At the revealing of the car, Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman of Bentley Motors stated “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 Mulsanne name, that of the famed corner at the end of the long straight at the Le Mans circuit, is synonymous with the Bentley marque and, according to Bentley ‘few places offer more emotive connection’.
Alongside the Mulsanne at Pebble beach was an Bentley 8-Litre from the 1930s of which 100 cars were originally built. Dr. Ulrich Eichhorn, Member of the Board Engineering said “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, the Mulsanne has been designed with exactly the same guiding principles, so it is entirely fitting that these Bentleys from different eras share the same stage.”
So, how does it look? I love the way that it’s quite squat and muscular. The huge and very beautiful (possibly 20-22 inch) wheels almost fill the arches. From a side profile, the windows look really quite narrow as the swage line near the top of the door and arches is very defined, especially on the last few inches of the door which runs over the rear wheel arch. This line bulges up and where it runs over the arch and flows over the rear light cluster, flattens out, giving the impression that the Mulsanne is hugely wide. The boot stands proud from the rest of the bodywork, sort of like the rear of the latest Mercedes-Benz S class.
Also noticeable are the exhausts, which have a flattened oval look to them. They are in themselves, almost pieces of art and fit in smoothly with the rest of the cars styling. Seen in photographs taken at the Crewe factory (without Bentley’s consent of course) before its official release, the front of the car was slated instantly and likened by some websites as looking like ‘a grinning idiot’, due to the shape of the lower grille and the pattern and position of the two front lights. However, to me the car looks great. Sure, the front isn’t exactly ever going to be called stunning, but from a side or three-quarter view the Mulsanne is very much like the Rolls-Royce Phantom, but with Bentley’s own styling flair.
As of yet there, no interior shots of the car have been released, but the car will be at the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show on the 15th-17th of September this year.
For more information on the new Bentley Mulsanne click here.
