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Bentley Mulsanne Speed Convertible Rendered into Reality

Now that the Paris Motor Show has offered us the Speed particle that turns the Bentley Mulsanne into the torque-iest sedan in the world, we’re here to bring you a rather interesting Bentley thought - how about a Mulsanne Convertible Speed?
Bentley Mulsanne Speed Convertible Rendering 1 photo
Photo: x-tomi
Before any of you start asking questions on the Mulsanne Convertible, we’ll remind you the project is back on track, as confirmed by Bentley’s CEO earlier this fall.

As for elegantly brutish Speed moniker, we’d be lying if we said we expect this to land on the drop-top. Still, let’s take a few moments to enjoy the idea.

Hiding behind the long hood of the Mulsanne Speed (sedan), sits Bentley’s good old 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8. The six and three quarters vee eight is probably the most longevive performance engine still on the market, with Crewe’s engineers recently taking the unit to 530 hp, which is 25 hp extra compared to the version that powers the standard Mulsanne.

By storm. This is how the 811 lb-ft (1,100) Nm took us when Bentley launched the Speed. In the typical fashion of the brand, the torque is on tap from 1,750 rpm. There are other engines on the market capable of passing the 1,000 Nm barrier (AMG fans certainly know what we mean), but very few actually do it, since this puts an incredible strain on the transmission. Well, Bentley worked on their implementation of the ZF 8-Speed auto and managed to cope with the extra twist.

There’s also an S driving mode that keeps the V8 above 2,000 rpm, which means those turbos are always ready to serve their master, or, better said, to please a chauffeur to an extent he or she couldn’t have imagined.

Bentley Mulsanne Convertible (minus the “Speed”) is the works

Now that Wolfgang Dürheimer is back at Bentley’s controls, the CEO has restarted the plans to bring the Mulsanne Convertible to the market - the project had been... put on an indefinite hold by Wolfgang Schreiber, the man who led the Flying B company while Dürheimer took care of other VW Group business (read: Audi).

Given Bentley’s history, the open-top behemoth should be called Azure, but don’t expect it to arrive all that soon. Bentley has an SUV to launch, remember?
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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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