Bentley Mulsanne saloon revealed

The Bentley Mulsanne has been unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance in Monterey, California.

It is built on an all-new platform and will go into production in Crewe, Cheshire next year.

The Mulsanne will replace the outgoing Arnage model.

Chairman and chief executive of Bentley Motors , Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen said: "The challenge we set our engineers was to create a new grand Bentley that would stand as the pinnacle of British luxury motoring, offering the world’s most exclusive driving experience.

"They have responded to this challenge with real passion and the result is a luxury grand tourer that sets new standards in terms of comfort, effortless performance and hand-crafted refinement – the very qualities for which Bentley is renowned.“

More pictures of the Bentley Mulsanne

Bentley last built a model called the Mulsanne between 1980 and 1992, which was also a luxury saloon.

The name was originally used on the 8-litre car first shown at the 1930 London Motor Show. It was capable of more than 100mph and 100 examples were sold.

'Mulsanne' is the name of the straight on the Circuit de la Sarthe, home of the Le Mans 24 Hours race in France. Bentley won the race in 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 and 2003.

The new Mulsanne goes on sale in the middle of next year, and will be displayed at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month.