Final Bentley Arnage

Bentley is laying its Arnage super-saloon to rest with a Final Series special edition, with only 150 being made. As well as celebrating ten years of the model, it commemorates 50 years of the marque’s V8 engine.

The Final Series is powered by a 500bhp, 738lb ft 6.75-litre which can trace its roots back to 1959 when Bentley introduced its first 6.23-litre V8 into the S2 saloon. Power and torque were a slightly more modest 200bhp and 295lb ft. A decade later, the capacity was increased to its current 6.75-litre-state for the T-series. Turbocharging was introduced in 1982 for the 297bhp Bentley Mulsanne Turbo, while twin-turbos made an appearance from the 450bhp, 645lb ft Arnage T of 2002 onwards.

The more modern iteration of the V8 in the Final Series is enough to shift the car’s two-and-a-half tonnes to 60mph on 5.2sec and onto 179mph. Other distinguishing features of the special edition Arnage include 20in, five-spoke alloys, a retractable Flying-B mascot, four Bentley umbrellas and for passengers in the back, a snazzy cocktail cabinet – complete with Bentley flask and shot glasses. On a more modern note, there’s a ten-speaker stereo complete with iPod connection.

All this will set you back £195,000. A big sum for a ten-year old car, but one which has outlasted its initial sister-model, the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, by five years thanks to a number of updates and grand special editions like this one. Expect the Arnage’s successor to move a further rung upmarket to compete with the £250k+ Rolls Phantom, distancing it from the quicker, leaner Bentley Flying Spur.

Is that the right direction to go in, though? Does the current climate require new thinking from Bentley, or are OTT monsters like this and the Aston Martin One-77 just what the world needs right now? Tell us here.