Robb Report Best of the Best 2015

Newspapers delighted in reporting Earl Rogers’s lurid courtroom antics: producing the entrails of one victim, brandishing the skull of another. EL PUEBLO DE Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Ángeles had few practitioners of the dramatic arts when the Reverend Lowell L. Rogers arrived there in the 1870s. With the invention of the motion picture, this deficiency was corrected, but few screen stars ever gave a performance to match those delivered by Rogers’s son, Earl Rogers (pictured), whose theater was the courtroom and whose appearances attracted as much press as any Klieg-lit premiere. Though Rogers, a graduate of Syracuse University, had planned to pursue a career in corporate law, a succession of unfortunates in legal peril pulled him into criminal cases, which appealed to his taste for drama. Newspapers delighted…

Benetti, which opened its doors in 1873, has earned a reputation as one of the world’s finest bespoke yacht builders. The Italian shipyard has developed its international client base employing many of Italy’s most talented yacht makers. Benetti is also continuously moving the superyacht sector forward with its exploration in design and propulsion. The culture of innovation at the company is so strong, in fact, that it has been honored by the editors of Robb Report with a Best of the Best award 10 times in the last 12 years. Vica, Benetti’s most recently launched 164-foot superyacht, is a fine example of the company’s forward thinking. Benetti built a smart hybrid in Vica, with a composite hull and aluminum superstructure. “Using this combination of materials, we were able to add…

SUNSEEKER sunseeker.com | nick.bischoff@sunseeker-usa.com Sunseeker, a name synonymous with quality yacht building and performance, continues to innovate and evolve fifty years later as a British luxury yacht builder. With distribution points covering the globe, Sunseeker now offers yachts ranging in size from their flagship 155’ to their 40’ Portofino. If reliability and reputation are important to you, then peace of mind should come at a value that is unmatched in today’s luxury yacht ownership experience. BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS TOURIST BOARD BVITourism.com | 800.835.8530 The British Virgin Islands offers discerning travelers the ultimate in luxury escapes and relaxation. With pristine beaches, fascinating natural wonders and more private island resorts than any other Caribbean destination, the BVI is where nature’s secrets are kept. Throughout the month of November, secrets of the BVI’s…

AS THE REPLACEMENT for the Gallardo, Lamborghini’s all-time best-selling model, the Huracán LP 610-4 had to be good. It is better than good: It is excellent, featuring advanced design, extraordinary performance, exquisite build quality, and good manners. The Gallardo’s great shortcoming was a 6-speed automated-manual transmission that, thanks to the clunking brutality of its shifting, made the car seem like a piece of mechanized armor. The Huracán’s new 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox eliminates all that commotion, executing gear changes quickly and smoothly. And the all-wheel drive system puts power down with electronically regulated, electro hydraulically controlled authority. The Huracán may appear too extreme for daily commutes, but it is more refined than it looks. The spacious interior, good visibility (for a mid-engine car), light-touch controls, and docility in city traffic…

HAVING LEFT THE cobblestone streets of Siena, we were on a two-lane Chianti country road, butting through a Tuscan summer monsoon. The rain, horizontal and ferocious, had turned the dirt shoulders into mush. If there were any objects ahead, we prayed they would be small and soft. Saner souls would have headed for the nearest Autogrill Ciao and sipped espresso while the storm passed. But my valorous passenger and I were motoring in a Ferrari California T, which may be the finest, most driver friendly GT in this generation of grandly touring automobiles. In a downpour rivaling the one that set Noah’s ark afloat, the California T practically drove itself. The sensors kicked in, the computers whirred, and the car automatically stayed in balance, on course, and far from hydroplaning…

THE BMW i8’S DOORS FLY UP AND OUT TO DRAMATIC EFFECT, INVITING THE DRIVER AND PASSENGERS INTO AN ERGONOMICALLY FRIENDLY INTERIOR. FOR THE STRIKING design of its thermoplastic-and-aluminum body alone, the BMW i8 is a novel vehicle. But its ability to accommodate four occupants in such a low and shapely mid-engine design with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain elevates the i8’s status to groundbreaking. Behind the passenger compartment, which is made primarily of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic and aluminum, is a twin-turbocharged, 1.5-liter inline 3-cylinder gasoline engine. It develops 228 hp at 5,800 rpm and 235 ft lbs of torque at 3,700 rpm, and it is connected to a 6-speed automatic transmission. Up front, a 129 hp electric motor instantaneously produces 184 ft lbs of torque and delivers it to the front wheels…