Autoblog

When is a 1996 Lincoln Town Car with 114,000 miles on the clock worth $15,098? The correct answer should be never. In this case, however, the answer is when someone supposedly drops $45,000 worth of work into one to make a fake Bentley Arnage. The result is what you see above; add a couple of fender-mounted chandeliers and it could score a role as The Duke's car in Escape From New York. That giant C-pillar is more Rolls than Bentley and those chrome dubs are more bad than good. The biggest disaster comes into view when you open the door and look inside. That interior reportedly cost $10,000. You'd think that amount would buy more than quilted leather, a passel of winged-B emblems that aren't fooling anybody, and that stock instrument panel, but apparently... no. Anyway, somebody liked it enough to buy it, so what do we know. We're sure it'll look great in their garage. You know – right next to the Fierarri.


[Source: eBay via AutoFiends].

The latest Bentley Arnage is doing the rounds in Spain, but it isn't the sedan's appearance that's news, it's how it might be powered. As far as cosmetic bodywork, the changes appear minimal, including new fog light placement, rear apron and exhaust exit. A little more substantially, the car is widened at the B-pillar, which should finally give back bench passengers the kind of room that befits a Bentley sedan.

Exterior and interior tweaks aside, what's under the hood is where things are supposedly cracking. Rumors that we can only guess are highly speculative suggest that the coming Arnage will get a diesel engine. We're not sure if those rumor-mongers got the memo a month ago in which Bentley CEO Josef Paefgen stated there will be no diesel Bentleys. But supposing one of Rudolph's children was dropped in that massive engine bay, suspects are Audi's V12 TDI for the standard model, and the Veyron's W16 to create a thermonuclear Arnage T. Sign us up.

[Source: Global Motors]

The next Bentley Arnage is due in 2010, and thank heavens it won't be a biggie-sized clone of the Continental Flying Spur. That means we don't expect it to look so much like the rendering above, which is 75-percent Flying Spur with a GT tail. A bit long-in-the-tooth by modern replacement standards, the Arnage still sells about 600 - 800 units per year, which is not far behind the much newer Rolls-Royce Phantom.

The next Arnage will take advantage of Audi's spaceframe technology, which will ultimately be utilized by every car in the range. With a 150-kg-plus drop in the car's weight, your gas mileage should improve to a number you still won't care about if you can afford a Bentley.

Engine choices will remain in the all-gasoline family. Bentley says that there simply isn't demand for a diesel in one of its cars, and it's not going to put one out there to try and stimulate it. It might -- and we stress, might -- however, be looking for something to do with the quad-turbo W16 from the Veyron, and that could make for a very interesting Bentley indeed.

[Source: Autocar]

Click image for a hi-res gallery of our Autoblog Garage Continental GTC

2007 was good to the folks in Crewe, as Bentley Motors had its best year ever. (What, no VH1 special?) For the first time, the automaker surpassed the 10,000 mark in terms of vehicles sold -- a tenfold increase over where it stood just five years ago. Both Arnage and Continental family sales were up -- 45-percent for the former, thanks to the arrival of the new Azure, and 5-percent for the latter with the GTC leading the way. The record-high sales led to new high points for both net revenue (€1.37 billion) and operating profit (€155 million). This level of volume is pretty much where the automaker would like to settle going forward, as it lets Bentley stay exclusive while still returning a profit. Us? We're just trying to figure out a way to tap into the joys of ownership ourselves. Follow the jump for Bentley's full press release and some assorted eye candy.

[Source: Bentley Motors]

Bentley Continental GT Speed - Click to view hi-res image gallery.

As Bentley's production numbers continue to grow, taking the classic British marque farther from the fringe and closer to the mainstream – that is, in as much as six-digit luxury automobiles could be considered "mainstream" – the company's exclusivity seems to dwindle. But the premium Volkswagen Group automaker is on a path to put some individuality into its cars by increasing in-house coachbuilding efforts.

Through its own Mulliner division, Bentley already offers a range of customization options for bespoke Arnage models, but Crewe is planning on broadening the coachbuilding efforts to include the Continental range as well. Among the various techniques Bentley will offer will be a slew of hi-tech materials including composite materials and something called Laser Metal Sintering which F1 teams use to produce high-strength little parts. In the process, Bentley has also ruled out the option of providing stripped engines and chassis to outside coachbuilders.

