breaking

I recently attended the launch of a revolutionary hypercar built for the 21st century by a new company called Czinger.
In their own words: 'Czinger represents the pinnacle of automotive engineering, innovation, automotive art and technology-based design.'
In 1916 Cadillac produced the type 53. This is considered to be the first car to use the same control layout as modern cars, with the gear lever and hand brake in the middle of the front two seats, a key started ignition, and three pedals for the clutch, brake and throttle in the familiar order.

This is the entry-level Cayenne coupe which means that it has the all aluminium 3L V6 turbocharged engine with Variocam. It produces 335hp and 450Nm of torque, very nice.
The brochure states a top speed of 150 mph and 0-62 takes 6 seconds, so it’s certainly not slow.
Cayenne coupe starts at around £62,000 and this particular car has a few choice extras so comes out at just over £80,000.

Lighter, more powerful and with even higher levels of performance on both road and track, the McLaren 765LT is today revealed as the latest in a line of ‘Longtail’ McLarens and the most dynamically advanced and engaging LT model ever from McLaren Automotive.

With the Baltic country of Lithuania marking the 30th anniversary of the restoration of independence this March from the Soviet Union, I thought it appropriate and in order run through some top sights, leading hotels and gastronomic delights in and around Vilnius, the capital, which was first settled in the Stone Age. Over the years it has changed hands between Imperial and Soviet Russia, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania a multiple of times.

Irish Distillers, makers of some of the world’s most enjoyed whiskeys, has introduced Redbreast 27 Year Old, the oldest permanent expression in the beloved Redbreast series. An iconic addition to the collection, Redbreast 27 Year Old includes whiskey matured in ruby port barrels from Portugal’s Douro Valley to bring a new complexity and depth to the Redbreast collection.   
 

It’s 6pm. Two sleepy pairs of legs are heading to the 20th floor of a building in the centre of Reykjavík. We walk into an empty foyer surprisingly devoid of the hurry-home hussle of workers sharing the tower. I notice, happily, that Icelanders are rather good at clocking-off on time. The lift pings our arrival and we’re greeted by Anni, our warm and welcoming Tower Suites concierge who shows us to our room – one of 8 suites.

We were ready to give up. And I am oh-so-pleased we didn’t. If we had, we’d have missed one of the most spectacular sights we’d ever seen. It’s giving me goosebumps just thinking about it (and no, I’m not just talking about the cold!).

“Why wouldst thou leave calm Hartwell’s green abode...Apician table and Horatian Ode?”
Lord Byron referring to Louis XVIII’s departure from Hartwell House.
Owned by the National Trust, Hartwell House is an exceptional opportunity to stay in a magnificent and eccentrically decorated English stately home in Buckinghamshire. Set in 90 acres of verdantly landscaped garden, just 40 miles from London, it personifies a style and character unique to Jacobean (and Georgian) country houses.

If Imagination had a home, Iceland would be it.

Bentley Mulliner has revealed the all-new Bacalar at the home of Bentley in Crewe, England this morning. The rarest two-door Bentley of the modern era, and the ultimate expression of two-seat, open-air luxury, this definitive Grand Tourer spearheads a return to coachbuilding by Bentley Mulliner – the oldest coachbuilder in the world.