The range-topping Bentley Mulsanne

After years of losing money with its flagship Maybach brand, Daimler has decided to shutter its ultra-premium car line. Instead, Mercedes-Benz will step up its game with a higher-end series of S-Class models, including a range-topping Pullman variant. By Daimler’s reasoning, existing Maybach customers will be happy with an upscale S-Class, as long as it’s content-rich (and expensive).

Or will they? Despite its prestige for us 99-percenters, Mercedes-Benz is still a mass-market brand with little exclusivity. Part of the appeal of brands like Maybach, Rolls-Royce or Bentley is their low production volume and relative scarcity. Bespoke manufacturing helps, too, since you can order a Rolls-Royce Phantom or Bentley Mulsanne personalized in hundreds of ways, virtually ensuring that no two cars are alike.

Maybach’s customers are none to happy with Daimler about the brand being axed, too, which makes them further unlikely to hop into a customized S-Class. It’s that dissatisfaction that Bentley is hoping to capitalize on: per Automotive News (subscription required), the British automaker is actively targeting Maybach owners with a personalized letter from its CEO, Wolfgang Durheimer.

Ultimately, Bentley would love to attract Maybach-owning celebrities like Jay-Z, Samuel L. Jackson and the Sultan of Brunei. Failing that, they’ll welcome anyone with the cash to own a Maybach, since it’s likely that even Bentley’s halo car, the Mulsanne, is affordable. To lure Maybach owners, Bentley is offering perks such as VIP tours of its Crewe, England factory.

Rolls Royce would love to attract the same customers, but it’s more reserved in its pursuit of business. In the words of a Rolls-Royce spokesman, “seeking them out and hunting them down is not the Rolls-Royce way.”

If you’re considering buying a 2012 Bentley Continental GT when they hit the market, here’s the first question you need to answer: did you want that with one turbo or with two? If you’re buying it for image and to increase your odds with the opposite sex, one turbo is probably good enough. If you’re buying it because of Bentley’s racing heritage, and because you need something more practical than your Ferrari 458 Italia, I’d strongly encourage you to check the “twin turbo” option box. One thing you won’t find on this year’s build sheet is the 6.0 liter W-12 engine option; Bentley has decided that they, too, need to build more fuel efficient cars in order to meet increasingly tight DOT and EU emission regulations.

Last year’s W12-equipped Continental GT put out some 575 horsepower, and made the sprint from zero to sixty in about 4.5 seconds. Top speed was just under the double-ton, coming in at 198 miles per hour (although given the car’s less than sleek aerodynamics, I certainly wouldn’t want to push it that hard). This year’s model puts out 415 horsepower from the single turbo 4.0 liter V8, but generates a respectable 555 horsepower in twin-turbo flavor. There’s no data yet on performance, but I’d expect the lighter V8 to nearly match the outgoing W12. Pricing has yet to be announced, but if you’re serious about buying a Bentley, you probably don’t care about trivial things like how much it costs. You’ve got people to worry about that for you.

Source: 4 Wheels News

Jay Leno has all of the fun which is in part due to an expendable income and a true love for cars. In the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Jay test drives the most powerful Bentley ever, the 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports that puts out 621 hp from a twin-turbo 6.0-liter W12 engine. The new Continental Supersports is able to make a dash to 60mph from a standstill in only 3.7 seconds. Try that with any other luxury car! Enjoy the video below!

[source: Jay Leno's Garage]

A new video has just surfaced of the upcoming 2011 Bentley Mulsanne in action which we first brought to you images from the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey last month. This new video rendition shows the aesthetics and pure enjoyment that went into making the latest Bentley along with the pure elegance of a finished product. Sit back and enjoy this remarkable video of one of the finest modern-day hand-crafted vehicles.

As if Bentley needed a new flagship vehicle to be placed in the lineup but as no sooner than this thought entered and exited my mind, a new grand tourer called the Mulsanne makes its worldwide debut at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, California.

The new Bentley Mulsanne is a big car, stretching about 11 inches longer than the Flying Spur and inspired by company founder W.O. Bentleys ultimate achievement in 1930, the 8-litre. The Mulsanne sits very low and has a wide stance giving it a serious presence as it will stand for the pinnacle of British luxury motoring. This is a real luxury grand tourer.

With a slightly new look up front, the Mulsanne will not be mistaken for anything other than a Bentley. The new headlight arrangement is reminiscent of the 8-liter Bentley. Back then there was not a Rolls-Royce influence in any designs. The interior of the Bentley Mulsanne is very different from that of the Arnage. It incorporates more chrome accents and modernized controls but still surrounded by wood trim.

Look for the Bentley Mulsanne to be further revealed along with the engine specs and specifications at the Frankfurt Motor Show this year.

We hope you haven’t eaten lunch yet, because we promise what you are about to see is sure to make even the best of us a little nauseous.  Allow us to introduce you to the Geely GE and the Hautai – Chinese clones of the Rolls Royce Phantom and Bentley Flying Spur.

