Bentley Mulsanne

The new ‘grand’ Bentley hasemerged from the shadows. These are the first official pictures of thecar dubbed the Mulsanne, which will replace the Arnage.

Aftercountless spy shots showing the model in disguise, the Rolls-RoycePhantom rival was revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance inMonterey, California.

It’s tipped to cost more than £350,000,and Bentley insiders say the hand-built stunner will set new standardsfor levels of refinement and personalisation in the luxury car sector.

TheMulsanne will make its European debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show nextmonth, where details about the specification will be released. It willgo on sale in 2010, and be built in Britain.

Inspired by the 8Litre of the Thirties, this new masterpiece represents the first bigBentley designed, engineered and built from the ground up by thecompany for nearly 80 years. The outgoing Arnage has its roots in thefirm’s association with Rolls-Royce, with which it shared a chassis andengine technology.

The Mulsanne also makes the most of Bentley’sassociation with the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, taking its namefrom the circuit’s famous corner.

The car gets a new and uniqueplatform, and is at least 30cm longer than the Arnage, giving strikinglooks and real road presence. Key to the new appearance is thearrangement of the front lights, which are reminiscent of the firm’sContinental models, both past and present.

At the rear, thereare oval exhausts and lozenge-shaped elements in the smooth lamps.There’s also no missing those enormous alloy wheels, which at more than20 inches are the largest currently available on a production road car.

Sharpbodywork creases, plus subtle surface changes, help to give theMulsanne an up-to-date look, while still honouring the style and feelof past models.

The new car will use the next generation ofBentley’s 6.75-litre V8 petrol engine, producing more than 550bhp andup to 1000Nm of torque. This should allow the limo to hit a top speedof about 200mph.

Eventually, the company may also releasediesel and hybrid models of the Mulsanne – and tune the V8 engine toburn biofuels. But Bentley is not planning to release a long-wheelbaseversion of the new car, as it believes its extra length will satisfymost owners.