinder petrol engine accompanied by an electric motor.

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Does it work? That depends: if you’re listening for that V12 ‘whoof’, and expecting the distinctive power characteristics – speed and responsiveness to increase in tandem – you may be disappointed at first. In fact, the sound is the most notable characteristic of this car, as going from a Bentley V12 to this is rather like going from wild to farmed beluga. Still good, but not what you’re used to. But, given that in a few short years no engine will make any sound at all apart from a faint hum, this is really a moot point.

One other characteristic a traditionalist will welcome is the lighter feel: there is less engine in the nose of the car. It feels quite alive around corners on country lanes on the way to one’s architect-redesigned Oxfordshire manor house.

That is the kind of lifestyle this car is aimed at and it does an excellent job. The interior feels like sitting in a well-appointed bank vault with windows onto which the outside world is projected. Unlike some very powerful SUVs, it doesn’t feel like it wants to race every car from the traffic lights. It’s not exactly serene – it’s a Bentley after all – but it’s a wonderful mix of refinement and muscle. If you’re an enthusiastic driver, you won’t complain about the relatively agile handling, excellent roadholding and responsiveness at speed. You may wish for a little more feedback and involvement, though, as this car is set up more at the luxury end of things.

Read more: Why You Should Get Your New Car Ceramic Coated

Your passengers will enjoy the crafted feel of the interior, which really does feel a cut above almost any rival. It may not feel as passionate as the SUV offerings from Lamborghini or the Mercedes G 63, but it aims to do a slightly different job, rather more grown-up. It is also a car you could get in to drive from the Cotswolds to ski in St Moritz in one day, and arrive refreshed and ready for the slopes. And the fuel savings from the new electric-petrol engine will pay for a couple of drinks at Pavarotti’s.

LUX rating: 17.5/20

Find out more: bentleymotors.com

This article appears in the Summer 2022 issue of LUX

Original digital art by Mercedes-Benz at Design Essentials IV: The Art of Creating Desire

LUX stops off at the Mercedes-Benz Design Centre in Nice to hear about its latest projects – from EVs to NFTs, and everything in between 

Few places can evoke desire like the Cote d’Azur. Home to the world’s superelite and their superyachts, it is where the most exclusive communities migrate in summertime – and where the aspirational go to see them.

All of which made it a fitting backdrop for Mercedes-Benz’s latest Design Essentials instalment, ‘The Art of Creating Desire’. Presented between their Design Centre in Nice – a cylindrical, spaceship-like structure hidden in the pine forest of France’s tech hub – and the newly-opened Maybourne Riviera, the showcase featured the marque’s latest projects and outlooks on the future of luxury.

The Mercedes-Benz Design Centre in Nice

‘We aspire to design the most desirable cars in the world. With Design Essentials, we illustrate how we approach this privilege in concrete terms,’ explained Chief Design Officer Gorden Wagener. ‘The venue – our Design Centre in Nice – plays a central role in this. I see it as a creative melting pot where we forge ideas for the luxury cars of the future.’

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That future, according to Mercedes-Benz, is digital. The marque has joined as the fifth and final founding member of the Aura Blockchain Consortium – a non-profit association of luxury brands investing in blockchain solutions for the industry – alongside LVMH, Prada Group, OTB Group, and Cartier, part of Richemont.

Mercedes-Benz is expanding into in-car digital art experiences

‘Every product going forward will have a digital twin,’ explained Daniela Ott, General Secretary of Aura. ‘This is for all the use cases you can imagine, from traceability and provenance to resale and second-hand, NFTs and using the physical products you own in the metaverse’. In Mercedes’ case – the first and only premium automotive manufacturer to have joined the consortium – this means providing new digital art experiences both in-car and beyond.

Elsewhere, the marque is strengthening its commitment to the global fashion scene with the concept Mercedes-Maybach Haute Voiture, an S-Class reimagined through an haute couture lens. The car, which is expected to appear in 2023 in a limited release of 150 units, features a two-tone midnight blue and champagne exterior, and a nappa leather interior with bouclé fabric and gold trim.

The limited edition Mercedes-Maybach Haute Voiture

We also had a sneak peek of the new Limited Edition Mercedes-Maybach. Soon to be available in a 150-unit run, the model was borne out of Project MAYBACH, the off-road EV concept created in collaboration with the late artist and fashion designer Virgil Abloh, which was presented at the Rubell Museum during Miami Art Week. The limited edition model marks the third and final collaboration with Abloh, whose Project Geländewagen set a benchmark for fashion and automotive collaborations in 2020.

The Mercedes-Maybach by Virgil Abloh (left) and Project MAYBACH (right)

The grand finale took place over aperitifs at the Maybourne, where we were introduced to the Vision AMG, Mercedes’ new, all-electric sports car concept, slated for release in 2025. The car offers a preview of the all-electric future of Mercedes’ performance brand, having embarked on an electrification plan which will see electrified alternatives in every segment by the end of 2022, and an all-electric fleet by 2030.

Read more: Octopus Energy Founder Greg Jackson On The Green Revolution

The Mercedes-Benz Vision AMG

Speaking of the formal aspect of the Vision AMG, Wagener said, ‘it continues to write the history of the VISION EQXX and raises it to a completely new level’.

If the future really is electric, we want to do it in the Vision AMG.

Find out more: mercedes-benz.com

ionic cars makes over classic cars with high performance, zero-emissions electric power

LUX discovers how UK start-up ionic cars is replacing the original engines of classic cars with zero-emission electric power

According to government figures, cars currently account for just over 18% of UK emissions. Aiming towards the goal of cutting emissions to net zero by 2050, there have been dramatic shifts towards the production of electric cars with Mini, the Vauxhall Corsa and the Fiat 500 most recently launching electric models. For classic car lovers, however, eco-friendly options are hard to come by, which is where ionic cars comes in.

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The bodywork is refurbished and interiors are fully customisable

The UK-based start-up transforms vintage cars by removing the original high emissions ‘old-tech’ engines and replacing them with zero-emission power. The bodywork is fully refurbished and interiors are customisable with everything from vegan leather to heated seats and matching luggage. For those worrying about the car’s collectible value, the process is fully reversible, or the original engine can be refashioned into a bespoke perspex case coffee table. ionic’s models currently include the Mercedes-Benz Pagoda and Porsche 911 with plans to expand in the future.

For more information visit: ioniccars.com