Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong have launched their flagship sports car SLS AMG in the city, making Hong Kong one of the first Asian markets to get the Gullwing super sports car within the first few weeks of its production. The car is the first Mercedes automobile designed in-house by AMG and is described by Mercedes as a spiritual successor to the 300SL Gullwing.

In celebration of the launch of their new car, Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong held a ceremony on July 16th at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. At the press launch, famous artist, Chi Lam Cheung and celebrity model, Jennifer Tse, led the unveiling ceremony to witness the noteworthy moment alongside with media representatives.

Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong attracted over 1000 affluent, prestigious guests in town to experience the extravagant and superior SLS AMG at the launch event in the evening.

The launch party highlights were the up-beat unveiling performances, including pyro dance and bungee dance performed by Circus O, a well known Canada-based pyrotechnic and stunt show performing group.

Two Gullwing SLS AMG super sports cars then descended from the air and one driving out from the main stage, creating a fascinating picture. The model enjoyed a great deal of success since it was first introduced thanks to its gullwing doors.

The SLS AMG is equipped with a 6.2l V8 engine from AMG, mated with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, that delivers 420kW and 650nm of Torque. This allows the new Gullwing to sprint from 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds, despite of its 1620 kg overall weight.

The top speed is electronically limited at 317 km/h and the fuel consumption level shows a combined 13.2l/100 km figure. Additional exterior styling cues include LED technology and motor racing/aviation inspired elements.

The SLS AMG is now available in Hong Kong HK$3198000 / US$412000 and Macau HK$2537000 / $327000.

The ball used in Spain’s World Cup final win over the Netherlands has fetched almost $74,000 in a charity auction on eBay.

The famous Jabulani ball was sold for the ‘46664′ HIV/AIDS charity – named after Nelson Mandela’s prisoner number when he was held at Robben Island. The balls used during the World Cup were critiqued for their unpredictability and were nicknamed “supermarket balls”

The gold version used in the final was named ‘Jo’bulani’ because the game was played in Johannesburg, known colloquially as Jo’burg. A total of 133 bids from 55 participants came in for the ball. It eventually went to a group of Spanish fans.

The House of Gucci has come out with a new collection of “heritage” aviator sunglasses.

The three new models Unisex 1627/S, Mens 1622/S and Women’s 3108/S all feature the red and green Gucci stripe and “G” logo on both temples. The sunglasses come with a special edition leather case and carrying pouch. The case has a wide signature stripe while the pouch has a matching strap.

They’re now available for $174, $180 and $170 respectively from haute online eyewear boutique Eyegoodies.

http://www.eyegoodies.com/

Gurcharn Sahota, a 30-year-old accountancy graduate, is offering the world’s most expensive car wash service in the UK – charging up to £7,200 per vehicle.

Mr Sahota, who lives with his parents in Derbyshire, has converted their double garage into a hi-tech workshop. He has lined the walls and floor of the double unit with specialist tiles imported from Italy which help reflect flecks of dirt on the cars.

Each vehicle takes up to 250 hours to clean, and his premier service includes polishing and buffing every inch of the car inside and out five times. After spending hundreds of hours cleaning by hand he uses a £5,000 computerised microscope which examines the car for blotches and scratches. A buffer is linked to a highly sensitive paint gauge which scans the car to prevent patching on the bodywork. Finally, he uses a specialist clay which he rubs over the bodywork to remove any imperfections.

Since he started the business five years ago, Gurcharn Sahota has washed hundreds of supercars including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royce and the Le Mans-winning McLaren F1 GTR.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who is rated by Forbes magazine as the world’s 37th richest person, plans to give away most of his $13.5 billion fortune.

In the statement, Allen said his estate would support causes including not-for-profit scientific research such as the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

His declaration came a month after Gates and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett launched a campaign dubbed the “giving pledge” that urges America’s richest individuals to commit half of their fortunes to charitable causes.

Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975. He left the company in 1983 and became an investor in a range of industries including media and cable

Allen also owns one of the largest private yachts in the world, a vessel named Octopus, which is often moored in Monte Carlo.

Divers have found bottles of champagne some 230 years old on the bottom of the Baltic which a wine expert described Saturday as tasting “fabulous”. Thought to be premium brand Veuve Clicquot, the 30 bottles discovered perfectly preserved at a depth of 55 metres (180 feet) could have been in a consignment sent by France’s King Louis XVI to the Russian Imperial Court.

If confirmed, it would be by far the oldest champagne still drinkable in the world, thanks to the ideal conditions of cold and darkness. “We have contacted (makers) Moet & Chandon and they are 98 percent certain it is Veuve Clicquot,” Christian Ekstroem, the head of the diving team said.

