'The most magnificent thing of all, it turns out, is a Bentley Mulsanne Speed' -
features a pop-out handle someone of a certain income might recognise from the Evoque they bought for the nanny. Or the mistress. Either way, it’s the same thing. The Mulsanne has no such imperfect bloodline. Its handles, rendered in real metal and carefully textured too, as if finished off by a tiny army of artisan mice in brown store-coats, are bespoke and magnificent.
This stoutness is part of what makes the Mulsanne special and also, though it was conceived under German ownership, what makes it feel British. There’s something inherently hefty about this damp island of ours, a weightiness that infests our everyday lives and which you see in everything from Georgian houses to apple crumble and custard. For many of our nearest neighbours, a big breakfast comprises delicate pastries and tiny cups of bitter coffee.
Yes, you had to let your driver go after the deal with the Swiss went south, but the Mulsanne makes driving yourself no hardship. You don’t expect this Bentley to surge towards distant objects as if you’re falling across the landscape, not least because things of this size and weight normally have stained glass windows, but my goodness it can and it does. A road-creasing 811lb ft of torque gives the Mulsanne an absurd ability to arrive at extraordinary speeds without the occupants noticing.
It’s that kind of car. It’s special, it’s unique and it is, sadly, no more. The Mulsanne ceased production without replacement in 2020. The last press car was quietly shuffled onto Bentley’s heritage fleet so that it might be borrowed by people like me who’d never driven a Mulsanne before and could belatedly realise that we will never see its kind again. There are other Bentleys, of course. There are other large and delightful saloons.
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