There aren’t many car manufacturers that would collectively sit down and look at an existing model which has a top speed of 195mph, 552 bhp under the bonnet, a 0-62mph time of 5.1 seconds and think it wasn’t swift enough but these discussions look to have taken place at the Crewe-based prestige car maker. The result of these talks is the Continental GT Speed – available in coupe or convertible form, which features an up-rated engine under that beautiful bonnet. The engine offers 15% more torque and 9% more power than the standard Continental GT, while engine efficiency is optimised by the use of lower friction, lighter-weight components and a new engine management system. Thanks to this power and torque increase, and a 55kg reduction in weight, the GTC Speed is capable of hitting 200mph and 0-62mph time shaves 0.3 seconds off the standard Continental GT at 4.8 seconds. Coupled to the engine is a flawless six-speed automatic transmission. The result is a stunning experience, with almost bottomless well-like reserves of power to be had. Put the pedal to the foot and instantly feel and hear the engine roar, in lesser hands all that power could have been a problem, but the engineers at Bentley are well versed in ensuring all the grunt finds its way to the tarmac, and those majestic 20-inch alloy wheels. The latest versions of the W12 6.0-litre engine have the capability to run on petrol, E85 bioethanol or any mix of the two, all from the single tank. Running the car on E85 can have a significant positive impact on “well-to-wheel” emissions, however at 396g/km, CO2 emissions are among the highest of any production car on UK roads. Fuel consumption isn’t the car’s strong point either, the engine’s thirsty and the car weights near two and a half tonnes, so a combined mpg figure of 17 isn’t going to win the car any economy awards. Frankly though, the Bentley Continental GTC Speed isn’t about frugality, it’s about performance, style and luxury. And on those three criteria the car scores a perfect 5.

Read the full Bentley GTC Speed road test

Bentley Continental GTC consumer car reviews
Bentley Continental GTC lease prices
Bentley Continental GTC new and nearly new

The Mulsanne, even in its most basic form, costs £220,000, a sum that can only be afforded by the very richest members of society. Add a few optional extras and the price soon rises beyond £250,000. But you don’t buy a Mulsanne if your bank balance is going to take a significant hit, so it would be unfair to mark it down in this category. After all, if you have that kind of money to spend on a car, it constitutes good value. In terms of running costs, it’s pretty much a question of if you have to ask, you can’t afford them. Fuel economy of 16.7mpg on the combined cycle is around what one would expect (although the Rolls-Royce Ghost’s 20.8mpg betters it) and CO2 emissions of 393g/km mean that it’s positioned in Band M for vehicle excise duty, which will cost £950 in the first year and £435 in subsequent years. Residual values should be decent, but the Mulsanne won’t be as good an investment as a Picasso lithograph. The previous Arnage retained around 44% of its value after three years and 60,000 miles, which is a good indicator of how the new model will fare.

Read the full Bentley Mulsanne road test

RoadTestReports.co.uk provides road tests reports written by members of the Guild of Motoring Writers. These reports are complemented by car reviews submitted by the members of the public who drive the vehicles day in day out.

Bentley Mulsanne consumer car reviews
Bentley Mulsanne lease prices
Bentley Mulsanne new and nearly new

Bentley’s Design team, led by Dirk van Braeckel, commissioned an exhaustive research study to identify the classic signature features that have defined Bentleys from the 1920s to the present day, as Dirk explains:

“Hundreds of cars were the subject of a painstaking review to define highly challenging targets for every facet of the new Mulsanne’s interior. This embraced key elements, such as materials, colour harmony and craftsmanship, ensuring the new Mulsanne will become the purest expression of Bentley design yet.”

Similarly stringent targets were set for the operational refinement and robustness of all control mechanisms to provide Crewe’s craftsmen and women with materials and components of the highest quality and authenticity.

Responding to customer demand, the research study even extended to the smell of the leather hides. This resulted in the reintroduction of a complex, traditional tanning process to create a rich, mature leather aroma, evoking that of vintage Bentleys.

