Spotted: a 2005 Bentley Arnage

The British auto industry has produced a number of innovations.
Consider the pioneering Mini when introduced.
At the same time, the British could be very conservative in the luxury segment.
Take the Bentley Arnage, which entered the market in 1998.
Together with the largely identical, but slightly more luxurious Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, the model was completely new.
That did make it only the first completely new car for both brands since 1980.
Moreover, the design of the Arnage built on the lines of previous Bentley sedans.

BMW engine for Bentley Arnage

Under the skin, though, there was an important break with tradition: the engines no longer came from in-house.
The engines were purchased from BMW.
The Bentley received a 4.4-liter V8 and the Rolls-Royce a 5.4-liter V12.
Difference there must be.
Incidentally, the V8 was slightly modified by Cosworth Engineering, which was then part of Bentley owner Vickers.

Bentley Arnage Red Label and Green Label

After the takeover of Bentley by the Volkswagen group, the Arnage could not keep its BMW engine.
In 1999, therefore, the Arnage received the larger 6.75-liter V8 from Rolls-Royce.
However, this was an older engine, which had to be modified in some ways to meet modern emissions requirements.
Moreover, the Rolls engine was a lot heavier.
Therefore, the car received some reinforcements and larger wheels to accommodate larger brakes.
For a short while, the BMW engine remained available.
For distinction, the Arnage with BMW engine was called Green Label and the one with the Rolls engine Red Label.

Extended Bentley Arnage

For the 2001 model year, the Bentley Arnage LWB was introduced (later renamed the Arnage RL).
Remarkably, this version was extended at both the doors and the C-pillar.
An expensive solution, which did ensure that the proportions of the car remained good.
Incidentally, there were even different lengths available, with the longest version also getting a slightly raised roof.
The LWB was also made only on special order, which also made far-reaching personalization possible.
Right down to factory armor.

Facelift and technical update

In 2005, the Bentley Arnage underwent a facelift, which brought it slightly more in line with new Bentley models such as the Continental GT in terms of appearance.
A technical update mainly followed in 2007, in which the V8 was once again improved and – above all – paired with a modern six-speed automatic to replace the old four-speed.
The Arnage lasted until 2010, when the model was replaced by the all-new Bentley Mulsanne.

The spotted specimen

In a rather unexpected place – the parking lot of a garden center – we saw this 2005 Bentley Arnage.
The car has been in the Netherlands since 2018.
Otherwise, there are few details to report about this particular example.
However, we would like to mention that the combination of the dark blue body paint and the light cream interior is, in our opinion, very successful.