The last 'Real' Bentleys leave the factory

Bentley Brooklands - The last of the 'Real' Bentleys

As the last ‘Real’ Bentleys leave the factory – the Azure, the Arnage and the Brooklands – we say goodbye to the pre-VW era Bentleys.

Volkswagen’s takeover of Bentley has, certainly in sales and production terms, been a big success. Until the recent economic mire hit, the sales of Bentleys were at a previously unimagined level. In fact it got to the point where Bentleys no longer seemed ‘Special’, so ubiquitous had the sight of a Bentley Continental become on our roads.

And it’s hard to argue against so competent a range of cars as the Continental range. They are well built, quick, well appointed and their success certainly shows there is a big market for them. True, they’re so heavy they do seem to take on a life of their own if pushed hard in to a corner (although much of that has been rectified on the ‘Speed models), but you do have to really push.

But the Continental ‘VW’ Bentleys seem a mile away from a real Bentley. It’s an argument we’ve heard before, of course. Many Bentley aficionados would claim that there hasn’t been a real Bentley since Bentley became a re-badged Rolls Royce. But the truth is that Bentley became the marque, with Rolls Royce the poor relation. The Arnage range of Bentleys epitomised what a Bentley should be. A hand-crafted luxury carriage for Gentlemen. You wouldn’t find a Premier League footballer in an Arnage, they were just too stately. They held no appeal. But they are wonderful cars.

Five hundred hours of hand finishing make each Arnage/ Brooklands/Azure an individual work of art. And that’s before you start on the custom options. Compare that to just 40% of those hours on a ‘Continental’ car and you start to see how special the Arnage range is. With its hand-finished goodness and its hand-built engine it is a glorious modern version of the Bentleys of old. But its now at an end, to be replaced with the Mulsanne.

So we thought we should say goodbye to the last real Bentleys. With the last ever models now coming off the production line, we’re left with just ‘VW’ Bentleys. The Mulsanne may turn out to be stunning. But it will still be a ‘VW’ Bentley.

So thank you, Bentley, for a unique creation.