When production begins later this year, Mulsanne customers may select from a broad palette of hides, including a range of 24 ‘standard’ colours as well as a wide selection of rich ‘heritage’ colours from previous Bentley models. These colours may be specified in single-tone or duo-tone combinations in four different styles (colour splits) allowing the customer to choose not just the colour scheme but also the mood of the interior – from very elegant to sporty.

These exquisite hides are fashioned by a team of craftsmen and women who apply the same fastidious attention to every detail of the opulent cabin. All stowage compartments, including iPod drawer, glovebox and luggage compartment are leather-lined, while the creation of the hand-sewn leather rim around the Mulsanne’s steering wheel takes two days of intense, expert concentration – even longer if the customer opts for cross-stitching.

Bentley’s unrivalled expertise in the crafting of leather is complemented by the extraordinary skills of the company’s ‘Wood Shop’, the largest of its kind in the luxury car industry.

It takes five weeks to turn a rough ‘root ball’ (individually selected by Bentley experts) into a full set of mirror-matched, fine-polished leaves. Each piece of veneer is carefully stored in a special humidity-controlled chamber and then applied onto a solid walnut base, a process that alone takes two weeks to complete. Veneers are then polished to a perfect mirror finish. The quality of every piece is carefully inspected and approved before being delivered to the vehicle assembly hall.

The entire Mulsanne cabin is encased by a ‘ring of wood’ waistrail, as part of which a single, ‘unbroken’ panel of wood graces the Mulsanne’s dashboard. Customers may select from an extensive range of premium quality veneers, unbleached for a natural appearance, including Walnut, Piano Black, Oak, Bird’s Eye Maple, Vavona, Olive Ash and Sapelli Pommele, harvested from sustainable sources across the globe.

Utilising the intricate skills of the Crewe-based experts, two marquetry options are available for the new Mulsanne: picture framing-style inlays to waistrails and contemporary-style crossbanding and inlay to dashboard and waistrails.

One of the most striking examples of Bentley craft skills can be found on the Mulsanne’s upper dashboard where a new 8-inch multimedia screen is housed unobtrusively behind an electrically operated veneered door. When the screen is not required the door blends effortlessly into the veneered dashboard.

The exquisite hides and veneers of Bentley’s new flagship are fashioned by the company’s highly skilled craftsmen and women with over 40 years’ experience who will invest over 170 hours into creating the interior of just one Mulsanne, as Robin Page, Head of Interior Design, comments:

“Crafting the Mulsanne’s interior represents a substantial part of the build process. At Crewe, Bentley’s way of working is the exact opposite of mass production – we start where others stop.”

The ‘starting where others stop’ philosophy has been applied to virtually every feature of the Mulsanne’s cabin. The use of wood and leather hides has been significantly increased for an even more refined and sumptuous cabin, while the stainless steel brightware receives an intensive 10-hour finishing process to offer a near-perfect gleam (ensuring that even the smallest part will catch the eye). The carpet has been given increased fibre depth and density to further enhance the quality feel.

An ultra-rigorous approach to quality, applied from the earliest planning stages, means that the Mulsanne’s interior will be enjoyed by current as well as future generations of drivers. Every new leather and wood veneer option was subjected to extreme temperatures as well as an exhaustive array of further durability tests. Sun creams, skin lotions and even a chemical formula for human perspiration were applied to leather hide samples to ensure no staining or fading.

And perhaps most remarkably, the durability of a hide will be is tested over 20,000 times by a team of people of varying height and weight (rather than the robots used by other manufacturers) to provide the most authentic, real-world assessment possible.

“Much of our work takes place behind the scenes,” explains John Minshull, Head of the Bentley Laboratory at Crewe.

“However, this development and scientific testing work is a key part of the Mulsanne story as it provides our craftsmen and women with the best quality materials. And it is the combination of their creativity and our research which makes the Mulsanne interior so special.”

“The new Mulsanne is a thoroughly modern flagship that captures the essence of the Bentley marque. It is elegant yet distinctly sporting in character, delivering effortless performance while within its sumptuous cabin, advanced technology sits discreetly with handcrafted luxury.”
Bentley Motors Chairman and Chief Executive, Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen

Echoing the Bentley S -Type of the 1950s, the Mulsanne features a bold frontal design dominated by the traditional Bentley matrix grille and highly prominent, classic round inner headlamps with chrome surrounds, flanked by two, smaller outboard lamp clusters, all featuring the latest in lighting technology.

