What is it?
Bentley has padded out its stand with a couple of Series 51 Continentals, but they're just design flourishes really. The real meat on its
Frankfurt platter is the brand new Mulsanne - and despite looking familiar it's not a re-badged VW. The Mulsanne is in fact the first brand spanking new big Bentley since way back in the 1930s, after which they all became badge engineered Rolls-Royces, or later Volkswagens. That means it's on a whole new platform and has been designed without anything to consider except the self-imposed pressure of making the finest saloon money can buy.
Why's it here?
Because Bentley needs a modern new mega saloon to compete with those pesky craftsmen over at Rolls-Royce. Each Mulsanne takes 400 hours to build - 200 of those by hand.
As expected it's powered by a 6.75-litre V8, still going strong after more than half a century and now pumping out 505bhp and 752lb.ft of torque, as well as being around 15 percent more economical than its last iteration in the Arnage. The Mulsanne also gets an adaptive chassis with three presets between comfort and sport, and also a natty keyless entry system that links to different drivers' preferences for the radio, seat and steering wheel settings.
Show stopper or floor filler?
We actually saw it first at Pebble Beach last month, but as this is its debut proper Bentley has given us more reasons to believe that it will genuinely give Rolls-Royce (and thus BMW) something to worry about. Prices still haven't been confirmed, but it's expected to start at around £200,000 when it goes on sale next year. A long wheelbase version will follow.
Mark Nichol - 16 Sep 2009