Bentley Brooklands (2007): first official pictures

Bentley Booklands coupe: the lowdown

Bentley is going back to the future with this classic coupe. Called Brooklands, the two-door nods back to Bentley’s 1920s racing triumphs at the Surrey circuit. Indeed, the Brooklands represents Bentley at its most traditional. The coupe is based on the Arnage saloon, and its V8 engine dates back to 1959. However, the twin turbocharged unit has very modern, totally dizzying outputs of 530bhp and a monolithic 774lb ft of torque. Just 550 Brooklands coupes will be hand-built in total, with first deliveries in a year. Expect a price around £225,000 – before sumptuous personalisation, that is.
How it looks

The Brooklands’ Arnage roots are unmistakable. The mesh grille, twin headlamps, pronounced character line linking the wheels and side vents are naturally present. The look is chop top Arnage, with the roof line dropped and pillarless sideglass installed. With the Brooklands, Bentley designer Dirk van Braeckel wanted to ‘create a powerful, muscular and rakish grand touring coupe with classic British proportions’. The Crewe factory is particularly proud of the floating rear screen, clearly demarcated from the boot unlike in most coupes. It’s a feature that demands individual hand-welding of the rear wings to the C-pillars: robots could not create a single pressing to fit around the screen.