>May 2 1998 FEATURES/go=20
>
> By Jeeves, the first new model in decades is in a different
>league, says Eve-Ann Prentice=20
>
>Bentley's first-class express=20
>
>Arnage=20
>
> Bentley's first all-new model for 33 years is the strong
> silent type - and a gentleman to boot. With all the
> quick-witted discretion of Jeeves, the Bentley Arnage is
> adept at getting out of tight corners with speed and
> panache.=20
>
> The =A3145,000 car, which was unveiled at a lavish launch
> in Le Mans last weekend, marks Bentley's first formal
> collaboration with BMW. The ferociously powerful
> 4.5-litre V8 turbocharged engine - the first completely
> new Bentley engine for nearly 60 years - was jointly
> developed with the German car giant. The Bentley was
> unveiled as BMW was battling against rival Volkswagen
> to buy Bentley and Rolls-Royce from parent company
> Vickers. Experts from Cosworth, also owned by Vickers,
> were called in to help with the turbocharger design.=20
>
> The Arnage is named after a tight corner at Le Mans,
> scene of Bentley's glory days on the racing circuit in the
> 1920s, and it has that indefinable aroma of money. Open
> the door to its predictably lavish interior and the warm
> whiff of leather greets you. Slide into the driving seat, start
> it, and the response is so quiet that in any other car you
> would think the starter had not engaged.=20
>
> Then as you move off, feel the pulling power beneath the
> four-door saloon's smooth, sleek lines as the engine
> shrugs off the effort of accelerating from 0-60 in 6.2
> seconds. "Our brief was to create the world's most
> exhilarating four-door driving experience," says Rob
> Oldaker, the car's project development director.=20
>
> Even former Formula One world champion and
> Bentley-owner, Nigel Mansell, and veteran Grand Prix
> driver Gerhard Berger tried hard to shake the Arnage's
> complacency as they put the car through its paces at the
> launch. New double wishbone suspension,
> computer-controlled sports transmission, braking and
> stability control systems, and a steel bodyshell that is 65
> per cent stiffer than its predecessor all help to give the
> Arnage spectacular roadholding.=20
>
> Attention to detail is phenomenal. The suspension adjusts
> within 1/100th of a second to adapt to the road and the
> way the motorist is driving; and ignition and fuel injection
> are individually controlled for each cylinder.=20
>
> Testimony to the Arnage's road-hugging skills came from
> one of the potential customers at the launch: "In a new
> Rolls you can hear the leather creak, and they always tell
> you it is the hide settling down. In the Arnage there is utter
> silence and that is because the car is so rigid that the
> leather doesn't move at all."=20
>
> The Arnage took three years to develop and is being
> produced at a new purpose-built =A340 million plant at
> Bentley's headquarters in Crewe. And for the first time in
> the company's history, the body is to be assembled at
> Crewe.=20
>
> Scores of people have already put their names down to
> buy the Arnage, according to spokesman, Richard
> Charlesworth. Most are European, but the new model is
> also likely to find homes in Japan, the Middle East,
> Australia and America.=20
>
> Graham Morris, Bentley's chief executive and the only
> staff member to have a Bentley as a company car,
> described the Arnage as "the most exciting new Bentley
> motor car for decades, with all the handling of a coup=E9 in
> a four-door saloon". Oldaker said: "The feel is of a
> sharper, smaller and more nimble Bentley."=20
>
> The car is also 6 per cent lighter and 13.5 per cent more
> fuel-efficient than the Turbo RT which it replaces, and
> which ceased production last December.=20
>
> To mark the launch, 50 owners of older Bentleys were
> invited to bring along their venerable Cricklewood, Derby
> and Crewe-built machines and take turns with 50 new
> Arnages to lap the Le Mans circuit.=20
>
> The swelling of pride in the breasts of the owners of the
> older Bentleys was palpable as they made repeated
> circuits of a windy and at times shower-drenched Le
> Mans. Most dressed for the occasion in period clothes,
> and some convertible-owners offered their passengers car
> blankets and goggles. Caravan-pulling Citro=EBn drivers
> gazed in awe at the procession as it weaved along the
> section of the circuit that takes place on public roads
> normally closed off for the 24-hour race.=20
>
> About 900 potential buyers from across the world were
> also invited, and a straw poll among the priveleged few
> who can afford the new Bentley suggested they have been
