Bentley Mulsanne launched at Pebble Beach

The prestigious Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance in Monterey, California this year played host to the launch of one of the most iconic cars of recent times, the Bentley Mulsanne. Meant as tribute to company founder W.O. Bentley's crowning achievement in 1930, the 8-litre, this new car takes over from the Arnage as Bentley's flagship luxury grand tourer. Sharing the podium at Pebble Beach with its inspiration, the 8-litre, the Mulsanne is the first big Bentley that was designed, engineered and built from the ground up by Bentley engineers in almost 80 years, the last one being the aforementioned 8-litre, of course.

The Mulsanne was envisaged, fashioned and engineered entirely at Bentley's headquarters in Crewe, England, and this completely new and unique platform will be rolling out of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility within the Crewe factory next year, ready to hit the market.

The name Mulsanne comes from its namesake 6km long straight and the following 90-degree right hand corner at the Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans France which is the home ground of the 24 Hours of Le Mans championship. And it is this straight where, before the artificial chicanes were introduced, Le Mans cars were able to hit speeds of 400km/h. A befitting name for a car carrying the 'Winged B' emblem - a nod to Bentley's racing pedigree and six victories at the Le Mans races. While no specifications about the powertrain and performance were revealed at Pebble Beach, Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley Motors quoted that the Mulsanne is a luxury grand tourer that sets new standards in terms of comfort, effortless performance and hand-crafted refinement - the very qualities for which Bentley is renowned.

Dr. Paefgen also revealed that Bentley's ambition was to set new levels of comfort, acceleration and refined enjoyment positioned at the very pinnacle of the luxury sector. That meant completely redesigning the famous 6.75L V8 and replacing every significant part to improve acceleration, performance throughout the range and fuel efficiency and emissions. Bentley claims that the end result of their effort is a state-of-the-art engine with advanced technical features which are ground-breaking for the company and the ultra-luxury segment. No further details were revealed at the Pebble Beach launch, but the British luxury-car marque says it will discuss particulars about the Mulsanne's powertrain, chassis and individual features when it is displayed once again at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September. This 'pinnacle of the ultra-luxury segment', as Bentley puts it, will go on sale in mid-2010.