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2014 Bentley Mulsanne with Equipment and Feature Upgrades Previewed Ahead of Geneva

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

You won't be able to notice it just by looking at it from the outside, but Bentley has updated its Mulsanne luxury sedan, which will be formally presented the Geneva International Salon d’Auto in the beginning of March, with customer orders commencing in April.

With the exception of three new additions to the color palette, namely the Dark Cashmere, Portofino and Damson, all changes on the 2014MY Mulsanne take place inside with Bentley introducing a host of new luxury features to its flagship model.

Monday, December 10, 2012

All those fat cats out there might buying their Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Paganis or whatever they fancy but, let’s face it, these supercars are not really that practical to drive day in, day out. In fact, most of the privileged of this world don’t even get to drive on a regular basis like the rest of us do: they are chauffeured.

Motor Trend’s Jonny Lieberman says that the one thing the rich don’t have is time – so whatever free time they get, like when being in the back seat of their car, they want it to be special.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Despite being renowned primarily for its luxury cars, Bentley has a rich history in endurance racing that dates back to 1928. It took 73 years for it to return to the tracks but when it did, it once again achieved victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Speed 8 in 2003.

That win also marked the end of the British brand’s racing program. A decade later, Bentley decided to engage in motorsports once again, starting from the end of 2013. It will do so with the Continental GT3, which was launched in concept form in Paris and made its U.S. debut at the LA Auto Show.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

About a month ago, Bentley showed a Mulsanne Convertible Concept to a select few at the 2012 edition of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The automaker did not allow anyone to take pictures and simply told us about the special unveiling sharing a few sketches in the process.

The reason why Bentley is holding back remains a mystery but it may have something to do with all the negative press it received with the EXP 9 F SUV Concept.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Some three years after the all-new Bentley Mulsanne marched into the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2009, the VW Group-owned automaker returned to this year's edition of the classic car show in California with a new conceptual model for an open top version of the Mulsanne.

While Bentley showed the Mulsanne Convertible Concept to a select number of people at this past weekend's Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the company did not allow any pictures to be shot of the car.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday was a perfect occasion for Bentley to launch a new bespoke edition of its Mulsanne luxury sedan at the Beijing Auto Show. Named the Mulsanne Diamond Jubilee, it was developed by the Mulliner division and will be made in just 60 examples, one for every year of Her Majesty's reign.

Picking Beijing for the car’s launch was an easy choice for Bentley as China is the brand's largest market in the world, having overtaken the US. The British luxury carmaker has sold 1,664 units in the first quarter of 2012 in the country.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Bentley will make its way to this year's edition of the Geneva International Auto Salon in early March with a new edition of its Mulsanne limousine that resurrects the Mulliner nameplate, or to be more precise, the car is being called the 'Mulliner Driving Specification'.

The VW Group-owned British automaker says the latest addition to the Mulsanne's range targets customers looking "for a sportier look, feel and character," though there are far less changes than what Bentley would like you to believe.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

An array of one-off items created by artisans from the tooling, woodshop and styling teams at Bentley Motors are heading to the auction block to raise money for The Prince’s Trust, which is a youth charity that provides practical and financial support to 14 to 30-year-olds.

The graduates from Bentley Motors have handcrafted a variety of collector's items ranging from display objects such as a chess-set with pieces tooled from aluminium set on a veneered board, to an impressive table created from a polished V8 engine from the Mulsanne and a cutlery-set engraved with the Bentley emblem commissioned by Robert Welch.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Bentley Motors sold 396 cars in Mainland China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) in the first four months of 2011, an all-time record result for the Asian market. With this number, Bentley broke its previous record set just last year, by an amazing 66 percent increase in sales.

Friday, February 11, 2011

If you're a petrol head and live in or are considering a trip to England, you may want to make plans to visit Bentley's headquarters in Crewe and check out a new design exhibition called "An Unbroken Line", which offers a rare glimpse inside the company's usually secret studios.

The exhibition follows the development of a Bentley from the first sketch right through to the final product, and includes drawings from the prototype phase of models such as the new Continental GT that are being shown to the public for the first time ever.

Furthermore, the exhibition also captures key moments of the company’s lineage with signature characteristics that define a Bentley to this day such as the positioning of the headlights, the use of inverted needles on the dashboard and the pronounced ‘powerlines’ that sweep down the flanks of the car.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Bentley is continuing its efforts to drum up attention for its new Mulsanne limo, this time with the release of a three minute long film shot on location in Edinburgh and the Scottish borders.

Set to replace the Arnage, the British firm's flagship model is motivated by a twin-turbocharged 6¾-litre V8 churning out 512 horsepower and a massive peak torque of 1020 Nm / 752 lb ft. Power is transferred to the rear wheels through a new eight-speed automatic transmission with steering-wheel mounted gearshifts. Watch the video after the jump.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Bentley's new flagship limousine, the Mulsanne, will arrive in the United Kingdom in the Summer of 2010 with a starting price of £220,000 (including taxes and delivery charges), which comes to about US$365,000 or €242,000 with the current exchange rates, the company announced today.

