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It’s an all-new Bentley, it’s called the Mulsanne, and it’s a vehicle that more than a few auto aficionados have been waiting for. Introduced this afternoon at Pebble Beach, the Mulsanne is a clean sheet redesign of Bentley’s ever-enduring flagship and according to Bentley CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen, when they sat down to figure out everything they wanted to change on the Arnage, by the time they were finished, nearly nothing remained.
The Mulsanne is about eleven inches longer than the Flying Spur and rides on a new, bespoke chassis that sits so low on its wheels you can barely get a finger between the top of the front tire and the wheel well. The swelling line of the rear-quarter panel is reminiscent of the Brooklands. However, we were told that since Bentley had a good idea of what the Mulsanne was going to be when they were designing the Brooklands, they incorporated features that became aesthetic stepping stones to the Mulsanne.
New Bentley Mulsanne: the first photos
Now the disguise has been shorn from the Project Kimberley prototype, we see the finished Mulsanne. CAR has now seen it in the metal and it’s clearly a member of the modern Bentley family, yet is distinguished just enough from the Continental family to justify the step-up in price. Unlike the Conti range, the Mulsanne price tag will start with a ‘2’ when sales start in summer 2010.
One bodystyle will be sold this time round (the Arnage was sold in regular and RL long-wheelbase trim) and it follows the classic four-door saloon format, albeit with a swooping rear end and strong muscular shoulders accentuated towards the back. That long, arcing C-pillar is especially stylish and hints at the privacy afforded to rear-seat passengers.
The Carloos Blog 