2023 Bentley Bentayga S, Touring Pkg, on 2040-cars

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You can buy the Queen's Bentley Mulsanne for $285,000

Want to feel like a king or queen driving around town? You'll want a Bentley. After all, the British automaker furnished the royal household of Queen Elizabeth II with the bespoke State Limousine, and delivered the very first new Bentayga to Her Majesty as well. But if you're keen to get a little closer to that sovereign feeling, might we suggest buying the Queen's own Bentley – namely, the Mulsanne you see here. Listed for sale on Auto Trader by a dealership in Surrey, this particular Bentley Mulsanne was reportedly used exclusively by the British monarch from 2012 to 2014. She's said to have used it during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations that marked her 60th year of reign four years ago, as well as for a visit to Prime Minister David Cameron's office at 10 Downing Street for his inaugural cabinet meeting. We wouldn't be surprised if she took over the wheel from her chauffeur from time to time, either. The Muslanne is said to have only 5,826 miles on the odometer – 5,000 of which was racked up in Her Majesty's service, secret or otherwise. On that note, there is no mention of 007-esque gadgetry or basic armoring you might expect from a head of state's car. Provenance aside, this being a Mulsanne, it's motivated by Bentley's ancient 6.75-liter V8, not the gauche 6.0-liter W12 or 4.0-liter V8 in the nouveau riche Continental. It's done up in classic dark green with a tan leather interior and walnut burr veneer trim, and can be yours for GBP199,850 – or $285k at today's exchange rates. Of course you could pick up a new one for not much more, but then you wouldn't be riding around in the Queen's own wheels, now would you? Related Video: Featured Gallery 2012 Bentley Mulsanne - ex-Queen Elizabeth II News Source: Auto Trader Bentley Car Buying Luxury Sedan bentley mulsanne queen elizabeth ii

Bentley's first electric car will arrive in 2025 at the earliest

Now that it's back in the black, Bentley is busily planning its move into the electric car segment. The company's chief executive shed light on how his team will link the past and the future. When it comes to new products, company boss Adrian Hallmark told Automotive News Europe that "it's all about electrification." The first Bentley with a plug is the Bentayga Hybrid unveiled at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. Looking ahead, an electric car will join the range, but executives haven't decided what form it will take, or what it will be powered by. Several options remain on the table. What's certain is that Bentley won't stuff an electric powertrain into one of the cars in its current portfolio. "We could take one of the existing nameplates, and that could be the first electric car, but we wouldn't take an existing car and try to fit batteries into it, because there's a compromise from a range and efficiency point of view," Hallmark explained. The challenge isn't simply to make an electric Bentley; the British firm wants to ensure its first battery-powered model credibly lives up to the badge on its nose. That means it needs to blend effortless power with an acceptable amount of driving range. Bentley is part of Volkswagen, so using one of the platforms in the group's growing arsenal of architectures isn't out of the question. And, Hallmark affirmed engineers will take advantage of the innovative packaging possibilities made possible by electric powertrains. He explained the firm isn't about to release a Mini, but an electric Bentley could have a smaller footprint than, say, a Mulsanne while offering a comparable amount of interior space. He cited the Jaguar I-Pace as an example, which he said is nearly 14 inches shorter than Land Rover's Range Rover, yet is about as spacious inside because electric motors require less space than a comparable gasoline- or diesel-burning engine. The trade-off is that an electric Bentley would need a sizable battery pack, and designers would likely have to put the car on stilts to leave enough room in the cabin for people and gear if they were to pen an electric car in 2020. Solid-state battery technology will solve that problem when it's ready for production, according to Hallmark, though he didn't reveal whether he's open to waiting for the new chemistry or if Bentley's first electric car will ship with a lithium-ion battery pack.

Bentley wants to get into the coachbuilding business

There was a time when a customer would buy a chassis from an automaker like Bentley and then take it to a coachbuilder to have whatever bodywork they wanted put on it. The practice was particularly prevalent in Bentley's earlier days, but the industry has progressed in such a way - with tighter regulations and unibody construction - that such a practice is no longer feasible. But Bentley wants to get back into that business.
Speaking to UK trade publications recently, Bentley sales chief Kevin Rose indicated that the company is looking into setting up a special division within itself to meet the demands of extremely wealthy customers who want to commission their own coachbuilt custom creations. It's an emerging trend that's seen Ferrari Special Projects build one-offs like the F12 TRS and SP12 EC and McLaren Special Operations the outlandish X-1, and Bentley wants to get in on the action.
It wouldn't be the first even to rebody a contemporary Bentley in recent years. Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera offers the Flying Star (pictured above) that turns the Continental GT into a shooting brake, and Dany Bahar's new coachbuilding outfit Ares plans to do the same. By bringing it in-house, however, Bentley would be able to pick the chassis up off the assembly line at the right time and provide the necessary support and factory backing.