The Bentley Brooklands was introduced globally in 2008 and is in essence the coupe version of the Bentley Azure convertible. Both the Bentley Azure and Brooklands are related to the Arnage luxury sedan which came to the end of its production in 2009. The ultra-luxurious Brooklands was manufactured in limited numbers with only a handful making their way to South Africa.
The Bentley Brooklands wasn't without competition as around the same time the Rolls-Royce Phantom drophead coupe, Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG were new on the market. While the Rolls-Royce drophead more competed with the Azure, the 612 Scaglietti and CL65 AMG were closer rivals as they were true coupe models, however, both more performance orientated rather than luxurious.
1. Engine
Under the bonnet of the Bentley Brooklands features a familiar engine to the brand, the 6.75-litre V8 petrol. The 6.75-litre motor has been used by the brand since 1969, however, the latest iteration features twin-turbochargers as well as re-profiled camshafts amongst other tweaks. This allows the handbuilt V8 petrol motor to produce no less than 395 kW and 1050 Nm of torque.
At the time this was the highest amount of torque generated with a production V8 petrol engine and still remains one of the highest, even by today's standards. To put it into perspective, the 5.7-litre, V12 petrol engine in the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti develops 397 kW and 588 Nm of torque.
2. Spaciousness
While traditionally one would expect a coupe to be small and nimble, the Bentley Brooklands was built to comfortably fit four adults. Measuring 5 411 mm in length, the Brooklands is in fact slightly longer than its Arnage sedan sibling, and it shows. The boot offers up 550-litres of luggage space while the two rear seats will easily accommodate adults up to 1.9m tall with the legroom only a touch less than that in the Arnage.
While all the competitors mentioned earlier also offer two additional seats at the rear, not one does so with the spaciousness as in the Brooklands.
3. Limited production
The Bentley Brooklands was offered in limited numbers, 550 to be exact. Bentley never ended up producing that many with only 426 examples leaving the assembly floor. Out of the 426 vehicles, only 105 right-hand drive variants were produced with many of those finding residence in the UK. That means that only a handful would have made their way to South Africa which increases the collectibility tremendously.
With so very few produced worldwide and even fewer in right-hand drive, it can be speculated that these will over time only increase in value and could be a good investment for potential owners.
