Bentley Mulsanne | Spotted

In the market for a bargain? This Mulsanne has lost 10 per cent of its value for each year of its life

By Sam Sheehan / Sunday, 19 July 2020 / Loading comments

If you prefer waft to wind in your hair, as offered by this weekend’s Six of the Best, then may we steer your attention to this Bentley Mulsanne - a car that retailed for £220,000 (before options) back in 2012, and is now up for just shy of £47k, a fifth of its original list. That’s for a saloon of unquestionable opulence and luxury which has only very recently gone out of production.

It’s funny to think that when it was first revealed the Mulsanne’s design split opinion. Now, in a world of increasingly fussy designs, the mounting of traditional Bentley grille onto a smooth, flowing bodyshape looks positively debonair. At almost 5.6 metres in length and 2.7 tonnes, a Mulsanne is large and heavy, but it wears its panels with an elegance only something this long and substantial could be. The Bentayga is a handsome SUV, but next to the Mulsanne, it’s no contest.

Of course, the Crewe-made 6.75-litre V8 is the Mulsanne’s party piece, not because of its soundtrack or output – 512hp and 752lb ft ensures it has plenty of the latter – but because of its ability to cosset this enormous four-door along with crushing ease. Back in 2012 we were impressed by the eight-pot’s low-rev tendencies, aided by Cam Phasing technology that can half the revs at which that maximum twist is provided to the rear wheels. Couple that to cylinder deactivation tech, and you’ve got a motor that can seamlessly pile on the speed from nowhere.

With the Mulsanne heralding from a time before you needed a digital screen for everything, the saloon’s interior is arguably one of the finest combinations of old and new ever produced. You’ve all the wonderful trimmings of a proper Crewe creation, including armchair-like seats with soft head rests, beautifully tactile buttons and controls (we obsessed over the feel of the vent controls back in 2012), and a sea of leather and wood veneers to appease your senses. There’s an infotainment screen in the centre console with satnav and media software, but it’s far from distracting. Lovely.

The Mulsanne is designed to make journeys as effortless as possible, but should you want to turn up the pace and test its limits the car can certainly deliver. We were impressed with its handling back in 2012, although mention of body roll and nose pitch reminds us of the times before active anti-roll tech had really taken hold. It’s no bad thing, though; in fact, it's easy to miss the days of communicative roll, and given the Mulsanne’s manor-like grandeur, a bit of lean probably feels wholly right. Rest assured point-to-point pace is enormous.

Driving this Spotted today therefore ought to feel like every bit the occasion it was back in 2012. Only now you’ll have spent 20 per cent of what its original buyer did to realise it. We’re not going to suggest that running costs will have experienced a similar reduction. Expect the opposite, in fact, with service bills no doubt higher than they were at the start of the decade - not to mention the prospect of an unforeseen, age-related issue cropping up. But for the eventual buyer, magnificence still awaits.

SPECIFICATION | BENTLEY MULSANNE
Engine: 6,750cc, V8, twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 512@4,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 752@1,800rpm
MPG: 18 (or so they said)
CO2: 393g/km
First registered: 2012
Recorded mileage: 82,000
Price new: £220,000
Yours for: £46,989