Bentley to showcase some of its most rare and valuable models at the Holyroodhouse Concours d'Elegnace.

• Historical Bentleys star at prestigious Edinburgh event
• 1952 R-Type Continental, ‘Blue Train’ and 8 Litre among line up
• ‘Bentley Sunday’ highlights best of British brand’s historic range

Scotland’s historical seat of power, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, is playing host to the 2015 Concours of Elegance from 4 to 6 September, with an impressive array of Bentley models taking centre stage.

The prestigious, invitation-only event – which showcases 60 of the world’s rarest and most valuable cars – will feature six Bentley models ranging from a 1927 6 ½ Litre Vanden Plas tourer to a 1960 S2 Continental with H.J. Mulliner Fastback coachwork.

Not only is the Mulliner name still closely associated with Bentley today, but it also has historical ties with the Scottish capital. In December 1909 John Croall & Sons Ltd of Edinburgh purchased a controlling shareholding in H. J. Mulliner & Co, which it held until 1959, where after the coachbuilding company officially became part of Bentley Motors Ltd.

Other Bentley models on display at the Concours of Elegance include the famous ‘Blue Train’ Speed Six, the Team Blower, a 1930 8 Litre, a 4 ¼ Litre Vanden Plas tourer from 1937 and a 1952 R-Type Continental.

As Bentley is an official partner of the Concours of Elegance, Sunday 6 September is called ‘Bentley Sunday’. 

On the final day of the event a dedicated area in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse will display all of the Bentleys in attendance. A ‘Trophy of Elegance’ will also be presented to the best customer Bentley parked in the brand’s dedicated car park.

Continental R-Type

It was the R-Type which first brought the Continental name into Bentley lexicon in 1952. With a top speed of 120 mph this was the fastest four-seater in the world at the time. Many of the 208 examples produced were coach built by Mulliner.

‘Blue Train’ Bentley

This year is the 85^th anniversary of that most famous Bentley Boy adventure – the Blue Train race.

In 1930 Captain Woolf Barnato, Chairman of Bentley Motors, was staying in Cannes when he accepted a wager that not only could he beat the Calais-Mediterranée Express (or ‘Blue Train’) back to Calais, but that he could be at his club in London before the train even reached the English Channel.

He was, and the remarkable victory has resonated with Bentley enthusiasts ever since. 

The car that was believed to have accomplished the feat was the iconic Gurney Nutting two-door fastback coupe. In recent years evidence has emerged to suggest Barnato drove his Mulliner saloon-bodied Speed 6, however, it is the coupe that will forever be known as the ‘Blue Train’ car.

Team Blower

One of just five cars built for racing, the 4 ½ Litre Supercharged ‘Team Blower’ was used by the original Bentley racing team of the late 1920s, and is still performing over eight decades later.

This year marks the 85^th anniversary of the Woolf Barnato and Glen Kidston Le Mans victory in 1930. While the Blower wasn’t the winning car that day, with Tim Birkin at the wheel its heroic performance embodies the true spirit of the vintage racing era.

8 Litre

Launched in 1930, only 100 Bentley 8 Litres were ever produced. Extremely luxurious, yet with a top speed of 100mph, the 8 Litre combines craftsmanship with performance, drawing parallels with Bentley’s current flagship, the Mulsanne.

SAD NEWS - A huge icon in the Classic car world has passed away, Lord Montague of Beaulieu, aged 88.

** There is some relevant information regarding homosexuality and bisexuality contained within this post that may cause offence to some people, unfortunately those people are the ones that cause offence, and should read no further.

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Edward, 3^rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu. He died peacefully at his home on 31^st August 2015, aged 88, after a short illness. He is survived by his wife Fiona, his son and heir Ralph, daughter Mary and second son Jonathan. In accordance with his wishes, the estate and visitor attractions are continuing to operate as usual. An estate funeral will be held at Beaulieu, followed by a memorial service at St Margaret’s, Westminster for his friends in London and further afield. The dates of these to be advised.

Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (20 October 1926 – 31 August 2015) was an English Conservative politician well known in Britain for founding the National Motor Museum, as well as for a pivotal cause célèbre in British gay history following his 1954 conviction and imprisonment for homosexual sex, a charge he denied.

