Yes it's grainy, but this is our first spy photo of the new 2010 Bentley Arnage limo
Bentley Mulsanne (2010): the spy photos of the Arnage successor
By
Tim Pollard
Spy shots
28 November 2008 12:23
In one year's time Bentley top brass will tug the covers off the replacement to the Arnage limo – but our spies have been beavering away and have caught sight of the new saloon on test in Britain. This grainy photograph was taken with the mother of all telephoto lenses near a test track, but it reveals the big new Bentley for the first time.
The new Arnage will be even bigger and posher than today's model, but will it also signal the end of the old Rolls-era character of its predecessor? This scoop photo suggests it will keep the ocean liner presence of today's car and sources in Crewe say there is plenty of old-school charm in the 2010 limo.
Crewe is desperate to put clear water between the Arnage and the smaller, VW-related Continental family, so the Arnage successor will be targeted very closely at Rolls-Royce's Phantom range.
So the next Arnage will be an uber-expensive saloon?
Spot on. Bentley will unveil the car at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, and it's likely to cost upwards of £250,000-£300,000 when it hits dealerships in early 2010. Everyone at the VW Group is desperately hoping the looming global recession will have receded by then...
Will the new Arnage just be a big VW then?
Get real – VW has done a brilliant job of bringing Bentley into the 21st century with the Conti family. Now the challenge is to preserve the hand-crafted charm of its biggest model, yet subtly updated with the latest tech and eco brains.
The platform of the old Arnage is in fact due to be carried over, albeit in heavily modified form. The wheelbase is stretched by 150mm, extending the car to around 5500mm long. Extensive use of aluminium should stop the scales protesting too much, but it would have been lighter still if Wolfsburg had successfully pushed through its aluminium A8 engineering package. That plan was rejected at an early stage, as too unbecoming for a proper Bentley.
>> Click 'Next' to read the full engineering story of the new Bentley Arnage (2010)