> won over.=20
>
> Owners of the older Bentleys were enthusiastic. "It is
> superbly engineered and the suspension and road-holding
> are fantastic," said Peter Sussman who had driven with his
> wife, Valerie, from England to the race circuit south of
> Paris in their 1970 Bentley TI. "If you take the new car
> around corners at 60-70mph, it doesn't move and you
> don't feel any body roll."=20
>
> So what else do you get for your money? As with all
> Bentleys, there are Connolly hide seats, Wilton carpets,
> veneer woodwork, smooth chromed switches and
> elaborate stitchwork. It takes more than 150 man-hours
> to make a complete set of fascia, waist-rails and trim.=20
>
> A sporty feel for such a large car comes from a small,
> thick four-spoke steering wheel that carries the
> cruise-control switch.=20
>
> The front seats, with heaters of course, are adjustable on
> four planes and the driver's seat is memory-linked to the
> steering wheel and exterior mirrors.=20
>
> There are 6,500 spot welds on the new Bentley - said to
> be more than any other car on the market - and a
> ten-stage painting process.=20
>
> The sort of person who is likely to buy the new Bentley is
> likely to own five or six luxury cars, and a quarter will own
> a yacht. They also tend not to pay for their cars outright,
> but use some form of contract leasing.=20
>
>"It's not the drip of HP, just good business sense," says
>Charlesworth.=20
>
>Bentley's first all-new engine for nearly 60 years wafts the Arnage to
>60mph in six
>seconds, helped by suspension that adapts to the driver, along with
>computer-controlled sports transmission, braking and stability control
>systems=20
>
> Engine: All-aluminium twin-turbo 4.5-litre 350bhp V8.
> Five-speed automatic with sports mode.=20
>
> Equipment: Driver and front passenger airbags. Anti-trap
> windows. Traction assistance and stability regulation.
> ABS brakes. Air-conditioning. Self-dimming mirrors that
> dip on selection of reverse gear. Wilton carpets.
> Sophisticated sound and security systems.=20
>
> Performance: 0-60 in 6.2 seconds; 60-0 in 3 seconds.=20
>
> Fuel consumption: Urban 12mpg; extra urban 21.5mpg;
> combined 16.7mpg.=20
>
> Price: =A3145,000.=20
>
>------------------------------------
>May 2 1998 FEATURES/go=20
>
> History of the Famous Name=20
>
>Arnage named after 'absurd' Le Mans racetrack=20
>
> WALTER OWEN BENTLEY was the youngest of nine
> children, and was 16 before he rode in a motor car. When
> young, his favourite form of transport was the steam train.=20
>
> Bentley trained as a railway engineer, but while working in
> Doncaster bought himself a motorcycle and began racing
> at Brooklands. After taking a job with a cab company he
> turned to cars and bought himself a Riley.=20
>
> Before starting his car company in 1919, Bentley designed
> rotary aero engines during the First World War.=20
>
> When Bentley first heard of the Le Mans 24-hour race,
> which was inaugurated in 1923, he thought it was an
> absurd idea and was convinced no car would finish such a
> test. Until 1927, cars had to run through the opening
> phase with hoods erected.=20
>
> The new Bentley Arnage is named after a tricky
> right-hand bend on the Le Mans circuit, where in the
> 1920s cars designed by Bentley built their worldwide
> reputation by winning the gruelling 24-hour race five times,
> the last four in successive years.=20
>
> In 1928 the corner witnessed one of Bentley's most
> breathtaking moments. Tim Birkin, the legendary Bentley
> driver, had cut away the tattered remnants of a punctured
> tyre and continued on a bare rim at over 70mph until the
> wheel cracked under pressure on the bend.=20
>
> A wheel change took more than three hours - but Birkin
> still managed to finish, while his teammate Woolf Barnato
> went on to win.=20
>
> Much of Bentley's racing activity was funded by Barnato,
> a millionaire racing driver, but despite the marque's many
> triumphs, his company folded in 1931 and was bought by
> Rolls-Royce.=20
>
> W. O. Bentley went on to join Lagonda, where his V12
> engine powered one of the great cars of the 1930s. He
> also worked on the company's postwar six-cylinder
> engine, which was developed to power Aston Martin's
> sports racing cars of the 1950s.=20
>
>
>
>
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>From : Casmat van Bloppoel=20
Village : Zwartewaal in The Netherlands
Internet: vanblop@box.nl
Homepage: Rolls-Royce Page - compact info Rolls-Royce & Bentley
URL: http://www.box.nl/~vanblop/english.htm
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