Montagu was born at his grandparents’ home in Thurloe Square, South Kensington, London and inherited his barony in 1929 at the age of two, when his father John was killed in an accident. His mother was his father's second wife, Alice Crake (1895–1996). He attended St Peter's Court, a prep school at Broadstairs in Kent, then Ridley College in Canada, Eton College and finally New College, Oxford. He served in the Grenadier Guards, including service in Palestine before the end of the British Mandate.

On coming of age, Lord Montagu immediately took his seat in the House of Lords and swiftly made his maiden speech on the subject of Palestine.

Lord Montagu gained an interest in motoring from his father — who had commissioned the original "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot for his Rolls-Royce — and with his family collection of historic cars this led him to open the National Motor Museum in the grounds of his stately home, Palace House, Beaulieu, Hampshire, in 1952.

From 1956 to 1961 he held the influential Beaulieu Jazz Festival in the grounds of Palace House; this was a leading contribution to the development of festival culture in Britain, as it attracted thousands of young people who, from 1958 on, would camp out and listen and dance to live music. The 1960 festival saw an altercation between modern and trad jazz fans, in a very minor riot that became known as the Battle of Beaulieu.

Montagu founded The Veteran And Vintage Magazine in 1956 and continued to develop the museum, making a name for himself in tourism. He was chairman of the Historic Houses Association from 1973 to 1978 and chairman of English Heritage from 1984 to 1992. 

Whilst there he appointed Jennifer Page (later of the Millennium Dome) as Chief Executive in 1989.

In the 1999 reform of the House of Lords, Montagu was one of 92 hereditary peers who remained in Parliament.

Montagu knew from an early stage of life that he was bisexual, and while attending Oxford was relieved to find others with similar feelings. In a 2000 interview he stated, "My attraction to both sexes neither changed nor diminished at university and it was comforting to find that I was not the only person faced with such a predicament. I agonised less than my contemporaries, for I was reconciled to my bisexuality, but I was still nervous about being exposed."

Trial and imprisonment

Despite keeping his homosexual affairs discreet and out of the public eye, in the mid-1950s, Montagu became "one of the most notorious public figures of his generation," after his conviction and imprisonment for "conspiracy to incite certain male persons to commit serious offences with male persons," a charge which was also used in the Oscar Wilde trials in 1895, which was derived from a law that remained on the statute books until 1967.

In the cold war atmosphere of the 1950s, when witch hunts later called the Lavender Scare were ruining the lives of many gay men and lesbian women in the United States, the parallel political atmosphere in Britain was virulently anti-homosexual. The then Home Secretary, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, had promised "a new drive against male vice" that would "rid England of this plague." As many as 1,000 men were locked up in Britain's prisons every year amid a widespread police clampdown on homosexual offences. Undercover officers acting as "agents provocateurs" would pose as gay men soliciting in public places. The prevailing mood was one of barely concealed paranoia.

On two occasions Montagu was charged and committed for trial at Winchester Assizes, firstly in 1953 for having underage sex with a 14-year-old boy scout at his beach hut on the Solent, a charge he always denied.

The American Institute of Public Relations had just voted him the most promising young PR man when he was arrested. Although he enjoyed the support of his close family and a wide variety of friends, for a year or so he became "the subject of endless blue jokes and innumerable bawdy songs".

When prosecutors failed to achieve a conviction, in what Montagu has characterised as a "witch hunt" to secure a high-profile conviction, he was arrested again in 1954 and charged with performing "gross offences" with an RAF serviceman during a weekend party at the beach hut on his country estate. 

Montagu always maintained he was innocent of this charge as well ("We had some drinks, we danced, we kissed, that's all"). Nevertheless, he was imprisoned for twelve months for "consensual homosexual offences" along with Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood.

Role in LGBT history

Unlike the other defendants in the trial, Montagu continued to protest his innocence. The trial caused a backlash of opinion among some politicians and church leaders that led to the setting up of the Wolfenden Committee, which in its 1957 report recommended the decriminalisation of homosexual activity in private between two adults. 