Powered by a twin-turbocharged 6¾-litre V8 engine that delivers a hefty 512 horsepower, the luxury Bentley flagship will offer buyers a wide variety of personalization options including a palette of 114 paint colors, 21 carpet colors, nine wood veneers and 24 different interior leather hides to choose from.

Bentley said it has already held more than 1,000 private customer previews of the Mulsanne at the company's factory in Crewe, England as well as a series of preview events held at dealerships across the UK, Continental Europe and the United States, and that early customer interest exceeds 2010 production targets

"Even at this very early stage, the expression of interest we've received easily exceeds our 2010 production targets," said Stuart McCullough, Member of the Board for Sales & Marketing for Bentley.

"The Mulsanne's credentials are a pure expression of Bentley design and craftsmanship, and that's struck a chord with Bentley enthusiasts across the globe as well as many of the potential customers we have welcomed for tours in Crewe this year. We've been encouraged by the positive commentary, notably from our American customers as the Mulsanne was privately previewed in seven metro markets across the country."

Production of the Mulsanne will commence at the firm's Crewe headquarters in England in the second quarter of 2010 with each example taking about nine weeks to build.

Video: New Bentley Mulsanne at the Frankfurt Show and in Motion

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

At the Frankfurt Motor Show this week, Bentley showed its all-new Mulsanne, the nameplate's all-new flagship grand tourer that is powered by a 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V8 that manages to produce a 'healthy' output of 508 horsepower and a whopping of 1020Nm or 752 lb-ft of torque. We've already showed you live photos of the glizty sedan, but now the British brand has released new videos of the Mulsanne including footage from its Frankfurt stand as well as a promotional film and a video of the car in motion. Check them out right after the jump.

Click here for detailed information and a high-resolution gallery of the new Bentley Mulsanne limo

New Bentley Mulsanne Marches into Frankfurt, gets Twin-Turbocharged V8 with 512HP

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Built to replace the soon-to-be discontinued Arnage, the Mulsanne is Bentley's new flagship model that has been designed and engineered at Crewe from the ground-up. We already got a taste of the Mulsanne about a month ago at the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance in California, but now Bentley has released further details on the limousine that made its European premiere in Frankfurt.

On the outside, the Mulsanne is less gaudy than the Rolls Royce Phantom but far more interesting than Daimler's S-Class-lookalike, the Maybach 57/62, which are the car's closest rivals. Highlights include the bold front design with the unusual quad headlamp arrangement and the huge front grille that echo the styling of the Bentley S-Type of the 1950s, the swooping rear end and muscular shoulder lines at the back along with the massive 20-inch or optionally, 21-inch alloy wheels.

Customers can choose from a huge range of 114 paint colors that include everything from unusual heritage colors and special satin to pearlescent finishes and duo-tone combinations. And if that isn't enough, Bentley offers an individualization programme where buyers specify the car with a unique color of their choice.

Moving on to the interior, the Mulsanne blends traditional styling and materials with high-tech gadgets and modern luxury amenities such as the multimedia system with 40 GB hard disc drives, satellite navigation, audio/video, personal data, telephone and Bluetooth connectivity. The entire cabin is encased within a "ring of wood" while most surfaces are dressed in premium leather.

Again, customers can select from what Bentley describes as a "virtually unlimited palette of leather hides", including 24 standard colours, of which three are new for Bentley.

Bentley says that while the firm's engineers where considering numerous powertrain configurations early on in the project, they concluded that a revised version of the 6¾-litre V8 engine would best serve their objectives for a engine that would "produce effortless torque from extremely low revs, maintain the highest levels of refinement and satisfy the strict current and future environmental standards."

In the Mulsanne, the twin-turbocharged 6¾-litre V8 produces an output of 512 horsepower and a massive peak torque of 1020 Nm / 752 lb ft that is now delivered even earlier at 1,800 rpm. The V8 delivers its power to the rear wheels through a the new eight-speed automatic transmission which, for the first time on a flagship Bentley, comes with steering-wheel mounted gearshift.

According to the VW Group-owned British automaker, CO2 emissions and fuel consumption are reduced by more than 15 percent in the revised powertrain.

Other mechanical highlights include the new air suspension system with continuously variable dampers and the also newly developed Drive Dynamics Control system that allows the driver / chauffer to calibrate the suspension and steering control systems to a preferred driving style.

Provisional technical Specification

Engine

Type: Twin-turbocharged V8

Installation: Front, longitudinal, rear-wheel drive

Construction: Alloy heads and block

Capacity: 6750cc

Power: 512PS / 505bhp / 377kW

Torque: 1020Nm / 752 lb ft

Transmission

Type: Rear-wheel-drive

Gearbox: ZF 8-Speed automatic

Body & Chassis