Bentley set to shine in Europe's new automotive exhibition

A pavilion dedicated to the Bentley and Rolls-Royce marques is one of the highlights of Autostadt, a massive 'theme world' site developed by the Volkswagen Group which opens in north Germany on Thursday, 1 June. The £216 million project has been completed to tie in with the Expo 2000 World Exhibition in Hanover.

Autostadt has been constructed on a 25-hectare site at Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg, the world's largest car production facility under one roof, which lies some 45 miles east of Hanover. With its convenient location in the centre of Europe, an estimated 1.2 million people a year are expected to visit this permanent exhibition of the group's marques. They will experience what has been conceived as a blend of entertainment, education and shopping. The multi-media Bentley Pavilion is dedicated to conveying the lineage, performance, technological achievements and craftsmanship that go to make up the Bentley and Rolls-Royce marques.

The first part of the journey through the pavilion provides a chronological display of both marques, from 1904 to the present day. Four ‘icons’ from Bentley's history are highlighted: the Bentley Boys of the 1920s and their racing triumphs at Le Mans; W.O. Bentley's favourite model, the Speed Six; the R Type Continental and the archetypical grand tourer, the Continental R.

Moving on, visitors then become aware that the pavilion has hidden depths, as they are drawn into the 'power vortex' of a spiral staircase which descends into the heart of the pavilion. Within this construction, music, lighting effects and video displays combine around an 8m high kinetic sculpture based on the crankshaft of the W16, Bentley's ground-breaking 8 litre, 16-cylinder aluminium engine.

The next part of the display celebrates the quality of materials and craftsmanship that distinguish the two marques. Cars on show in this area include the new Rolls-Royce Corniche and the latest Bentley, the Arnage Red Label. Also on display is a replica of an early engine from a Le Mans-winning Bentley alongside the Crewe-built 6.75 litre V8 Arnage Red Label engine.

A media wall takes visitors on a virtual tour of the Crewe factory, while the 'Wall of Hidden Qualities' focuses attention on the materials used in constructing the motor cars, such as woods, leather and metals, and the vehicles' 'jewellery' - their grilles, switchgear and chrome embellishments.

When leaving this area visitors are left in no doubt as to the cars they should aspire to drive: Project Hunaudières, the mid-engined two-seater Bentley supercar unveiled last year, is set on a section of Brooklands-type banking. Finally, the exit area captures the power and performance of a Continental R Mulliner being truly tested to its limits on the road.

The Bentley Pavilion is one of many attractions at Autostadt, which has been designed as an all-round family experience. Included in the price of admission are pavilions dedicated to the Volkswagen Group's other manufacturing subsidiaries; tours of the Wolfsburg works; a customer centre and, adjacent to these, stunning 40m glass cylinders from which Volkswagen cars can be collected by their purchasers. There are also an Auto Museum featuring 80 motoring legends; a 360-degree cinema with 3D simulation and a shopping mall with food village and children's centre. Accommodation for visitors to Expo 2000 is available close to the Bentley Pavilion in the Ritz Carlton in Autostadt, the first of these US five-star hotels to be built in Germany.

Autostadt can be reached via the A39 motorway, close to the A2 between Hanover and Berlin, or by high speed rail connections.