The brawn identities

The story of the changing relationship between Rolls-Royce and Bentley is embodied by these three very closely linked models

- SIMON HUCKNALL

Sometimes the key to the future lies in the past. But in the new car industry, that doesn't normally equate, especially when it comes to powertrains: engines need to be progressively cleaner, more potent, quieter and smoother, while mated to transmissions that are ever more efficient and responsive. The 1998 Bentley Arnage promised all of this, yet in less than two years its sales had bombed and they were only saved by the installation of a 30-year-old engine for which the car was never designed, and that had very nearly been consigned to its maker's scrapheap. For Bentley, retro engineering saved its bacon.

To illustrate the sea-change that brought about Bentley's reversal of fortune - and also a radically new direction for its Crewe sibling, Rolls-Royce - we have gathered three near identically bodied cars from the two historic manufacturers. They are propelled by three completely different engines: a Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph powered by a 5.4-litre, naturally aspirated V12; a Bentley Arnage equipped with a 4.4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8; and a Bentley Arnage T using a 6.75-litre, twin-turbocharged V8. Few cars built on a common platform are as defined by their mechanical DNA as these three.