The long bonnet, short front overhang and long rear overhang are reinforced by muscular haunches and sharply sculptured lines which flow gracefully from the front wings to the rear. Uniquely designed 20-inch wheels reinforce the Mulsanne’s powerful, sporting stance.

Design Director Dirk van Braeckel explains the inspiration behind the Mulsanne’s distinctive appearance:
“The opportunity to design a new flagship Bentley is something afforded to very few designers. The team set out to create a sculpted form that blended classic Bentley heritage cues with modern lines.”

The body is produced in a new manufacturing facility at Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe where traditional metalworking skills, developed over six decades, are still used extensively during the nine-week build process. It is the very opposite of volume-production car-building… but the very epitome of Bentley.

Bonhams the auctioneer donated its premises and services in Bond St, London, to host this exclusive event for over 300 guests. The auction was conducted by James Knight, international managing director of Collectors Cars at Bonhams. 

The Bentley Styling and Design Art Project was the brainchild of Bentley designer Rich Gilmartin who has been supported by enthusiastic colleagues in the styling studio all of whom have been showcasing their artistic talents. Rich has now raised over £100,000 for the Christie since 2001 in recognition of the care given to his mother by staff at the hospital when she was suffering from cancer.

The collection included a vast array of sculptures, painting, digital art and photography all created by Bentley’s in-house design team, who are better known for the creation of iconic cars such as the Continental GT and the new Bentley Mulsanne.

A mixture of live bidding and silent auction attracted tremendous interest from Bentley owners and enthusiasts both in the UK and abroad. Fierce but good-natured bidding drove up the price of many pieces beyond that expected by the artists themselves. One sculpture alone raised over £20,000 for the Christie.

Dr Paefgen, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley said:

“It is a pleasure and a source of great pride to see the creativity of our design team applied beyond our motor cars.  This artistic skill is rarely seen outside the design studio so this unique collection has provided Bentley enthusiasts with the opportunity to own a real piece of Bentley design history.”

Christine Gaskell, Member of the Board for Personnel said:

“The Christie is the leading centre for cancer research and treatment in the northwest of England and has touched the lives of many Bentley employees.  Everyone at Bentley welcomed the opportunity to support this project and we have been overwhelmed by the interest in the collection.”

Toni Leden, Appeals Director at the Christie said:

“The dedication and inspiration of the Bentley design and styling team has resulted in a stunning contribution to the work we do in cancer research and treatment. The collaboration with Bentley has been very successful and we are thrilled that the art works have raised so much money to support the Christie.”

Rich Gilmartin, the designer from whom the concept originated, said:

“The Christie cared for my mother during her illness and I was truly inspired by the care and empathy shown to her by staff at the hospital.  Because I was there at the time my connection to the hospital goes very deep and this project has been a very good, positive step to go forward and do something different.”

The aim is to raise money for The Christie Hospital in Manchester, a leading international centre for research and treatment. The art will be auctioned at an invitation-only evening event from 6pm to 8pm on Tuesday December 1 at Bonhams the auction house in London.

The collection includes a vast array of sculptures, painting, digital art and photography. Created in many different media, from sculptures in bronze and set in wood, to metal and leather, to Perspex, to palette knife and brush paintings on canvas, the works showcase the imagination of the men and women who design Bentley cars.

A total of 22 designers have been involved in the project, including digital designers and clay modellers.

Dirk van Braeckel, head designer, says the work embodies the best aesthetics possible, with advanced technology in the forefront, a combination “of the work we do technically with a passion for the brand that is very very strong in this team.

“The team worked up some early ideas on sketches and pen and paper but everything else is all done on a computer,” he says. “There has been a tremendous response from all the team from the day the idea was born. People have been doing additional work – after originally saying they would do one piece, they want to add more work.”

The team has received support and encouragement from the Bentley board, with 10 of the pieces on display to international press and customers who attended the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

The inspiration originated with Richard Gilmartin, whose mother died of cancer and who has been raising money for the Christie since 2001.