Ten years later, Parliament finally carried out the recommendation, a huge turning point in gay history in Britain, where anal sex, a form of "buggery", had been a criminal offence ever since the Buggery Act 1533.

In 2000, when his autobiography appeared, Montagu broke down in tears when it was suggested to him that the reform of the law on homosexuality would be his monument. 

In a 2007 interview, when asked if he felt that he and his co-defendants had been instrumental in the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Britain, Lord Montagu said, "I am slightly proud that the law has been changed to the benefit of so many people. 

I would like to think that I would get some credit for that. Maybe I'm being very boastful about it but I think because of the way we behaved and conducted our lives afterwards, because we didn't sell our stories, we just returned quietly to our lives, I think that had a big effect on public opinion."

In 1958, Montagu married Belinda Crossley, a granddaughter of Savile Crossley, 1st Baron Somerleyton, by whom he had a son and a daughter before the couple divorced in 1974:

• Ralph Douglas-Scott-Montagu (born 13 March 1961), 4th Baron Montagu of Beaulieu
• Hon Mary Rachel Douglas-Scott-Montagu (born 1964), married with issue to Rupert Montagu Scott

In 1974, he married his second wife, Fiona Margaret Herbert, with whom he had a son:

• Hon Jonathan Deane Douglas-Scott-Montagu (born 11 October 1975).

Fiona, Lady Montagu, was born in about 1943 in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the daughter of Richard Leonard Deane Herbert, of Clymping, Sussex. She attended school in Switzerland, and following her education, she worked as film production assistant. She is a director of Beaulieu Enterprises and a trustee of the Countryside Education Trust. 

She serves as an international advisor to the World Centre of Compassion for Children, led by Nobel Peace Laureate, Betty Williams, as well as a Trustee of Vision-in-Action, led byYasuhiko Kimura. 

She additionally serves on The World Wisdom Council, alongside Mikhail Gorbachev, former head of the state of the Soviet Union. She was appointed the first global ambassador to the Club of Budapest.

Montagu died after a short illness, on 31 August 2015 at the age of 88, at his Beaulieu Estate in the New Forest. He was survived by his three children and two grandchildren.

With Grateful Thanks to Wikipedia for the bulk of the above information, and a direct link to the web site can be found <<HERE>>

Suzuki launches the new Baleno, with its World Première at the Frankfurt International Motor Show.

The all-new Baleno which will make its world premiere at the 66th IAA Frankfurt Motor Show* will raise the bar for compact hatchbacks.

Since manufacturing its first car in 1955, the Suzulight, Suzuki has produced a variety of compact cars that deliver value much greater than their sizes. 

Developed using the company’s compact car expertise, the Baleno has an elegant and powerful design, a spacious cabin and luggage space plus a host of new technologies.

The new technologies include a rigid, lightweight new generation platform, highly responsive 1.0-litre direct-injection turbo BOOSTERJET engine, and SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki) featuring engine assist by an integrated starter generator.  All of these contribute to a fun yet efficient driving experience, giving the Baleno much more than just good looks and convenience.

In addition to fulfilling fuel efficiency and dynamic performance expectations, the layout has been optimised and various technologies used to reduce weight in order to meet the rigorous size and weight requirements specific to compact cars. The new Baleno will be launched in the UK early next Summer.

Further details of the Baleno will be disclosed at the Suzuki press conference at the Frankfurt Motor show. The conference will be held at 1.15pm on Tuesday 15^th September. We look forward to welcoming you on stand B12 in Hall 9.0.

Peugeot to début it's latest concept at Frankfurt, The FRACTAL, the hugely popular i-cockpit, evolves.

• PEUGEOT FRACTAL is a prospective electric urban coupé design
• FRACTAL evolves the PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® with enhanced acoustic sensations
• A unique sound is produced by FRACTAL to alert pedestrians and cyclists of its presence

First unveiled on the SR1 concept car in 2010, the PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® has already won over more than 1.8 million customers since making its market debut on the 208 in 2012. With its innovative ergonomics, the cockpit provides instinctive driving and enhances the experience behind the wheel.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL is an electric urban coupé revealing a prospective design of the PEUGEOT i Cockpit® that explores another of the senses: following on from visual; sight, embodied by the head-up display, and touch; with the compact steering wheel and touchscreen, PEUGEOT FRACTAL showcases unprecedented attention to acoustics in automotive design. 