The prospect of putting new bodywork on the epically fast (but not necessarily the best-looking) Continental Flying Spur sedan has us foaming at the mouth...if only we had the cash. We'll stay "tuned" (pardon the pun) to see what sort of creations Bentley turns out for their most discerning and moneyed clients.

[Source: Motor Authority]

One might associate a Bentley with, say...caviar and filet mignon. But donuts? Heavens, no! Well, this is what happens when the nouveau riche get their hands on the motor carriages that rightfully belong to the aristocracy.

Seriously though, as posh as it is, and as much heritage as its Winged-B badge might confer, the Bentley Arnage is, after all, just a big old sedan with a monster V8 pumping out torque by the ton through the rear wheels. So here's a bunch of guys who saw through the clout, put 1 and 2 together, and decided to take their big, six-figure limo to the local parking lot for some good old fashioned donuts. There's something refreshingly brutal about that.

Video after the jump.

[Source: Carscoop]

Click on the image above to view our 47-image high-resolution gallery

It's been several years since the boys at Bentley had a full-size – and we mean full-size – luxury coupe to top off its range of traditional offerings to the well-heeled, and with the official unveiling of the new Bentley Brooklands they've done it in grand style. Superseding the Continental line of coupe, cabrio and sedan, the Brooklands joins the Arnage and Azure to round out Bentley's most exclusive product range.

We were the first to bring you a gallery of images as they hit the net, but it's hard to get your head around just how big this behemoth really is without witnessing the hand-crafted two-door limousine in person. Suffice it to say that it's fitting they named the Brooklands after a tract of land: it's large enough to be classified as a territory unto itself, and with 775 lb-ft of torque it's got enough grunt to uproot anything on it.

You'll find the press release after the jump, and our updated high-resolution image gallery below, complete with live shots from Geneva.

For customers accustomed to driving a Bentley, everything's got to be leather-lined. Heaven forbid one should actually have to handle a cold metal key, even one as nice as that put out by the boys at Crewe.

Fortunately for the pampered motorist, London leathercrafter Ettinger has come to the rescue with a specially-fabricated key case. The soft leather sleeve fits snuggly around a Bentley key allowing for its owner to use it normally. The case features the Bentley logo embossed into the leather and a circular B button on an extended tab.

Ettinger offers a range of leather wallets in partnership with Bentley that are available directly from the dealership. Like any other automotive branded product, you don't have to own the car to buy the item, but you would look rather silly starting your Jetta with a leather Bentley key.

[Source: Ettinger]

If you drive a Cadillac Escalade, Forbes' Dan Lienert has your number. Lienert says you are an unapologetic risk taker who makes about $175k a year and like to entertain. On the other hand, if you prefer to drive a Lexus LS, you are intelligent, polite, well-traveled and family oriented.

The story covers eight other high-end luxury and sports cars, so all you Yugo drivers (like to hang on to possessions for purely sentimental reasons, might also own a Fuego, prefer champale to champagne and probably make much less than $160,000 a year) can rest easy knowing Forbes doesn't yet know your marketing profile.

All these generalizations are based on brand-sponsored market research and quotes from automaker representatives, so the validity of the broad suppositions they make are less than scientific. And please keep in mind we're just the messenger.

[Source: Forbes.com]

Hello, Bentley? Yeah, it's Autoblog again. Thanks for the Flying Spur. Hey, saw the new Arnage...

Usually we're not too excited when we get a company's entry level car to review, but in Bentley's case we made an exception for the Continental Flying Spur. We still have hopes to one day get in an Arnage, the Britsh marque's true range topper with a price tag in the range of $220,000 to $250,000.

The Arnage sedan gets powertrain attention for model year 2007, which it very much needed. The 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8 in the Arnage T now makes a nice, round 500 bhp and enough torque to accelerate out of a black hole – 738 ft-lbs. Power climbs from 400 to 450 bhp in the Arnage R and long wheelbase RL, while torque goes up to 645 ft lbs. All Arnages also get a new ZF six-speed automatic that replaces the previous car's dated four-speed.

Work began on these powertrain upgrade over two years ago after Bentley significantly upgraded the Arnage's chassis, steering and brakes. Since then the car's been able to handle the kind of power it will now finally be producing. There are other minor upgrades for the Arnage in 2007 that are listed in the press release after the jump, though our favorite is the optional retracting 'Flying B' bonnet mascot.

Seriously, we're dialing the phone right now.

(More high res photos can be found after the jump)

[Source: Bentley]