Bonhams the auctioneer has donated its premises in Bond St, London, to hold the auction for 300 invited guests. The auction will be conducted by James Knight, international managing director of Collectors Cars at Bonhams.

Online bidding will be available exclusively on the Bentley website www.bentleydesignpassion.com.  All 40 pieces will be open for bidding from Nov 4, Online bidding will finish at midday on the day of the Bentley auction at Bonhams and the highest bids transferred to the auction room. The live auction of 25 artworks will take place at Bonhams, where guests will still be encouraged to bid silently at the event for the remaining 15 pieces.

The Christie is a specialist cancer centre in Manchester that treats 40,000 patients a year. It is currently building the largest early phase 1 clinical trials unit in the world that will further enhance its reputation for international research. The Christie Charity helps fund cancer research, cutting edge treatments, major new developments and extra patient services that fall outside the remit of NHS funding. These include complementary therapies, counselling and creative projects such as art and music therapy. Together they enable patients to take charge of their illness and them to work towards their recovery.

Conceived, styled and engineered entirely at Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, England, the Mulsanne goes into production next year in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility within the Crewe factory.

Introducing the Bentley Mulsanne at Pebble Beach, where Bentley was the featured marque, Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley Motors, said:
"The challenge we set our engineers was to create a new grand Bentley that would stand as the pinnacle of British luxury motoring, offering the world’s most exclusive driving experience. They have responded to this challenge with real passion and the result 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."

The Bentley Mulsanne will go on sale from mid 2010. It will also be displayed at the forthcoming IAA Frankfurt Motor Show (15-27th September, 2009) where Bentley Motors will provide additional product information.

“This was surely one of the biggest gatherings of Bentleys of all ages you could ever hope to see – and so many of the cars are historically famous,” said Sebastian Welch, Competitions Captain of the BDC. But it’s the atmosphere that sets this meeting apart, as much as the full grids and race action. “Our aim was to celebrate 60 years of BDC racing at Silverstone with two days of ‘proper’ club racing, from highly competitive dicing on track to a non-stop slideshow of archive pictures in the pit garage and family picnics on the grass at Copse. Racers and spectators responded with enthusiasm, as shown by the record turnout of 180 cars in the Bentley parade – where any BDC member who turns up in a Bentley, new or old, can drive three laps of the circuit.”

Over the two days, 18 races welcomed full grids of both Bentleys and other invited marques. One of the highlights for spectators was the chance to see modern Bentleys racing much older machinery in both the Bentley Handicap and Bentley Scratch races.

Saturday’s Bentley-only Scratch race saw 25 Bentleys taking to the track, in a race which pitted the eventual winner, the 1949 MkVI Special of Michael Higginbotham, against much older cars – such as the Vintage Bentleys of the 1920s – and much younger cars, such as the two Turbo Rs from 1990! Meanwhile, the Bentley Handicap race allowed a Continental GT (driven by Robert Gate) to come fourth overall, despite being a standard road car and looking as though it had just driven out of the showroom.

Aside from the racing, other attractions included track demonstrations of the fabulous 1933 Napier-Railton, John Cobb’s 24-litre Brooklands lap-record holder; and of the mighty, 600bhp, 217mph 2003 Le Mans-winning Bentley Speed 8. Off-track displays of Bentley race cars included past Le Mans winners, Brooklands cars, and Bentleys that have raced at BDC events throughout the past 60 years.

“Those who recall the first BDC race meeting back in 1949, when the main straight was the Lancaster runway and the pits were made from straw bales, tell us that things are very different today. Nevertheless, we hope we lived up to the spirit and tradition of this great annual event,” concluded Sebastian Welch.

For more information on the Bentley Drivers Club, see www.bdcl.org.

Manchester-based company Vehicle Consulting was used to sell Ronaldo’s 2004 Mercedes Benz C-Class and 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed, similar to the one pictured, with the latter fetching £115,000. The five year old Mercedes C-Class sold for substantially sell than the Bentley.

