Bentley Mulsanne: high-res pics

This is the Bentley Arnage replacement, the Bentley Mulsanne, which was seen at the Frankfurt motor show.

The Mulsanne is described by Bentley as “neither an evolution or revision of Arnage.” It is a clean sheet design, and nothing on the car’s exterior is shared with any other Bentley apart from the door mirror, which comes from the ethanol-powered SuperSports.

See the full high-res Bentley Mulsanne picture gallery

Every panel is unique to the Mulsanne – even the door handles have been developed for the car – and it features many handmade parts, including the fillet of metal below the rear window, constructed from three pieces of metal and brazed by hand.

Underneath the Mulsanne is a platform developed specifically for this car. Bentley chairman Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen said that when he first started looking at replacing the Arnage, he realised that the car "needed change," and that new platform would be needed.

Bentley’s head of exterior design Raul Piris said this allowed them to produce a car that looks expensive, and more modern than the Arnage.

Chas Hallett blog: First impressions of the Bentley Mulsanne

“The Mulsanne combines the technological feel of the Continental models with the prestige of the Arnage,” he said. “But we wanted to preserve the Arnage’s exclusivity, and avoid duplicating the Continental’s look. The Mulsanne needs to express a higher level of a coachbuilt look, and be more bespoke.”

Each will take 400 hours to build – 15 per cent longer than the Arnage – and hand building takes 200 of those hours.

The unusual quad headlamps are a further development of the round headlamp theme that has featured on every Bentley built in the firms’ 90-year history. They are, according to Piris, inspired by the lighting arrangement from the 1955 Continental Flying Spur S1.

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. The twin-turbo unit puts out 505bhp and 752lb ft of torque, and is linked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The engine also has improved torque delivery, with much more available lower down the rev range.

Bentley’s engineers have made many changes to the engine to make it suitable for the car and to pass modern emissions legislation.

Lighter, more efficient components such as the water pump and many new internal components (inlcuding cam phasing and variable displacement) help to cut the engine’s mass and improve fuel consumption by 15 per cent.