Asking the Google Assistant on your Android smartphone to deliver you a one-off Rolls-Royce sadly only works if you happen to be Vice President of Engineering at the Silicon Valley firm.

After 15 years at the tech giant, being responsible for Site Reliability Engineering amongst other tasks, Benjamin Treynor Sloss is no stranger to expensive cars.

Dino at 50: the original baby Berlinettas gather in Maranello

In 2012 he purchased a $1.78million Ferrari 599XX at a charity auction, and has even shared photos of his cars adorned with bread to prove they were actually his.

However, there should be no doubts about who owns the special Rolls-Royce Dawn presented to Mr. Sloss at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance event.

Personally commissioned by Sloss, the Dawn Black Badge was built in collaboration with the Bespoke Collective at the Rolls-Royce factory in Goodwood, England.

With wife Christine already owning a Rolls-Royce Dawn, Treynor Sloss knew he needed to make a big effort in order to stand out. Enter the brand-new bespoke ‘Superflare’ yellow paintwork, intended to replicate the Californian sun under which the Dawn will be driven.

The bright yellow is tempered with another unique hue – Pikes Peak Blue, named after the legendary hill climb course in Colorado. Mr. Sloss is said to be a big fan of the annual Pikes Peak event, even if an open-top Rolls-Royce might not be the most obvious of vehicles to tackle it in.

Eye-searing Superflare yellow even adorns the 21-inch alloy wheels, and also continues inside. Yellow piping is used on the dark blue leather seats, whilst the steering wheel and blue piano wood dashboard trim feature yellow detailing.

With a love for Italian racing machinery, the use of blue and yellow for the Sloss’ Rolls-Royce was inspired by the livery used on the Ferrari racers owned by the couple. In fact the Rolls-Royce should match perfectly with a garage said to include multiple LaFerrari models, and a track-only Ferrari FXX K, all finished in yellow.

Rolls-Royce has previously used the Pebble Beach event to unveil bespoke creations. Last year, car collector Michael Fux was presented with a Rolls-Royce Dawn, featuring a unique fuschia paint finish named Fuxia.

Aston Martin will announce plans on Wednesday to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and float on the London Stock Exchange.

The plans, revealed by Sky News, value the company at between £4 billion and £5 billion.

Aston Martin will reveal the flotation plans alongside ‘healthy’ interim results. Sky News reports the IPO will see around £1 billion of shares sold. Public trading of shares will begin later in 2018.

The IPO is expected to offer stock to Aston Martin customers and existing investors. An employee share scheme is also expected to be launched.

Aston Martin announced its desire for an IPO earlier this year. It was considering New York, where Ferrari is listed (and valued at $10 billion) but appears to have chosen London instead.

Sky News describes the deal as “one of the City’s most prominent public offerings for years”.

Under the leadership of chief executive Andy Palmer, Aston Martin is being transformed, with critically acclaimed new cars such as the DB11 and new Vantage. It is also planning new range of Lagonda all-electric luxury cars, and is to build the first ever Aston Martin SUV, called Varekai.

Both will be built in a brand-new factory in St Athan, Wales: when it is fully on stream, it will double Aston Martin’s annual sales to around 15,000 cars.

Last year, Aston Martin reported its highest ever sales of almost £900 million, with pre-tax profits of £87 million.

Read more:

• Aston Martin DBS Superleggera review: turning the DB11 up to 11
• Aston Martin is building 25 brand new James Bond DB5 – WITH gadgets
• Aston Martin ‘Bond cars’ star in classic collection

At Monterey Car Week 2019, start-up supercar firm Automobili Pininfarina will reveal its all-electric hypercar, and it’s getting in on the teaser act early by releasing the first official shot of the PF0 concept.

Technically, we’re not quite the first to see it: for the past four days at Pebble Beach, the firm’s been carrying out private viewings which have led to “strong demand for limited PF0 allocation and significant interest from leading U.S. luxury car retailers”.