The Continental GT Speed is the most powerful production Bentley ever and the first to top 200mph, thanks to the W12 engine delivering 600bhp and a 9% increase in power over the standard Continental GT.

Ronaldo who at the turn of 2009 smashed and wrote off his Ferrari in a tunnel under a Manchester Airport runway, has finally joined his boyhood club after almost leaving the English champions in the summer of 2008.

World Skills is a bi-annual event which attracts competitors from over 50 countries and is effectively a “Skills Olympics” for young people aged between 18 and 23 years.  It sets world class standards in over 40 skills categories ranging from plumbing and industrial electronics to web design and floristry.  The final selection events for the UK squad took place in June, with Bentley Motors hosting the CNC Milling and CNC Turning competitions. 

Two of Bentley’s trainees – Chris Coates and Elliot New – qualified for the CNC Milling final and it has now been confirmed that Chris was the overall winner with a personal best of 80.75%. Chris’s top score easily met the rigorous standards set by the UK’s judging team so he will join the rest of the British squad and travel to Calgary to represent the UK in September.  As Elliot also achieved an excellent result and is a strong contender for the 2011 event, UK Skills confirmed that he will also go to Calgary to support Chris and experience the competition environment.

Andrew McLean, a tooling and prototype technician at Bentley who has acted as Chris’ training manager explained, “Chris demonstrated tremendous levels of skill and dedication to reach the final and we are delighted that all his hard work has paid off.  The competition last week was extremely tough and we did our best to replicate the conditions of the finals in Calgary by inviting lots of visitors to see the boys in action.  A good number of those visitors came from local schools so we hope that Chris and Elliot have inspired other young people to find out more about apprenticeships in our industry”.  

Chris commented “I’m really pleased that all the hard work has paid off and I’ve been selected to join the UK team.  The competition in Calgary will be intense but we have undergone a lot of training to prepare us for the finals and I will give it my best shot!” 

Christine Gaskell, Member of the Board for Personnel at Bentley Motors said “Everyone at Bentley is incredibly proud of Chris and his selection for the UK team at World Skills 2009 and we wish him the very best of luck for the competition.  His achievement is a reflection not just of his hard work and dedication but also of the support that was provided by everyone involved in Bentley’s training programmes.  Like the 2012 Olympics, London will play host to the next World Skills in 2011. The experience gained in this year’s event will serve Bentley and the boys well and who knows … maybe we will be able to compete on home soil as defending champions!"

The Learning Grid is a national, government and industry-supported organisation that seeks to enthuse young people aged seven years and upwards in science and engineering by offering hands-on experience.  This annual event at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire showcases a wide spectrum of industry-led engineering, science, maths, design and technology activities that are open for visiting school parties.  In 2008 over 2400 children attended from 64 schools.

The team of six Bentley graduate trainees will take a variety of special activities and displays to Rockingham to encourage young people to become motivated by engineering.  Alongside Bentley’s latest models – Azure and Continental GTC, the Bentley stand will feature some interactive games and displays, as well as a downhill racer and the Bentley “Greenpower” car that was created by some of the Company’s apprentices.  One activity will use remote control Bentley models to encourage children to think about materials that absorb impact on collision; Another activity will see teams competing against each other to position cars parts in order of build. 

Rhys Morgan, team leader for the Bentley graduates said “We have made the activities as much fun as possible as we want to make them view engineering as ‘cool’.   Our stand will offer plenty of hands-on opportunities to explore and we are confident the children will enjoy it and want to learn more.”  Cameron Paterson, Engineering Project Leader for Bentley Motors added, “In the UK, take up of science based subjects is in the decline, threatening the future availability of scientists and engineers. By showing the pupils and, as importantly, their teachers some practical, real world applications and products, under the banner of a great Brand, we hope to help arrest that decline”

Christine Gaskell Member of the Board for Personnel at Bentley Motors said “Inspiring young people to engage with engineering is essential for us and the rest of industry.  By doing events such as Rockingham we hope that children and teachers will view engineering – and the motor industry – as a great place to work. Longer term it will ensure the UK has the best young designers and engineers who will shape the Bentley cars of the future.”

For more information please visit www.learninggrid.co.uk/rockingham