Editor

b500 magazine

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Del Gregory

Welcome to issue 9 of b500 magazine.

Of course Rolls- Royce Motors needs no introduction but for this issue I wanted to highlight the art of coachbuilding and what better vehicle to do that, than with their recently released Boat Tail.

Of course not everyone is in the market for a $28m car, but that’s not so much the point of my choosing to show it. We are a design led magazine and this is an amazing design and as Rolls-Royce’s CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös called it “The greatest Rolls Royce ever built”, the company is clearly pouring very high praise on this very special customer project car - especially considering the vehicles it has designed and built across it’s history. Read more on this later in the issue.

Which brings me on to another oneoff design and that is the $19m 2019 Bugatti La Voiture Noire designed by Etienne Salomé. Etienne and myself met just two years after the launch of his masterpiece Bugatti and together we presented a concept to Arkonik

which is now itself completed and recently launched. More on this later in the issue.

It seems almost unreal to me that I am already on issue 9 of this magazine. My idea when starting was to produce a car and car culture magazine, but somewhere along the way my luxury magazine roots started to appear and have now properly surfaced. Over the last few weeks I have enjoyed renewing old friendships in Yachts, Watches, Private Aircraft, Art and Luxury Hotels, and so it is with great anticipation I now bring a different b500 to you - which I hope you receive as favourably as you have done for the last 8 issues.

I am delighted to announce Land Rover restoration company Arkonik have now acquired b500 magazine and that I am staying on within a role as Editorin-Chief, which I am really pleased about. Arkonik is a forward thinking company which has steadily grown over the past 10+ years and have to date sold over 400 vehicles into the world, with an A-Team of over 100 between UK & US. I have also taken a position within Arkonik alongside my role at b500, to work as their Global Sales & Marketing Manager, with the aim to help develop new markets for the business.

Gioel (aka redshift75) has been on his travels again, this time he tells about his recent trip across the Italian Dolomites in the F50 and Dallara Stradale. Two very different age of cars but which tell very similar stories.

Please also welcome our new Art contributor David Simon. I’ve known David for many years and his knowledge of the contemporary art market is second to none. For his first page he talks about the current position of the art market, both online and through galleries and exhibition spaces.

Finally for now, I had to miss the Goodwood Revival (and members meeting) this year, but our good friend and b500 contributor Amy Shore was there and has written a great story and of course sent us some of her amazing images to go alongside which capture the spirit of the event perfectly.

I hope you enjoy this issue of b500 as much as I have enjoyed bringing it all together.

Del