The result is a level of auditory perception that further enriches the driving experience.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL also features a sound signature created by sound designer Amon Tobin, which plays when the driver opens the doors using the smartwatch remote system. What follows is a unique electric coupé driving experience offering a wealth of sensory exploration.

The simultaneous launches of the ‘8’ range and the PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® gave fresh impetus to the Brand. The PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® is a distinguishing feature of our vehicles. It transforms the driving experience, making it more instinctive, and amplifies driving sensations.

Maxime Picat, PEUGEOT Brand Director

The PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® has garnered a real following among customers by offering a tangible improvement in driving pleasure. The PEUGEOT FRACTAL project explores new possibilities by further enhancing the cockpit experience through the use of sound to enrich information and enhance driving pleasure.

Jérôme Micheron, PEUGEOT Strategy Director

PEUGEOT FRACTAL overview

FRACTAL is an electric urban coupé revealing a prospective design for the PEUGEOT i Cockpit® that explores the sense of hearing in addition to sight and touch. It makes driving even more instinctive, creating an unparalleled on-board experience.

The StelLab* is a PSA Peugeot Citroën research unit that has designed an innovative ‘9.1.2’** sound system combining a high-quality set-up that features tactile bass systems built into the back of each seat to make driving all the more instinctive, enriching information through the use of acoustics. 

This additional PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® feature is characterised by the ‘spatialisation’ and ‘dynamisation’ of sound.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL has an interior and exterior identity developed for the first time in partnership with sound designer Amon Tobin. In the city, the car is in sync with its environment.

The head-up display features a high-definition holographic screen and a 45-degree polycarbonate strip that delivers additional information and creates an impression of depth. This allows the driver to customise the way information is shown.

FRACTAL is an ideas incubator that explores new design and manufacturing processes. 3D-printed parts represent more than 80% of the interior trim surface. The anechoic materials were made through generative design - an incremental, stochastic process used to achieve the perfect component.

The 30kW/h lithium-ion battery powers the electric motors on the front and rear axles to provide a total output of 150kW/204hp and combined-cycle autonomy of up to 450km.

Variable ground clearance allows the vehicle to adapt to different types of terrain. The 7cm clearance for motorway driving improves aerodynamics to range and boost battery life. This can be increased to 11cm in urban environments, allowing the car to take speed humps and car park entrances in its stride.

* Established in 2010, the Science Technologies Exploratory Lean Laboratory (StelLab) is a scientific partnership management organisation comprising a network of PSA Peugeot Citroën experts and academics from countries around the world, including France, Switzerland, Poland, Spain, Brazil, the United States and China. Its main goal is to identify and develop new technologies and innovations for tomorrow's motor vehicles.

** ‘9.1.2’ is the numerical explanation for the effect of the number of speakers, bass-boxes and other sound systems contained within the vehicle.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL: an electric urban coupé

PEUGEOT FRACTAL negotiates city streets with ease, always in sync with its environment. The car is extremely compact, at 3.81m long and 1.77m wide, allowing it to weave through heavy traffic. The 19” Tall&Narrow wheels are positioned at either end of the car, with an overhang of just 0.52m front and back to maximise space utilisation and improve manoeuvrability.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL strikes a natural balance and features an electric drive train enabling a new architecture. All components are positioned with efficiency in mind. 

The lithium-ion batteries are housed in the central tunnel, which lowers the centre of gravity and improves weight distribution. They power two electric motors, each delivering 75kW/102hp, fitted to the front and rear axles. The drive train enhances the aerodynamics of the car, an improvement reflected in the smaller intakes at the front, with less air needed for cooling.

The FRACTAL's styling also embodies the car's ease in an urban environment, which is reflected in the dynamic lines that flow along the length of the smooth body. 

The Coupe Franche finish further enhances the sense of vitality with a sharp shift from intense pearly white to matt black at the door hinges. The upper body features a removable roof to turn the coupé into a cabriolet.

