To a point, the Mulsanne is a celebration of past glories. The brand says inspiration is from company founder WO Bentley's stunning 1930 Bentley 8-litre model; the unusual twin headlight design, with the smaller secondary lamp outboard of the main, is an example of this.
The nameplate also goes back to those days - Mulsanne is the main straight and a corner of the Le Mans circuit that has played host to six Bentley wins in the decade before World War II. This bit of the circuit is also known as Ligne Droite des Hunaudieres ..... which is altogether too much to make into a boot badge, obviously.
Anyway, don't go thinking this project is sepia-toned. No, this model is British fresh-sheet engineering at its bally best.
It was conceived, styled and engineered at Bentley's headquarters in Crewe, England, with sign-off from Bentley's owners somewhere in ...ahem ... Germany. This being a VW brand. Wonder how they translate 'spiffing?'
Anyway, the car is completely top-hole, with no chance of you spotting any Beetle bits. There's an all-new and unique platform and nothing on the car's exterior is shared with any other Bentley apart from the door mirror, which comes from a concept.
A slightly different story with the mechanicals. Under the bonnet is a heavily updated version of the Arnage's L-series 6.75-litre V8, which can trace its origins back to the firm's first V8 from 1959. Bentley's engineers have made many changes to the engine to make it suitable for the car and to pass modern emissions legislation. Some are suggesting new fuel-saving technology could include cylinder deactivation.
The engine also has improved torque delivery, with much more available lower down the rev range. Bentley isn't yet revealing how much torque or power this engine has. That information is being saved for the next unveiling, at the upcoming Frankfurt motor show.
When can you buy one? It will be built in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and goes on sale in mid-2010. Each will take 400 hours to build. Price hasn't been set, but it's unlikely the production versions will match the No.1 Pebble Beach chassis which fetched $900,000 at auction this week. Some people, they'll simply pay anything to be first .....
Bentley says: "The return of the Mulsanne name to a car carrying Bentley's iconic 'Winged B' emblem underlines the company's racing pedigree and nowhere reflects that heritage better than the famed Le Mans circuit...Few places offer a stronger or more emotive connection with the Bentley marque than the famed Mulsanne corner."
Pebble Beach is usually for rare and exotic old cars, but Bentley had one of those in California as well, an orginal 8-litre first shown at the 1930 London motor show. It was only the second example to be built and became WO Bentley's company car for two years. In all, 100 of the 160kmh-plus 8-litres were built between 1930 and 1931.
Also shown off at the beach party was the Devon GTX, a $900,000 luxury bearing more than a passing resemblance to the now defunct Dodge Viper (and for good reason) and a new convertible version of the outrageous Spyker C8 Aileron.
The GTX is an interesting story. It was close to being badged a Viper when Devon lodged a bid to buy the name from General Motors. But instead it's had to settle for borrowing a number of classic American supercar design cues.
The stretched bonnet, sloping snout and muscular rear haunches give it a familiar stance, but the on-paper figures suggest it should go like nothing else. Under the steel structure and carbon-fibre body sits an 8.4-litre V10 sending no less than 484kW to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.
Devon plans to build a total of 36 cars a year guaranteeing its exclusivity.
As for the super Spyker? Power comes from Audi's 4.2-litre V8 and it hits 100kmh in 4.5 seconds with a top speed of almost 300kmh. The suspension comes from Lotus and is fully independent and nearly all-aluminum.
The tiny Dutch automaker has not disclosed price.
No comments:
Post a Comment