British car manufacture Bentley Motors has always been known for its sedan (or, saloon) models since it first built the Bentley Mark VI 4-door sedan from 1946 to 1952. The Mark sedan was the first to be finished at the Bentley factory, and it gained Bentley admiration from the industry and the public for its unique standard-steel sports saloon design. The Mark VI sedan's engine and chassis were heavily modified to provide extremely high performance. From 1952, the Mark VI sedans were sold by ... (full review continues below)
British car manufacture Bentley Motors has always been known for its sedan (or, saloon) models since it first built the Bentley Mark VI 4-door sedan from 1946 to 1952. The Mark sedan was the first to be finished at the Bentley factory, and it gained Bentley admiration from the industry and the public for its unique standard-steel sports saloon design. The Mark VI sedan's engine and chassis were heavily modified to provide extremely high performance. From 1952, the Mark VI sedans were sold by coachbuilders under the name branding "Bentley Continentals" and were the most expensive and fastest production cars across the globe at that time. Today, Bentley has two sedan models in its line-up, both of which are carryovers from the 2011 model year.
The 2012 Bentley Mulsanne Sedan draws its name from a previous Bentley sports sedan named the Mulsanne as well, which was sold between the years of 1980-1992. Since 2010, the name has been revived in the new Mulsanne, which replaced the Bentley Arnage. The Mulsanne was created to be large, comfortable, and refined, and it certainly lives up to these qualities. The sedan kept its iconic 6.75-liter V8 engine, though heavy modifications were made to meet environmental standards. The Mulsanne Sedan has an MSRP around $285,000- $290,00 and is only available as the sedan model; there are no other variants. It is a carryover from 2011 and competes with the Rolls-Royce Ghost and the Maybach 57.
The Bentley Mulsanne comes with amazingly refined British styling and excellent standard features, such as the Executive Interior Concept (EIC), which assists time-squeezing businessman on the road, three LC Mac-powered screens, iPads in fold-out trays that work with Bluetooth-integrated keyboards, iPods complete with docking stations, and a Naim audio system. The new Mulsanne is memorable due to the fact that it's the first flagship vehicle to be solely designed by the Bentley company in eighty years. The last was founder W.O. Bentley's iconic 1930 8-liter model.
The 2012 Bentley Continental Flying Spur Sedan is also a carryover from the 2011 year, and it has a price range around $181,200 - $209,600. (Quite a bit less than the Mulsanne sedan). There are two trims available, the Sedan and the Speed, with the latter obviously adding more powerful features, including increased horsepower. The Bentley Continental sedan was first produced in 1957-1966 and was made to order by coachbuilders H. J. Mulliner & Co. in London. The new Flying Spur Sedan is very similar to the Bentley Continental GT Speed, which first appeared in 2005 and is a 4-door variant of the Bentley Continental Coupe model. The Flying Spur Sedan was introduced in 2009. The Flying Spur has the same platform as the Volkswagen Phaeton, and its powertrain components are similar to the Audi S8 and A8. It's currently the fastest four-door sedan on the market with a top speed of 200mph and a zero-to-sixty time of less than five seconds. Even the base model contains a turbo compressor. This Spur competes with such vehicles as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the Maserati Quattroporte.