Look at the Wheels on That: Bentley Arnage
 Bentley Arnage 25 May 2007
Stuart Milne got behind the wheel of one earlier this week, and has been waxing lyrical ever since.
I've always loved the Bentley Arnage. It looks like a proper Bentley, and goes like one too.
That's why Michael Gambon's gentleman gangster character in Brit gangland flick Layer Cake had one. Like Eddie Temple, Gambon's alter ego in the film, the Arnage looks very sophisticated, but really a bit of a thug.
Like many other cars on my endless list of stuff to drive, I had put the Arnie up on a pedestal, ready to be knocked down when I finally get behind the wheel.
And I found my imagination matched the reality earlier this week, when Bentley chucked me the keys to its sensational £175,000 Arnage T.
But that's all part of the appeal. Sitting in the driver's seat – which is made from the finest, perfectly-stitched leather – I could full appreciate why it costs so much.
The dash is polished wood, not mottled brown plastic you'll find in most cars, and the dials are some of the best I've ever seen. There's nothing so vulgar as labels on the knobs which operate the electric mirrors or heater vents either.
Even the seat-shaped buttons to adjust the power seats and stereo are hidden from view.
Starting the Bentley is even more of an occasion – more so than the silent-running Rolls Royce Phantom, because the Arnage's turbocharged 6.75-litre V8 engine is far more vocal.
But it's under full bore acceleration I had my perfect Bentley moment, with the long bonnet lifting slightly as if to contain those eight piston's deep within the engine.
It roars like a lion, and is just so evocative of those Bentley Blowers blasting down the Mulsanne Straight during the
That's not to say all that's good about the Arnie lies in Bentley's past. It’s a card-carrying rocketship.
Bentley used to say its cars had 'sufficient' power. Not any more.
The Arnage T packs a 500bhp punch from its V8 engine – a powerplant which can trace its roots back to the 1950s – and was the most powerful road-going Bentley ever, when it was launched in 2002.
That means some staggering performance – 0-60mph in 5.2 seconds and a top speed just shy of 180mph…all in a car weighing more than two and a half tonnes.
And the fuel consumption?
If you can afford almost £200,000 – plus extras – for an Arnage T, it's not really an issue.
But it could be if you're thinking of snapping up a used one. Early Arnages weigh in around the £35,000 mark, rising to double that for one of the first Arnage Ts.
One of the greatest luxury cars in the world for the price of a well-specced BMW 3-Series?
Makes you think, doesn't it.
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Sure, its big, heavy, pretty unwieldy, and in an age dominated by sleek and sober looks – dare I say it – a bit old fashioned.
Behind the wheel of a Bentley, you can't help but get caught up in the romance of enthusiasts building them, not because there’s a regular wage in it for them, but because they're passionate about being the best.Page 1
