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Bentley’s rich coupe heritage
provided the stimulus for Director of Styling, Dirk van Braeckel
and his design team. For van Braeckel, the task was very clear:
“To create a powerful, muscular and rakish grand touring coupe
with classic British proportions, in the finest Bentley tradition.”
While the new Brooklands is influenced
by Bentley’s fine coupe lineage, its design and engineering
are thoroughly contemporary. The proportions of long bonnet,
short front overhang and long rear overhang achieve the design
objective perfectly, while the low roofline, steeply raked screens
and pillarless side glass convey both power and movement.
As the Brooklands will be built
in very limited volume, the designers were able to introduce
unique features that necessitate specialist coach-building techniques,
as Programme Director, Ashley Wickham, reveals:
“The Brooklands’ beautiful flowing
lines are testament to the traditional coach-building skills
and craftsmanship of Crewe’s highly talented workforce.”
The ‘floating’ rear screen, for
example, is a contemporary take on traditional coachbuilt Bentleys.
The lower edge of the screen sits well above the upper edge
of the boot lid to provide a flowing, flawless line to the back
of the car. This can only be achieved by individually hand-welding
the rear wings to the C-pillars.
The fitment of 20-inch diameter
wheels as standard, signalling the surefooted, robust and dynamic
character of the new model, reaffirms the powerful stance of
the new Bentley coupe.
Beneath its muscular, rakish,
coach-built body lies the most powerful Crewe-builtV8 engine
ever produced, developing 530bhp. Maximum torque is an astonishing
1050Nm, the highest ever developed by a production V8 engine.
Although performance figures are subject to final confirmation
as part of the on-going development programme, the new Bentley
coupe will deliver supercar levels of in-gear acceleration combined
with Arnage refinement.
At the beginning of the project,
Dr Ulrich Eichhorn, Member of the Board, Engineering, tasked
his power train specialists to deliver an extraordinary driving
experience in the Bentley coupe tradition: “Exhilarating, effortless,
accessible performance for those truly passionate about their
driving was our prime objective.”
Launched in the Bentley S2 saloon
in 1959 with a capacity of 6.23 litres, the legendary, Crewe-built
V8 engine has continually evolved. The first V8 was very advanced
for its time with an all-aluminium construction, a five-bearing
crankshaft and a well-supported camshaft, producing nearly 200bhp
and 400Nm of torque. The result was a light and supple powertrain
that produced maximum torque at low engine speeds, the hallmark
of every Bentley ever produced.
1969 saw the capacity grow to
6.75 litres, where it remains to this day, but by far the most
significant change came in 1982, with the introduction of a
turbocharger to create the near-300bhp Mulsanne Turbo, a car
that transformed the image of Bentley. In 1999, the single turbo
engine, by now featuring port injection and charge cooling,
was installed in Arnage, with twin turbos arriving in 2002,
developing up to 450bhp.
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