Pebble Beach marked the culmination of a six-week programme of launch activity in the U.S. – both of the car and the business plan that will support it. The U.S. was chosen for this debut activity because it will be the Munich-based firm’s strongest market.

10 brilliant Pininfarina designs – and 10 you can afford

Indeed, the firm’s already predicting demand for the first Pininfarina-designed, Pininfarina-branded hypercar will far outstrip supply.

CEO Michael Perschke admitted the U.S. launch programme was not easy, but “we had some great feedback from clients who have owned numerous Pininfarina-styled supercars… we know we are on the right track”.

The initial teaser image doesn’t reveal much, but does suggest this is going to be a hypercar packing drama. Luca Borgogno is Automobili Pininfarina design director and said it is based on classic Pininfarina principles: “To combine elegance and beauty with functional design that defines a new product vision.

“PF0 has to stand out in an emerging sector – beauty and performance to make your heart skip a beat. You can see that impact in the PF0 rear view treatment where the car’s performance potential is functionally defined by dramatic wings and its beauty highlighted by the overall form.”

Classic Pininfarina admirers, fear not: “Purity and elegance of design has not been lost to the battle for downforce and cooling.”

Like the look of this and are now eager to see more? Fear not: there are plenty of them on the way over the next year…

Halfords has joined the ranks of breakdown recovery providers with its new Breakdown Cover service providing roadside assistance for motorists – and for cyclists.

The firm says prices start from 40p a week and there are five different levels of cover. Motorists can choose to have a single vehicle covered, opt for personal cover that provides assistance in any car (even if they’re a passenger), and also arrange short-term EU cover.

There are several different grades of coverage too: roadside and local, nationwide, and home assist. Prices, naturally, rise accordingly.

Shocking image reveals why you should slow down past breakdowns

Cycle recovery will be a boon to city commuters – cycle recovery is included, so cyclists and their broken bicycles will be recovered to their home or workplace, railway station, car hire firm or hotel.

Halfords is using a nationwide network of over 400 independent recovery operators to run the breakdown cover service. Its target is reaching customers within 40 minutes – and it aims, where possible, to repair the vehicle at the roadside within 60 minutes.

If repairs are not possible, customers can choose to have their car taken to a garage of their choice or a Halfords Autocentre. It is not mandatory to use a Halfords garage… but policyholders will be offered discounts on repairs carried out at Halfords branches.

Cyclists can choose to have their bicycle taken to the nearest Halfords shop or independent bike shop.

Revealed: the UK’s most reliable cars 2018

Other incentives for policy holders include half price MOTs, 10 percent off servicing and a £10 gift voucher.

“We service and repair thousands of cars and bikes every week,” said a Halfords spokesperson. “Now, our customers will be able to access our range of services while out on their journeys.

“With the launch of our new Breakdown Cover, our policy holders will benefit from the expertise of over 700 Halfords shops and Autocentres.”

The Toyota Corolla is the world’s best-selling nameplate and it makes an overdue return to the UK from 2019 when the replacement for the Toyota Auris goes on sale.

Toyota introduced the Auris name for Europe in 2006, to try and give the car an image lift over the dowdy Corolla it replaced. But Corolla remained the chosen name for Toyota’s family car range in other countries and Auris has increasingly been seen as an anomaly.

Toyota hits back at Ford: Corolla is the world’s best-selling car

Reviving the Corolla name for Europe will once again bring the region in line with the rest of the world.

It does, however, seem a decision that has only recently been agreed upon: earlier this year, Toyota revealed its new family hatchback range at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show – clearly branded as the Auris… 

The newly-renamed Corolla will debut in new Touring Sports estate guise at the 2018 Paris Motor Show next month, alongside the hatchback that was revealed in Geneva. Both will be built in Burnaston, Derbyshire.

‘No better moment’

Toyota says the move coincides with the car moving to the firm’s Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform – which replaces three different vehicle architectures currently used.

“The TNGA engineering and design philosophy brings a whole new dimension to our next generation C-segment models,” said Toyota Motor Europe president and CEO Dr Johan van Zyl.

