Thanks to the kind assistance of Bentley Belgium Press Relations Officer Katia Vandevelde, we had a personal talk on the Frankfurt IAA Show with Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Bentley Motors Chairman and Chief Executive, just minutes after the world premiere of the all-new Bentley Mulsanne…

Needless to say it was a very interesting conversation about the true nature of Bentley cars, and the art of translating the engineering and styling heritage of the original cars into the present-day Bentleys, which not only embody the tradional values of the marque, but carry also the very latest technology under their timeless shapes.

 

Hans Knol ten Bensel

 

"There will always be extraordinary people who will buy extraordinary cars… "

The classic look of the new Bentley Mulsanne, inaugurated at the IAA Show, minutes before this interview...

HK : My first question is referring to the Continental range and the personalised customer approach, where customers can now order off the peg. Do you think that customer will change in preferences and behaviour, taking into account the social trends towards environmental consciousness, the type of mobility which is aceeptable in cities, the new (politically correct) look at our mobility... trends we are seeing now ?

Mr. Paefgen : We have to look at long term trends and not at short term developments which are always extreme and sometimes very unusual. Looking at these long term trends, there are indeed environmental issues, and we are responding to these.

In the light of this, we are continuously developing and improving our cars, not ending up all over a sudden with a different sort of car, but behind every new design we take into account  are the traditional Bentley values which will also definitely survive in the future.

In designing its cars, Bentley will always seek to embody its long standing values and traditions, whilst adopting the latest technologies...

There will be extraordinary people in the future that will want to buy extraordinary cars, the same way as they buy extraordinary houses, furniture, or boats. It has something to do with lifestyle, with personal taste, with what do I get for the money I made when working hard, and I dont think that we are going to lose that. We have the tendency that if there is a short term trend, to cry loud and say oh this is gone for ever, but if you look back, we have had oil crisisses, and other developments.

Indeed , there is a visible trend in certain areas, and we have to follow this trend, but behind that there is a long  term development, which is very stable and even more so, with new markets being entered, a new and better understanding of Bentley has been developed than ever before. We see this also in the Chinese market, which is a fast growing market for us. We are confident for the future…

"We are part of the strongest technology group in the world…"

HK: You don’t think that the attitude of cities and (local) governmement in the future towards environmental norms will affect the use of Bentley cars in urban environments, taking into account that Bentleys have a longevity which can be put in decades instead of years… Will Bentley not be obliged to find technical answers and solutions, which it will have to adopt and implement in its next model ranges ?

The inlet manifold of the new Mulsanne's V8 engine recalls the sturdy engineering...

Mr. Paefgen  I have two answers to that. First of all, whatever technical development is required, we are part of the strongest technology group in the world, so we can put this to good use. Besides this, I personally think, even if there will be restrictions in some areas, could you imagine that politicians and other VIP’s would drive in small electric cars to their offices, and use them for representation purposes ?

There will probably be restrictions, but the market will be there as the people will be there, people who will drive these cars. Of course there will be geographical areas where people will not do this any more, but this we can already see today. In Rome for example, you would never buy a Bentley to drive it in the city. But you could easily buy a Bentley in Milan to travel in the country or to travel abroad. This is what our customers do today. They probably have a small city car in Rome, and a big Bentley sitting in the place where they live, for example in Florida. A lot of customers have a lot of cars, and they have a lot of places where they live, so…

... of the compressor on the legendary Bentley "Blower" 

 

"The new Mulsanne has the latest technology under its classic looks… "

The flat exhaust tailpipe of the new Mulsanne is reminiscent of...

HK : Of course, continuing on the theme of technology, as a Bentley owner/driver, you not want to be seen in a car which does not embody the latest « state of the art » technology in terms of environmentally conscious performance and luxury…

Mr. Paefgen : This is exactly what this new Mulsanne is all about. It looks in many ways traditional, and  this is what we wanted to achieve. But behind it,   and we can go through a lot of areas, is all the very latest technology. This car hosts the latest in electronic engine management, cilinder deactivation, flexfuel, new 8 speed transmission, electronically controlled air syspension on four corners, electronic 4 zone electric controlled air conditioning, complete multimedia system, using the same technology which will be introduced in the top line Audi’s only next year…

You can rightly say that you find the latest technology in every Bentley, notwithstanding its classic looks.

... the flattened exhaust tail pipe of the historic Bentley "Blower"

Developing a unique style language… 

HK: Dirk Van Braekel succeeds in maintaining the styling tradition of the marque and still combine it with the right amount of modernity…

The rev counter on the new Mulsanne breathes the same aura of purposefulness and luxury as...

Mr. Paefgen : I always loved what Dirk Van Braekel was doing, even when he was with Skoda, and I think that the latest Mulsanne is his masterpiece. This project was very special indeed, as only once in your lifetime you can design a flagship Bentley. Our customers emhasise style and elegance, and our cars live longer, so we have to develop a unique style language based on tradition and values. 

... the rev counter and speedometer on the '30s Le Mans open tourer, as a Bentley befits, set in wood!

HK : And you create a styling icon or benchmark, as you did with the Continental, where now the customers ask you not to keep the car as it is, not change the shape of the car...

Mr. Paefgen: Indeed, we get some interesting reactions in this sense…

The new Mulsanne will transport its passangers in luxury... with speed

"Bentleys are and will be big, strong cars, appointed with hand crafted luxury, but also built  to be driven very fast…"

 

HK: The Continental is typically a car where the Bentley driver recognises himself in, yet, when taking a long look at the 30’s Le Mans open tourers, one still would wish an even more compact, rugged Bentley…breathing the aura of strength and speed, but of course you then are threading in other marques of the group, like the Bugatti…

Mr. Paefgen : You touch on a few things. I like the comparison between the Bentley and the Bugatti. Bentley is never going to build a Bugatti and vice versa. Because that is where the tradition is. W.O. Bentley was a railway engineer and so it was all about heavy cars still performing at the top. So the cars we are building now are true Bentleys. Big, powerful and strong cars. We do not want to go into tiny, lightweight, flimsy cars. No flimsy Bentley !

There will always be "Bentley boys who will drive Bentleys very fast: in 2002 I met in Le Mans racing driver Derek Bell, who sorted out the handling of the previous Mulsanne Turbo...which I drove then from Brussels to the Le Mans..   

If you talk about about sportier and aggressive cars, I recommend you to make a test drive with the Continental Supersports.

In comparison to the Bentley, the Audi R8 is a lightweight sports car. The Bentley Supersports, whilst being the sportier car in our model range, still has a more luxurious equipment than an Audi A8 !

What the sportier design element is concerned, I invite you to take a closer look at history. You certainly know that a lot of these classic Bentleys were converted into (Le Mans) open tourers. We just finished the restoration work on  W.O. last personal car, the 8 litre with Mulliner bodywork, this is a car with a wonderful interior, as is the original « Blue Train » car. This latter car is also a lot closer to what we do today than these (converted) Le Mans Open Tourers. A Bentley is a combination of the two : it is a heavy, functional machine, combined with a lot of hand crafted luxury inside. But let me stress this point : a Bentley is built to be driven fast, also this new Mulsanne. It looks like a big heavy limousine, but it is fast. We will go and take the Mulsanne on a circuit, you will see it is easy to handle, good brakes, lots of torque !

 

And when you come to Crewe next time, take also a look at the (historic) 8 litre…

HK : What is the fundamental message you would you like to bring to the Bentley customer ? 

Mr. Paefgen : We are optimistic for the future, and we will be creating further new models…

 

I thank you for this interview. 

 

Hans Knol ten Bensel