Bentley are celebrating their 100th year with the launch of the Bentley Mulsanne W.O Edition by Mulliner – an exceptional, limited edition Mulsanne that pays homage to the original Bentley 8 Litre.

In 1930 W.O Bentley’s ultimate expression of automotive engineering first took to the roads. Considered his finest Grand Tourer, the Bentley 8 litre. This triumph of engineering was also a celebration of craftsmanship, coach built by H J Mulliner.

The Bentley 8 litre was intended to be a large super-luxury car for very wealthy buyers, the pinnacle of automotive excellence and opulence. It used an 8 litre straight-six engine with a four speed gearbox and ladder frame chassis. At the time, the chassis itself with no body cost £1,850, roughly £293,000 today. The 7,983cc straight six was the most powerful of any car available in Britain at the time, offering remarkable performance in it’s day. Bentley said of the 8 litre “I have always wanted to produce a dead silent 100-mph car, and now I think we have done it”.

1929 brought with it the onset of the Great Depression, and the Bentley 8 litre was to be the final achievement of the Cricklewood era. Just 100 cars were made before new owners Rolls Royce stopped production of the 8 litre, and disposed of all the spare parts

In 2017, curators of Bentley motors embarked upon an extraordinary project.

Waiting deep in the archives lay a precious piece of Bentley heritage, unseen and undisturbed for over a generation, something carefully conserved – the original crankshaft belonging to GK706, the second Bentley 8 litre off the production line and W.O Bentley’s personal transport.

Bentley have chosen to celebrate 100 years of Bentley with the launch of a very special car indeed – The Mulsanne W.O Edition by Mulliner.

Like the original 8 litre, production will be limited to just 100 examples. As a mark of just how special this car is to Bentley, and how important the heritage of the brand is, each of the 100 cars made features a bespoke Mulliner cocktail cabinet which proudly displays a slice of the original crankshaft belonging to W.O Bentley’s very own 8 litre.

An exquisite piece of Bentley history taken from one of their most revered automobiles and now embodied within the Mulsanne W.O Edition by Mulliner.

The Mulsanne W.O Edition by Mulliner draws inspiration from the 1930 Bentley 8 litre and of that ‘golden age’ of British motoring.

Inside there are exquisite features inspired by luxury living in the 1930s. The hand crafted Mulliner illumintated cocktail cabinet is complemented by the interior colour split of Fireglow Heritage and Fireglow hide, combined with Beluga hide and Dark Stain Burr Walnut veneer. Fireglow lambswool rugs complete the interior, with Onyx paintwork giving the car it’s formidable road presence… Although customers can choose any exterior colour from the Bentley palette for their own car.

With this car, Bentley have made a flagship model to be the worlds finest handmade car, the ultimate combination of luxury and performance – just what W.O Bentley intended with the original 8 litre.

The first customer deliveries are expected to be in 2019.

How much is the Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner?

No price has been released for the W.O Edition of the Mulsanne, but as J.P Morgan famously said, “If you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it”. The Bentley Mulsanne starts at £229,360.