Azure 2012 Bentley Azure - rendering

[ree]

Just the Facts:

• IL offers early photos of the future Bentley Azure.
• The new convertible will be based on the Mulsanne sedan.
• The Azure drop top will likely hit the market a year after the Mulsanne.

DETROIT — As the Bentley Arnage wafts gently into that good night, it will take the Azure convertible version of the big Bentley with it, eventually. Oh dear! How will Bentley get by with only the Continental GT convertible in the lineup?
It won't. As the bug-eyed Mulsanne sedan gets set to take over for the Arnage, so will a two-door drop-top version of the Mulsanne take over for the Azure. With the investment Bentley has made in its Crewe facility to build the Mulsanne, it only makes sense that the automaker will build more than one variation to spread the cost around.
In all likelihood, the convertible will keep the name Azure, and it will also share the sedan's 6.8-liter twin-turbo V8 that produces a not-insubstantial 505 horsepower. That's enough to scoot this great heaping monument to wealth to 60 mph in just over 5 seconds. The Azure, which should become available about a year after the Mulsanne hits the market, will also use the sedan's eight-speed automatic. The Azure, like the Mulsanne, will offer as many different varieties of wood veneer trim as the transmission offers gears.
We're still not feeling the Gatling-gun headlights, but cutting the roof off the Mulsanne and tightening up the dimensions a little, as we have in our photo illustration, work wonders on the thing.

Bentley's New Big Drop Top

 

[klier]

Please, not the Mulsanne front

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Please, not the Mulsanne front

Why can't you and the lights get along?


I have no doubt in my mind that the Azure will get the Mulsanne lights. Just seems natural considering the Arnage/Brooklands/Azure did the same thing. Who knows, maybe they might suprise us...but I doubt it.

Klier, if you don't like the front lights, force yourself to! This is a Bentley and it commands your loyalty!

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Report: Bentley Azure To Be Replaced By Mulsanne-Based Convertible

Just as the Continental GT has its Flying Spur sedan and GTC convertible variants, Bentley’s upcoming 2011 Mulsanne sedan is expected to spawn its own two-door variants. The legacy started with cars like the Brooklands and Azure Convertible, both of which are in desperate need for a replacement.

The exclusive marque’s CEO Dr Ulrich Eichhorn has previously hinted at the possibility of a coupe and convertible Mulsanne and now a new report is claiming that a drop-top version of the new Bentley flagship will replace the Azure.

Bentley will be looking to reap back returns on the investment it has outlaid at its Crewe facility to engineer and manufacture the Mulsanne and one of the best ways to do so will be to spawn several models from the same platform.

The Azure name is expected to remain as will the Mulsanne’s newly developed twin-turbocharged 6.75-liter V-8 and its generous 505 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of torque. Expect scintillating performance, with acceleration times of less than five seconds for the 0-60 mph run and top speeds in excess of 155 mph.

Looks like the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe and Drophead will soon have some competition.

- Report: Bentley Azure To Be Replaced By Mulsanne-Based Convertible - MotorAuthority