To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race and the 10th anniversary of their victory there in 2003 Bentley has just announced a limited edition for the Mulsanne and Continental models, exclusively available in North America. Each model is inspired by a driver from Bentley’s six victories at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours race.

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On Saturday May 11th, the Lamborghinis departed again for Sant’Agata Bolognese, for the final celebrations of the 50th anniversary.

The convoy will be more than 4.5 km in length, with a dramatic combined power of more than 190,000 hp. It will be a true open air exhibition of all the models that wrote the history of the brand. From the first car produced in 1963, the 350 GT, it will include virtually the entire model range right up to the current Gallardo and Aventador models. Drivers and co-drivers will arrive from all over the world: with 65% men and 35 women, their ages range from 22 to 75 years old, underlining the passion for the brand that stays from one generation to the next.

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Making its original debut at the Frankfurt International Auto Show 50 years ago, Porsche celebrates the anniversary year of the 911 by presenting the new generation 911 turbo and turbo S. Complete with new all-wheel drive, active rear axle steering and adaptive aerodynamics, the vehicles boast up to 560 horsepower from a 3.8 liter flat six twin-turbo engine – with the ‘turbo S’ handling the standard sprint to 100 km/h in just 3.1 seconds. A sound symposer intensifies the driving experience – transmitting induction sounds of the turbo engine to the passenger compartment via a speaker diaphragm. power is transferred to the drive-train via the seven-speed dual clutch transmission (PDK), which now enables an auto start/stop function with engine shutoff.

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by Tyler Durden

Bern Unlimited, in conjunction with the Safe Streets Fund, introduces a limited edition helmet by KAWS. The artist put his signature design of graphic Xs and Eyes in tonal black on the Bern’s Watts model. The collaboration is introduced at the perfect time, with bike month beginning this Wednesday and NYC’s Citi Bike soon.

by Tyler Durden

Jaguar has premiered the full 13-and-a-half minutes of “Desire,” the film starring “Homeland” actor Damian Lewis that the automaker began promoting last fall ahead of the launch of its first new sports car in 50 years. The film was created by The Brooklyn Brothers in London and RSA Films, and was shot in Chile’s Atacama desert. Singer Lana Del Rey has also released a specially commissioned song, “Burning Desire,” to go with the film.

In it, we see Mr. Lewis coming between a dangerous criminal and his wife as he delivers a new F-Type Jaguar in the middle of a desert. The film plays up Mr. Lewis’ upper class British heritage, comparing him to Prince Harry and casting him as a smooth operator with a dry sense of humor.

by Tyler Durden

Remember the first Dark Knight Rises teasers that came out? Where the camera looks up into Gotham’s sky and the buildings form the outline of the bat logo? Well, French artist Thomas Lamadieu is kind of grooving on that same idea with his series ‘Sky Art’. Lamadieu photographs the geometric shapes outlined by the tops of buildings in the sky, then uses Microsoft Paint (old school style) to fill the sky shapes with drawings of bearded dudes riding cats, curvaceous showgirls and other dreamy doodles. It’s the kind of art conceived by someone who would have really cool dreams. We reckon anyway.

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by Tyler Durden

Continuing to ravel up the art world with this shock and awe artwork, comes the releases of two new books from Mark Ryden. The Gay 90s illustrates the works included in Ryden’s 2010 exhibition “The Gay 90s: Old Thyme Art Show” at Paul Kasmin Gallery, along with other paintings and drawing from the series. With masterful painting technique and disquieting content, Ryden’s newest paintings display his fascination with the earnest kitsch found in popular art of the end of the 1800s, yet reinforces how his paintings now more than ever are a skewering of both historical and current pop cultural touchstones.

Continue reading “Mark Ryden’s Carnival of Curiosities: The Gay 90s and Pinxit” »

by Tyler Durden

U.S.A. (burnt/unburnt) is a 2011 installation by Paris-based artist Claire Fontaine constructed from thousands of green matches that were inserted into a wall at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art as part art of “Evidence of Bricks” at the 2011 Time-Based Art Festival. Fontaine has made somewhat of a name for herself with her match installations and flaming geography, most recently completing a similar U.S.A. map at Queens Nails Gallery in San Francisco. Unlike the installation in Portland above, the Queens Nails artwork was actually set on fire, and while it may not have gone exactly as intended, the final post-flame artwork is impressive nonetheless. Photographs above for PICA by Dan Kvitka.

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In Fall 2003 J.G. Francis purchased his first Mercedes-Benz for $700. His passion for restoring cars back to their original condition, a cleverness for entrepreneurship and unconventional way to make a living has led to the success of Los Angeles-based Mercedes Motoring. Fascinated with his creative process and attention to detail we sat down recently to learn more about his labor of love.

What made you start taking Mercedes Benz’s apart?

I’ve been taking things apart since I was about six, and although it’s in my nature, I have no idea where or who it came from. My Greek Grandfather owed a deli, my Dad ran a casino, my Mom… well, I guess part of it comes from my Mom. She’s always in the garage making a birdhouse or carving a gourd. Anyway, to answer your question, what made me start taking apart Mercedes-Benzes was sheer fascination. I had always wanted to, so I did. That’s been ten years ago now, and I’ve taken apart 300-400 by now.

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