The new Toyota Auris will be built in Britain

“Adding to Corolla’s renowned quality, desirability and reliability, it delivers the more emotional values that our customers aspire to, such as a distinctive design, interior refinement, rewarding driving dynamics and powerful yet efficient hybrid electric powertrains.

“There is no better moment than the launch of the upcoming new generation model to reintroduce the Corolla name to our C-segment hatchback and wagon.”

Toyota has globally sold more than 43 million Corollas since its launch in 1966. By renaming Auris as Corolla, it means European sales can once again be included in that total – further bolstering the car’s status as the world’s best-selling nameplate ever. 

Fresh from the 600hp M5 taking a leading role in the recent Mission: Impossible – Fallout movie, BMW is back in another espionage adventure.

Set to be released on Friday 31st August via Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan sees the CIA analyst pursuing terrorists across Europe and the Middle East.

Created by the late Tom Clancy in 1987, the Jack Ryan character has starred in more than 20 novels and five feature films. This is the first time that Ryan, now played by John Krasinski, has featured in a television series.

Following all the tyre-shredding action in Mission: Impossible, the CIA has seemingly had to reign in the spending. There is no M5 for Jack Ryan here, instead he has to make do with a slightly more humble 540i xDrive.

This means a total of only 326hp, but the 540i is still capable of 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds. Plus, the inline-six turbocharged engine in the 540i is likely to be more economical. That should save Jack Ryan precious time when submitting his expenses claims each month.

The 5 Series is not the only BMW to feature in the first season of the show, with X5 and X6 models also slated to make an appearance. The classic BMW 2002 is also said to take a special role, too.

BMW has seemingly secured a sizeable fleet contract to supply fictional CIA agents with cars.

Aside from Mission: Impossible and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, BMW has seen other recent onscreen action in the Red Sparrow. The latter saw Jennifer Lawrence’s character make use of a luxurious 7 Series, whilst undergoing her transformation into a secret CIA assassin.

Amazon Prime subscribers will only have a short wait to find out if the 5 Series can yet again help save the world from terrorists.

Ford’s GT supercar is hardly in need of any more drama, but the Blue Oval has done just that with a new special edition model.

The signature blue and orange Gulf Oil paintwork has covered many cars, but was famously used on two of Ford’s Le Mans winning GT40 race cars.

Inside the top secret Ford GT design studio

Ford’s streak of four wins at the French classic during the late 1960s was a dominant affair. However, it was the 1968 and 1969 events which saw GT40s take glory in the famous Gulf Oil livery.

Just like the winner from 1968, the 2019 model year GT Heritage Edition will wear number 9 racing graphics, along with the Gulf-inspired livery. For 2020, number 6 will be worn by the GT Heritage Edition.

Marking the 50th anniversary of Le Mans success, this special version can also be specified with an additional package for exposed carbon on the interior and exterior.

The lightweight material can be seen in all its glory on the A-pillars, along with forming the outline of the racing numbers. Naked carbon can also be seen on the door sill trims, steering wheel, and across the dashboard.

Special 20-inch alloy wheels with a forged one-piece construction are also part of the deal, along with orange brake calipers and silver rear view mirrors.

Blue and orange stitching is used to bring contrast to the black Alcantara used for the bucket seats and steering wheel. The seats also feature an embossed design, intended to replicate the ventilation holes in the original GT40.

Although the Gulf Racing livery may be most associated with Ford, earlier this year McLaren Automotive produced a special one-off version of the 675LT supercar. Commissioned by a customer, the bespoke blue and orange McLaren made reference to the 1997 F1 GTR which took class victory at Le Mans.

Ford has also made Heritage Editions of the twin-turbocharged GT supercar before. Last year, the ‘67 Heritage Edition was built to celebrate Ford’s win at the 1967 Le Mans event. No prizes for guessing what success the ‘66 Heritage Edition paid tribute to.

