2008 Bentley Brooklands

BY STEVEN COLE SMITH, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE VALENTE

A new, old-school coupe for the high and mighty.

Interesting that in the literature for the new Bentley Brooklands, a limited-edition, even-more-upscale version of the Arnage, there’s little mention of the last Bentley Brooklands, a sedan sold from 1992 to 1997 that replaced the Mulsanne as the marque’s flagship.

Of course, this was a moderately dark period at Bentley, before the Volkswagen takeover in 1998, when, from a distance, the Great Unwashed couldn’t tell much difference between a Bentley Brooklands and a Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph.

This time around, the Bentley Brooklands is a coupe, a stylish, four-seat, grand touring coupe, says the company, that is debuting at the Geneva auto show. The Brooklands is, Bentley insists, more than an Azure hardtop. This would probably be a good time to get your order in for a Brooklands, as 550 will be hand-assembled. Not 551, no matter how much you beg, Bentley says. Expect yours in about a year. Price is likely to be about $400,000.

Decidedly old-school”at least compared with the undeniably new-school Continental Flying Spur, GT, and GTC, which are powered by a 552-hp twin-turbocharged W-12”there’s a 6.8-liter V-8 (412 cubic inches, if you’re really old school) under the hood of the Bentley Brooklands, also twin-turbocharged, pumping out a sobering 523 horsepower, and a prodigious (Bentley’s word, and who are we to argue?) 774 pound-feet of torque. It is the most powerful V-8 Bentley has produced. Big oval, chrome-tipped dual-exhaust outlets leave no doubt as to what just passed your Mini Moke.




It’s the latest version of the Crewe-built V-8, which began life in 1959 under the hood”or bonnet, sorry”of the Bentley S2. It was 6.2 liters then, an advanced all-aluminum engine with a five-bearing crankshaft, overbuilt in that delightful British tradition but still good for almost 200 horsepower. In 1969, the engine grew to its present size of 6.8 liters, but it wasn’t until 13 years later that it grew a turbocharger. The result was the almost 300-hp Mulsanne Turbo, a car that helped put Bentley back into the vocabulary of performance enthusiasts. The engine got a second turbo in 2002, and Crewe V-8s since then have gained power more through tuning than dramatic updates.

As in the Arnage, the Brooklands has a six-speed automatic transmission that has been beefed up for the extra ponies. There’s a provision for manual gear selection if you so desire.

The wheels are chrome-plated 20-inchers, which should be fine until 50 Cent can replace them with his own. The pedals and the driver’s footrest are aluminum. Customers can choose from a variety of carpets, woods, and leather hides. There’s a new rear center console, and back-seat passengers have power-sliding cushions.

Bentley says the Brooklands celebrates the triumphs of the Bentley Boys during the Roaring 20s on the old Brooklands racing circuit, capturing all the style, power, and splendor of that era, says Franz-Josef Päfgen, chairman of Bentley. Again, who are we to disagree?