“There is an anchor on the cork and they told me they are the only ones to have used this sign,” he said, adding that a sample of the champagne has been sent to Moet & Chandon for their analysis. The group of seven Swedish divers made their find on July 6 off the Finnish Aaland island, mid-way between Sweden and Finland, near the remains of a sailing vessel.

“Visibility was very bad, hardly a metre,” Ekstroem said. “We couldn’t find the name of the ship, or the bell, so I brought a bottle up to try to date it.” The handmade bottle bore no label, while the cork was marked Juclar, from its origin in Andorra.

According to records, Veuve Clicquot was first produced in 1772, but the first bottles were laid down for 10 years. “So it can’t be before 1782, and it can’t be after 1788-89, when the French Revolution disrupted production,” Ekstroem said.

Aaland wine expert Ella Gruessner Cromwell-Morgan, whom Ekstroem asked to taste the find, said it had not lost its fizz and was “absolutely fabulous”. “I still have a glass in my fridge and keep going back every five minutes to take a breath of it. I have to pinch myself to believe it’s real,” she said.

Cromwell-Morgan described the champagne as dark golden in colour with a very intense aroma.
“There’s a lot of tobacco, but also grape and white fruits, oak and mead,” she said of the wine’s “nose”.

As for the taste, “it’s really surprising, very sweet but still with some acidity,” the expert added, explaining that champagne of that period was much less dry than today and the fermentation process less controllable.

“One strong supposition is that it’s part of a consignment sent by King Louis XVI to the Russian Imperial Court,” Cromwell-Morgan said. “The makers have a record of a delivery which never reached its destination.”

That would make it the oldest drinkable champagne known, easily beating the 1825 Perrier-Jouet tasted by experts in London last year.

Cromwell-Morgan estimated the opening price at auction of each bottle at around half a million Swedish kronor (53,000 euros, 69,000 dollars). “But if it’s really Louis XVI’s wine, it could fetch several million,” she added. The remaining bottles, which could number more than the 30 uncovered by the divers, will remain on the seabed for the time being. Their exact location is being kept secret.

Meanwhile local authorities on Aaland will meet Monday to decide who legally owns the contents of the wreck. The archipelago at the mouth of the Gulf of Bothnia belongs to Finland, though it enjoys autonomy from Helsinki and its inhabitants speak Swedish.

Madonna continues with her seasonal campaign for Italian designers Dolce & Gabbana this time with the Autumn / Winter 2010-2011 line.

Dom Pérignon is paying tribute to the founder of Pop Art, Andy Warhol. Inspired by Warhol’s unconventional talent when using icons to represent shapes and fun colors, Dom Pérignon has reinterpreted his legendary first bottle with a stunning Limited Edition.

The result is a unique collection of six unique bottles inspired by the famous artist’s color sets blue, red, violet, emerald green, lilac and yellow. These collectors’ bottles will be available to customers through four stores in Spain – the Terrace of the Hotel Urban (Madrid), Pacha Ibiza, CDLC (Barcelona) and Olivia Valere (Marbella).

Members of the public will be able to see the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the first time at next week’s Farnborough Air Show, the firm has announced.

The new Dreamliner, set to go into service later this year, will be presented alongside its rival Airbus’s A380 superjumbo at the show, which runs July 19 – 25. It will be the official debut of the Boeing 787 with scheduled tours offered by Boeing to trade visitors on July 19 and 20.

Boeing says that test aircraft ZA003 will be in attendance, expected to land at Farnborough Airport at approximately 9AM on Sunday, July 18 and depart again on July 20. The lightweight composite structure of the Dreamliner is expected to herald a new generation of lighter, greener aircraft, despite boasting a capacity of between 290 and 330 passengers.

Boeing says that it will be considerably quieter during takeoff and landing and some 20 percent more fuel efficient than comparable jets currently on the market, making it cheaper and more environmentally-friendly to run. Passengers are also promised a more comfortable ride, with a higher cabin pressurization to reduce sickness and headaches and the largest windows ever used on a commercial airliner.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been the fastest-selling wide-body airliner in history and assuming that the remainder of the test flights go well, it should enter service with All Nippon Airways in late 2010. The Farnborough Air Show runs July 19 – 25 in Farnborough, United Kingdom.

Toy store Hamleys, which is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year, hosted an event to showcase their predictions for this Christmas must-have toys.

And this year, Hamleys is offering a small-scale Mercedes Benz SLS AMG covered with Crystallized Swarovski Elements. Price: £1500.