Early July we showed you some spyshots of the new big Bentley. They revealed a lot of the design. Today the new Bentley, called the Mulsanne, was shown to a select public on the Pebble Beach Concours, California. For now we only get pictures of the exterior because Bentley will keep performance figures and interior details for themselves until the world première at the IAA Motorshow in Frankfurt, next month.
Of course Bentley gave a tip of the veil by saying this is not a replacement for the Arnage but that they have created a complete new car by “redesigning the famous 6.75-liter V8 and replacing every significant part to improve acceleration, performance throughout the range and fuel efficiency and emissions.” We can expect that the Mulsanne will be in the dealers showroom’s by summer 2010.
Beside that we can tell you that the Mulsanne was created by the Belgian designer by Dirk Van Braeckel, who is head of the Bentley design team and won the 2008 European Automotive Design Award. Stay tuned for more news of the Mulsanne before and during the IAA motor show! Scroll down for the official press-release by Bentley.
PRESS RELEASE:
NEW BENTLEY MULSANNE MAKES WORLD DEBUT AT PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE, CALIFORNIA
(Bentley Motors, Crewe, England) Today, Bentley Motors unveiled the Mulsanne, the company’s all-new flagship grand tourer, at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance in Monterey, California.
The Mulsanne is inspired by the company founder W.O. Bentley’s crowning achievement in 1930, the 8-litre. And it was W.O.’s own sensitively conserved company car that shared the podium with the new Mulsanne in Pebble Beach. This early motoring masterpiece represented the last big Bentley that was designed, engineered and built from the ground up by Bentley engineers – until now.
Nearly 80 years later, while paying respect to this illustrious past, the new Mulsanne is a thoroughly modern statement of luxury driving and grand touring. Conceived, styled and engineered entirely at Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, England, the Mulsanne, with its completely new and unique platform, goes into production next year in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility within the Crewe factory.
Introducing the Bentley Mulsanne at Pebble Beach, where Bentley was the featured marque, Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley Motors, said:
“The challenge we set our engineers was to create a new grand Bentley that would stand as the pinnacle of British luxury motoring, offering the world’s most exclusive driving experience. They have responded to this challenge with real passion and the result is a luxury grand tourer that sets new standards in terms of comfort, effortless performance and hand-crafted refinement – the very qualities for which Bentley is renowned.”
The Bentley design team, lead by Dirk van Braeckel, have created a flagship that offers the classic sporting, styling cues long-associated with Bentley – expressed in a thoroughly contemporary way.
“From the very first hand sketches in the styling studio, we were inspired by the traditions of the grand touring Bentleys and have sought to evolve this story for a new generation of Bentley enthusiasts.”
The return of the Mulsanne name to a car carrying Bentley’s iconic ‘Winged B’ emblem underlines the company’s racing pedigree and nowhere reflects that heritage better than the famed Le Mans circuit, the scene of no fewer than six Bentley triumphs. Few places offer a stronger or more emotive connection with the Bentley marque than the famed Mulsanne corner.
The Bentley 8-litre displayed alongside the Mulsanne in California was first shown at the 1930 London Motor Show. It was the second-built and was W.O. Bentley’s company car for two years. Capable of reaching more than 100 mph, the 8-litre demonstrated W.O. Bentley’s ambition and ability to build a grand luxury car capable of surpassing every other leading manufacturer of the day. A total of 100 cars were built in 1930 and 1931.
“The 8-litre’s breathtaking performance and quality was perhaps the finest example of a ‘pure’ grand Bentley. Every mechanical detail carried W.O. Bentley’s unique stamp and it was the clearest demonstration of a car built without compromise,
Looks like an asian rip-off of a bentley.
Exactly what I thought Dave
Thinking the same… something went wrong with the nose and the back looks very similar to the Flying Spur imo!
Right, the front looks like a chinese copy.
im hoping that like the phantom it grows on me, i am a MASSIVE fan of the arnage it would be a shame for this never to give the same thrill when i saw it
The front is just wrong!!!!
On this picture it looks really great:
http://gtspiritmedia.com/gtspirit/gallery/bentley-mulsanne/image00004.jpg