MONTEREY, California — The all-new 2011 Bentley Mulsanne — the "Grand Bentley" that has been teased for several months— made its public debut here at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Details on powertrain and chassis will be revealed next month at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, and the car will go on sale in mid-2010.
Bentley tooks pains to note that the new car will not be a direct replacement for the Arnage, which goes out of production later this year, but will be positioned above the Arnage as Bentley's new flagship sedan, "at the pinnacle of the ultra-luxury segment."
The Mulsanne name is lifted from the famed straightaway at Le Mans, scene of six Bentley victories, and was last used on a predecessor to the Arnage that was built and sold from 1980-'92.
The 2011 Mulsanne was engineered and designed, and will be built, at Bentley headquarters in Crewe, England. It was created by a team headed by design chief Dirk van Braeckel. It is said to have been inspired by the 1930 Bentley 8-liter, which was built in extremely limited numbers before founder W.O. Bentley sold the company to Rolls-Royce in 1931.
Now owned by the Volkswagen group, Bentley isn't revealing details about the car's V8 engine other than to say it is a complete redesign of the existing 6.75-liter engine. The car's underlying platform also is all new, the company said.
Inside Line says: We see a greater resemblance to the Arnage than to the original Bentley 8-liter. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent
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