An LED strip above the vent at the rear shows the battery charge status via an equalizer-type display. These LEDs also act as rear lights when PEUGEOT FRACTAL is moving. The light signature in the front starts below the grille and flows over the headlamps. It also includes scrolling indicators.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL is perfectly at home in the city. The already-low noise levels achieved by the electric drive system are further improved by the Tall&Narrow tyres, with their narrow tread. To achieve the highest standards in acoustic performance, the wheels feature dihedral components to attenuate aerodynamic noise. 

Based on anechoic chambers, these additions reduce the intensity of sound waves, and therefore their noise levels, by causing them to bounce from one surface to another. This type of design is impossible to produce using conventional methods and was achieved through 3D printing.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL has a unique sound signature to keep it in sync with other road users, especially pedestrians and cyclists: any pedestrians about to step out into the road without looking will be alerted to the PEUGEOT FRACTAL's presence.

The concept also makes everyday life easier for the vehicle owner through the use of a Samsung Gear S smartwatch, which provides continuous information on the status of the battery, charging time, interior temperature and vehicle location. 

The watch gives the driver one-touch access to open the doors and customise interior features such as the air conditioning and sound system.

PEUGEOT i-Cockpit®: amplifying the senses

The PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® offers an unparalleled experience combining instinctive ergonomics with an unprecedented ambience. 

The choice of materials is inspired by auditoriums and recording studios: black oak decorates the instrument panel, door panels and bucket seats; copper trim reminiscent of audio connections runs through the interior, with 3D-printed anechoic motifs enhancing acoustic comfort. A 3D textile mesh covers the seats and is offset by white leather trim.

To ensure constant control, the driver's seat provides kinaesthetic feedback based on the FRACTAL's handling. 

The intuitive, compact steering wheel features a touchpad integrated into each of its two spokes. These thumb-controlled sensors control a range of FRACTAL’s functions and equipment.

The head-up display provides a holographic eye-level digital readout with a 45-degree polycarbonate strip delivering additional information. Drivers can customise the 12.3” HD digital display to suit individual preferences. The tilted polycarbonate strip gives added depth by showing information on a 7.7” AMOLED screen.

There are also toggle switches within easy reach on the arches on either side of the steering wheel. The right hand arch also houses the controls to activate the electric drive system. 

The 7.7” AMOLED touchscreen built into the centre console can be used to control all FRACTAL functions. Passengers in the rear also have a panel allowing them to adjust their immediate surroundings.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL is an ideas incubator that explores the use of 3D printing to create shapes that cannot be obtained through any other process. 

The resulting parts and components represent more than 80% of the interior surfaces and offer a combination of new styling and real functionality. The touchpad wires run through the spokes of the compact steering wheel.

The anechoic surfaces cover more than 15 square metres of the cabin interior and were produced by generative design. The computing power of today's machines makes it possible to explore all variations of shapes and structures for a given part. 

Generative design recreates the natural evolutionary process through the use of algorithms to create efficient shapes and develop the perfect part in each case. PEUGEOT FRACTAL uses just the right amount of material to ensure acoustic efficiency.

This is the first time that a concept car design has incorporated sound to such an extent. PEUGEOT FRACTAL also innovates by bringing materials first seen on the ONYX to the B segment. 3D printing and the use of generative design ensure the highest standards in efficiency.

Matthias Hossann, Head of Concept Cars & Advanced Design at PEUGEOT

Innovative use of sound for an instinctive driving experience

This prospective PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® design gives hearing its rightful place alongside sight and touch, since people rely on all three of these senses to negotiate their immediate environment. FRACTAL features an innovative 9.1.2 sound system and acoustic design.

Drivers need to process an increasing amount of information within their vehicle, which demands more and more attention. The acoustic ergonomics enhance interaction with the PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® and makes it easier to keep eyes on the road. The spatialisation of sound sources allows the driver to absorb and understand information more effectively and easily.

Vincent Roussarie, New Acoustic Services specialist, PSA Peugeot Citroёn Research & Development Division

StelLab is a PSA PEUGEOT CITROËN research unit that has designed an innovative 9.1.2 sound system and related software to provide a completely immersive experience. 

