Monday, March 14, 2011

Bentley Arnage Red Label, 2000

Bentley Arnage Red Label, 2000

Launched in late 1999 was the Arnage Red Label. Volkswagen, who had purchased the Bentley name and Crewe factory was loathe to continue purchasing BMW's engines, and it turned out that Bentley engineers and customers felt the same way. The BMW-powered Arnage, while objectively more modern than the Turbo RT it replaced, was more than a second slower to 60 mph than that car, and lacked the massive torque that Bentley customers had grown accustomed to.

Vickers had outsourced to Cosworth the production of the old 6.75 L Rolls-Royce engine for use in the continued Continental and Azure models, so reverting to the old standby engine was a natural choice for the company. In fact, Volkswagen purchased Cosworth as well, so all the pieces fell into place to eliminate the BMW engine.

The Red Label model reverted to the old V8, which boasted torque of 835 N·m with a single Garret T4 turbocharger. This was the greatest amount of torque for a four-door car at the time. Also returning was the General Motors-sourced 4-speed 4L80-E automatic.

Bentley Brooklands, 1992

Bentley Brooklands, 1992

The Bentley Brooklands was a full-size luxury sedan introduced for 1992 as the marque's new flagship after the Bentley Mulsanne and Bentley Eight were discontinued. The Brooklands was replaced by the Bentley Arnage in 1998 as the Bentley flagship model.

The Brooklands continued Bentley's relatively angular design scheme which was used on both, Rolls-Royce as well as Bentley vehicles, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The exterior design featured the classic Bentley waterfall grille as well as dual headlights with wrap-around parking lights. As in many Bentley and Rolls-Royce vehicles the Brooklands also featured the trademark descending trunklid and chrome B-pillars.

The interior remained relatively unchanged from previous Bentley models with a more curvaceous design elements surrounding the leather wrapped center console. The steering wheel and interior door panels remained unchanged. The interior continued to be surrounded by ample woodgrain which featured engraved, lighter-colored outlines on the door panels.

Technical specifications
The Bentley Brooklands was driven by a 6.7 L V8 with a 4-speed automatic transmission. The vehicle was rear wheel drive and featured independent front and rear suspension. While not as large as some other Ultra-luxury sedans, the Brooklands remained quite large with an overall length of 211.4" and 214.5" wheelbase (207.4" and 120.5" in SWB trim).

Bentley T2, 1977

Bentley T2, 1977

The Bentley T-Series was even more rarely built than the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. The Bentley being technically an identical twin of the Rolls Royce seems to have been bought mostly by owners wishing a little more understatement. The formerly more sportive image of Bentley motor cars differing from Rolls Royces was gone by the time the Silver Shadow/Bentley T was introduced and thus couldn't motivate buyers any more. The outward appearance of a Bentley T is slightly more dynamic because the bonnet design is a few centimeters lower and the radiator shell shape with its rounded edges is smoother.

The T1 was made from 1967-1977 and the T2 was made from 1977-1980.

Production
T1: 1868
- T1 saloon (1965-1977): 1703
- T1 long wheelbase (1971-1976): 9
- Bentley T1 two door saloon (1966-1971): 114 (15 by James Young)
- T1 coupé by Pininfarina (1968): 1
- T1 convertible (1967-1971): 41
T2: 568
- T2 (1977-1980): 558
- T2 long wheelbase (1977-1980): 10
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