Autoblog

Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Amosu Luxury diamond Bentley key

As if losing the car keys weren't already enough of a nightmare scenario – the keys to your Bentley that much more so – along come the innovative jewelers at Amosu Luxury to make the key itself that much more precious. The company has staked its reputation among the nouveau riche for taking things like cell phones and icing them out in diamonds. Now Amosu has turned its attention to another item commonly found in the hands of the luxo-bling crowd – a Bentley key – and decorated it with 101 little diamonds (no more, no less) for a total of 1.09 carats, focused on detailing the Flying B logo.

Icing out your Bentley keychain will set you back nearly $8,000, so you may want to get a special leather case for it or keep it in your Bentley safe. But if "the world's fastest lorries" aren't your bag, Amosu can do the same for Lamborghini, Ferrari and Mercedes keys as well, which'll go nicely with that platinum Mercedes-Benz keychain. Thanks for the tip, Christian!

[Source: Motor Authority via 4WheelNews]

Anyone who's lived in a cold climate can appreciate not having to take out a key when the thermometer drops below freezing. Keyless entry is good, but a keycard that stays in your pocket is even better, as demonstrated in this commercial from Renault, which makes the argument painfully obvious.

Follow the jump to learn a good lesson about keeping all extremities covered in those cold winter climes.

[Source: Winding Road]

For customers accustomed to driving a Bentley, everything's got to be leather-lined. Heaven forbid one should actually have to handle a cold metal key, even one as nice as that put out by the boys at Crewe.

Fortunately for the pampered motorist, London leathercrafter Ettinger has come to the rescue with a specially-fabricated key case. The soft leather sleeve fits snuggly around a Bentley key allowing for its owner to use it normally. The case features the Bentley logo embossed into the leather and a circular B button on an extended tab.

Ettinger offers a range of leather wallets in partnership with Bentley that are available directly from the dealership. Like any other automotive branded product, you don't have to own the car to buy the item, but you would look rather silly starting your Jetta with a leather Bentley key.

[Source: Ettinger]

USA Today is reporting that General Motors will introduce a new key fob next April that makes your current controller look like a batter-powered key. The new fob wil feature an LCD display so that your vehicle can actually communicate things to you like the ' tire pressure, the odometer reading, how much fuel's in the tank, etc. You can also change the stereo's radio settings remotely and start the car with the fob if you've opted for GM's remote start package. Oh yeah, it'll unlock the doors, too. GM has jacked up the operating range of the fob by a factor of six so you can even pick up its signal in Ann Taylor while waiting for your wife/girlfriend to finish trying on turtlenecks (or is that just me?). The best part about the new key fob is its price: $150. That's not too shabby considering what it will do. The fob will initially be an option on the Cadillac Escalade and other pickups and SUVs across the automaker's brands. GM also promises it will cost less than $100 to replace if it were lost or broken. It has, however, been thoroughly tested to withstand the rigors of even the harshest daily routines, so durability shouldn't be a problem. Now if they'd only throw in 4GB of flash memory and let me hook it up to iTunes...

[Source: USA Today via Winding Road]