The open-top Ferrari 488 Pista Spider has been revealed at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It is, fact fans, the 50^th factory-built drop-top Ferrari in history.

Drawing from the 488 Pista coupe supercar, the 488 Pista Spider shares the same 720hp twin-turbo V8 engine, which Ferrari says sounds “even more riveting thanks to the open-top configuration”.

New car debuts at Monterey Car Week 2018

It rushes from 0-62mph in the same scant 2.85 seconds as the coupe, and 0-124mph takes just a smidgen longer, at 8.0 seconds. Top speed is the same too, at 211mph.

The Pista Spider does weigh 100kg more than the coupe, at 1,380kg, but that’s still roughly a 50kg weight saving over the regular 488 GTB.

It has all the exotic engine tech of the coupe: titanium conrods, lighter crankshaft, carbon fibre intake plenum and Inconel exhaust manifold.

The chassis is the same as the coupe too; as that drew from the 488 Challenge and 488 GTE racers, Ferrari claims the 488 Pista Spider “offers the highest level yet of technological transfer from the track to a road-legal drop-top car”.

Key to it is the lateral dynamics control system called Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (FDE). How this works is a little mysterious, but Ferrari describes it as managing the brake pressure at the calipers more accurately, so it’s easier to control the 488 Pista Spider when drifting sideways. Which sounds good to us.

The tyres being smoked are the same bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber.

They’re worn by new diamond-finish 20-inch alloys. They’re different to the coupe and Ferrari says they are a “novel 10-spoke star-effect interpretation of Ferrari’s traditional mid-rear engine Berlinetta-style rims”.

Driving purists can pick optional one-piece carbon fibre rims, which are 20 percent lighter than the standard wheels – an impressive weight saving, given how the regular wheels themselves are lightweight forged items.

As for the styling, the bespoke aero kit of the 488 Pista is largely present and correct; Ferrari’s focus here is on the “charismatic central livery” which runs from nose to tail. It expands towards the rear, finishing beneath the 488 Pista’s ample spoiler.

“This continual expansion of the stripe recalls the movement of the airflow and exalts the lines of the car,” we’re told. It is also different to the coupe, where the line runs right to the tip of the spoiler itself… and is all the more dramatic on the Pista Spider because there’s not an exposed engine bay breaking it up.

Which, we’re sure, will be all the justification 488 Spider coupe owners need to also make sure they’re also in the line for a 488 Pista Spider…

Elon Musk has dropped plans to take Tesla private after investors told him: “please don’t do this.”

In a statement on Tesla’s Twitter account, labelled ‘Staying Public’, Musk said the feedback he’d received since announcing he was considering taking Tesla private had convinced him to drop the plans. 

“It’s apparent that most of Tesla’s existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company. 

“Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was “please don’t do this”.”

Staying Public https://t.co/gUrAnInBOu

— Tesla (@Tesla) August 25, 2018

Musk said he met with the Tesla board of directors on Thursday 23 August and “let them know that I believe the better path is for Tesla to remain public.

“The board indicated that they agree.”

Musk caused a shock earlier in August when he tweeted he was considering taking Tesla private. He quoted $420 per share, which would have valued Tesla at £72 billion (£57 billion). 

This has led to an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and, it is reported, lawsuits against Musk by several investors. The share price also dropped; it is currently $322 per share.

Musk’s reasoning for taking Tesla private was to escape the intense scrutiny and pressure for regular public reporting listed companies have to comply with: he argued this caused short-termism, rather than “long-term value creation”. 

However, going private was itself not without complications, and Musk added “this is a problem because we absolutely must stay focused on ramping Model 3 and becoming profitable. We will not achieve our mission of advancing sustainable energy unless we are also financially sustainable.”

Musk did add that he believed it would not be impossible to privatise the firm. “My belief that there is more than enough funding to take Tesla private was reinforced during this process.”

However, drawing a line under the episode, he added: “I’m incredibly excited to continue leading Tesla as a public company.

“It is a privilege.”