This digital sound technology simulates the human ear. Sound sources are created virtually and their location projected to enhance the information conveyed to the driver.

When the navigation system is in use, the synthesised voice appears to come from some distance in front of the car. As the vehicle travels along, the source moves toward the cabin and shifts to the side to which the car needs to turn. At intersections, it is positioned in close proximity, inside the car, to alert the driver to an immediate change of direction.

Spatialisation ensures that the sound matches the morphology and path of the vehicle. The system developed by StelLab configures the different sound sources separately for the FRACTAL's coupé and cabriolet modes.

To tap its full potential, the 9.1.2 installation features a 9.1 system comprising, in the front, three mid/high-range speakers, two tweeters, two woofers and a subwoofer, and, in the back, two mid-range speakers, two tweeters and a woofer. 

Leading French high-end audio specialist FOCAL also created the linen-fibre membrane for the speakers to render sound faithfully.

In addition, the PEUGEOT FRACTAL features a world premiere by incorporating a two-channel tactile bass system into the back of each seat. 

This revolutionary set-up is reflected in the name: 9.1.2.

Developed by SUBPAC, an American start-up, the tactile bass system offers a new sensory experience, which allows the bass to travel through a solid medium rather than through the air, meaning the sound waves reach the inner ear through the listener's body. 

This gives the seat occupant a more intense and exclusive bass experience, without causing unwanted interference in the surrounding environment. 

PEUGEOT FRACTAL also infuses the electric drive train with its own acoustic identity, a world away from any associations with internal combustion engines. PEUGEOT brought in Brazilian sound designer Amon Tobin to rise to this specific challenge. 

The PEUGEOT FRACTAL's external sound signature keeps it in sync with other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, who are alerted to the car's presence by different sounds specific to the vehicle's status: acceleration, deceleration and cruising speed.

The interior conveys the PEUGEOT identity through an original audio design that gives ‘voice’ to functions such as the ignition, indicators, hazards, lights and various navigation features.

PEUGEOT FRACTAL is the fruit of collaboration between artists exploring new horizons. We worked with the designers to pool our resources of inspiration. The style is inspired by the sound, and my design draws on the PEUGEOT FRACTAL's looks and materials.

Amon Tobin, musician and sound designer

The way in which spatialisation and the quality of this installation enhance the driving experience is evident in Amon Tobin's acoustic set-up. PEUGEOT FRACTAL is unique, the result of the successful collaboration between the artist and the PEUGEOT Design team.

A high-performance electric drive train

The electric drive train optimises aerodynamics and includes features unprecedented in the segment. The PEUGEOT FRACTAL's overall balance has been improved by installing the lithium-ion battery in the central tunnel. This reduces the vehicle's weight and lowers its centre of gravity.

The 30kW/h battery powers two 75kW/102hp electric motors, one on each axle, and offers a Combined Drive Cycle potential distance of 280miles.

The system manages power output according to driving conditions. The 150kW/204hp is distributed based on grip to optimise traction and energy recovery. In addition, to take into account weight transfer considerations, the electric motors have different gear ratios. During acceleration in the 0-62mile range, the rear motor kicks in first, with the front-axle motor gradually taking over beyond 62mph.

The four-wheel-drive FRACTAL has electric assisted steering to ensure outstanding efficiency in the city and stability at high speed. The air springs can function automatically or be controlled by the driver to adjust ground clearance between 7cm and 11cm: the lowest position optimises aerodynamics on the road and extends the cars’s autonomy; the highest clearance allows the car to negotiate city streets with ease and take speed humps and car park entrances in its stride.

Weighing in at just 1,000kg, PEUGEOT FRACTAL goes from 0 to 62mph in 6.8 seconds while offering a new sensory experience for the ears, and can cover 1,000metres from a standing start in 28.8 seconds.

In conclusion, PEUGEOT FRACTAL offers a glimpse of the future for the PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® to create an even more instinctive, enjoyable driving experience. The new urban electric coupé finds fresh inspiration in sound to add hearing to the ongoing exploration of sight and touch.