Geely GE: un-Rolls Royce Phantom
This,  ladies and gentlemen, is the Geely GE.  And the first thing we will tell you about the GE, is that the executives at Rolls Royce are not amused that the unmistakable Rolls Royce look is being copied by Geely.  While Rolls Royce & their lawyers are not yet saying that they intend on suing Geely, Rolls Royce has publicly stated that they are, in plain English, keeping their options open and are meeting with legal advisers.  The Geely GE is expected to sell for £30,000 – or about $44,000 USD.  This is significantly lower than a £262,000/$400,000 authentic Rolls Royce Phantom, however, the question is: Would you want to be seen in a Geely GE?  Would it impress those around you?  It’s like buying a replica Rolex, Panerai, or any fine watch for that matter.  Many watch enthusiasts can tell a replica from a mile away, and if you are trying to impress someone often times it works out the complete opposite.  If you were to pull up in a Geely GE to an exotic/fine luxury car meet, most people would spot/call this car out a mile away.

Hautai: The Baby Bentley for the Baller on a Budget (How’s that for a tongue twister?)
In a close second in the luxury copycat war is the Hautai [no model name released yet] copycat Bentley Flying Spur.   From the back and side it looks like…well…a Bentley Flying Spur.  From the front it looks like a mixed breed Hyundai and Bentley gone bad.

Where I live – Naples, FL, I always refer to the Bentley as the Naples Camry, because I literally see 25 of them a week.  In most cities though, catching a glimpse of a Bentley is a rare sight – a rare glimpse of rolling luxury and prestige.  Aparently the Huatai Automobile Group, based in Beijing, China [who by the way, specializes in SUVs), has the ability to build 200,000 of these vehicles annually.  200,000! To put this into perspective, in 2007 Bentley only produced 10,000 cars per year total and only around 4,000 of these were Flying Spurs.   Unfortunately very little is known about this Hautai model right now, but you can count on Automotive Addicts to keep our eyes peeled for developments.

With all of these plans for clones, luxury auto manufacturers are going to become increasingly worried about preserving the image of their brand and we are bound to see some lawsuits in the future.  We can’t wait to find out who will be the next company to send us pictures of a clone to talk about!  Hopefully it will be a Maybach…

The Geneva Motor show seems like a spectacle of many Luxury brands in rare form in addition to some that we didn’t expect such as from Nissan. Some of the upcoming highlights this week include the introduction of the following:

• Aston Martin One-77
• Audi TT RS
• Bentley Continental SuperSports
• Bugatti Veyron Blue Centenaire
• Ferrari 599 GTB HGTE
• Ferrari 599XX
• Gumpert Apollo Speed
• Infiniti Essence Concept
• Mitsubishi iMiEV Sport Air
• Nissan Qazana Crossover Concept
• Opel/Vauxhall Ampera
• Rinspeed iChange
• Rinspeed’s Abarth-based E2 Concept
• Rolls-Royce 200EX
• Volkswagen Polo / Polo BlueMotion concept
• Zagato Perana Z-One
• And a lot more…

This is just an early run-down of a few Geneva Motor Show cars showcased this week. Below are several images of the cars listed above.

Enjoy the images below after the jump…

[source: autoblog]

Supercars are now part of a new club in my opinion. Whether you agree with me or not, a new benchmark as has been set for performance cars to be called a “supercar”. The 200mph mark seems almost like a standard if a car wants to be in the once-sacred “supercar status”. I realize many supercars only reach speeds just shy of 200mph but when you consider the over-all performance of some vehicles and the astonishing capabilities, you might as-well welcome them to the 200mph club. With a few (pricy) bolt-ons or ECU programming you may be able to add another 10 to 20 mph to the top speed of many supercars anyway.

Our good friend, Chris Grosser, set out to Ochopee, Florida at a rented 2 mile long aviation runway just recently. The goal was to achieve top speed (in a supercar) during a series of runs in a controlled environment. I am not sure of anything that is more fun other than blasting down flat-out on a runway in a supercar. Below is the excerpt from Chris’s new blog. I encourage you to check out some of his professional photography shots if you have the time.

Image Gallery and excerpt from Chris Grosser’s site below…

Location: Ochopee, Florida – at a rented 2 mile long aviation runway

Date: 2/23/2009

Time: 7am-7pm

Goal: Super car top speed runs in a controlled environment

The sounds of cars flying by like rocket jets in excess of 200mph was nothing short of astonishing at yesterday’s 2 mile open runway event located at Ochopee, Florida.

The super car lineup consisted of cars that most people can only dream of, me included. Twin turbo Lamborghini Murcielagos and Gallardos filled the arena early in the morning when being unloaded from trailers at the venue.

A Saleen S7 brought massive amounts of attention from the fans. It’s not an everyday occurrence to view such cars in the wild, much less out on an endlessly long runway being pushed to its limits. It’s a thing of sheer beauty to view a car like the S7 being run to its full potential and not just sitting behind a glass showcase or velvet ropes like a coveted piece of art.

Two Robinson R44 helicopters even made brief appearances. Other visits from curious planes in the area made fly- bys to view the tens of millions of dollars in super cars from around the country.

Having been fortunate enough to take a quick ride in my good friend’s Bentley Continental GT and quickly surpassing the 175mph mark – the 200mph barrier in cars such as the Saleen S7, Twin turbo Murcielago, 1300 horsepower, LP640, Ford GT, or Twin Turbo “Underground Racing” Gallardo seem shockingly feasible.

Feasible is merely an understatement as new speed records were approached and surpassed throughout the day. 200 miles per hour quickly became the new standard for the super cars to strive for and many did just that.