 A RICH CHOICE OF COLORS (left) The leather comes in a total of 17 different colors – and is sourced from Northern European cows due to the smaller number of insect bites. IMPECCABLE BRITISH CRAFTSMANSHIP Allan Powell used to work here in the leather shop, before he started providing support for customers visiting Crewe. “Where else can car salesmen be so close to the development process apart from here at Bentley?”, asks Powell, who has seen and heard many examples of the company’s uncompromising customer orientation over the years. Take the case of the owner of a forest who provided the wood for his dashboard himself, or the hardcore Bentley fan from the USA, who wanted a stainless steel fuel filler cap with Bentley wings – a one-off at the time but now a detail appreciated by four-fifths of all Bentley buyers. The “Naim for Bentley” audio system – a technical masterpiece developed specially for and with Bentley by British hi-fi specialist Naim introduced in 2008 – now seems set to share the same fate: originally designed as the “icing on the cake” for music lovers for whom nothing but the best is good enough, the premium audio system is now finding favor with more and more customers and is ordered by one in three Bentley drivers. As Mike Hanks explains: “Actually, it’s not at all surprising: once you’ve heard the system, you don’t want to be without it.” Hanks, the Senior Infotainment Engineer at Bentley, sits in a Continental Flying Spur Speed* in front of Bentley’s main entrance in Crewe and turns up the volume slightly. His face expresses the confidence of someone who knows that all most people can manage before being struck completely speechless is simply “wow”.  A TRULY UNIQUE AUDIO EXPERIENCE |
 Mike Hanks is now completely in his element as an engineer: “In theory there are ways of adapting this to meet individual customers’ wishes. For example, for customers who may hear certain frequencies worse than others, or who prefer specific styles of music. We could program the system to take these requirements into account.” Hanks turns up the volume even higher. An acoustic guitar cuts in – blues in a minor key, a woman’s voice. “Just listen to how rich that sound is. Isn’t it just like sitting on stage among the band members?” For a few moments it isn’t the engineer Mike Hanks, but the connoisseur who comes to the fore. The sound. The car. The moment. If he wasn’t a Senior Engineer at Bentley and didn’t have the next meeting coming up in a few minutes, he would fasten his seat belt, put his foot down on the accelerator and drive for miles and miles. Happy birthday, Bentley!NINETY YEARS OLD and still fighting fit.That’s luxury car maker Bentley nine decades after brothers Walter Owen and Horace Bentley started building their first prototype – a car with a three liter engine and around 65 horsepower (48 kW). Since then, the brand has consistently defended its reputation for making cars that offer an elegant combination of luxury and performance.  CREWE, ENGLAND
This is where Bentley’s success story began 90 years ago. The Continental R Type, launched in 1952, remains unforgotten to this day. Not only was it the epitome of style, it was also the fastest four-seater coupé of its time. It was followed by milestones such as the Mulsanne and the Arnage. More recently, pride of place went to the Continental GT Speed* with its 610 PS (449 kW). Until 2007, this was the fastest car that Bentley ever built. Then, in 2008, Bentley presented the Arnage Final Series*. The traditional British brand has been part of the Volkswagen Group since 1998, with unit sales increasing several times over during this period. In 2009, the company will unveil the successor to the Arnage as well as an extension to the Continental series. These are the next steps in Bentley’s ambitious development program, which aims to gradually reduce fuel consumption and emissions. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: *Consumption and emission data can be found here. |
