Bentley Mulsanne Speed Doesn’t Just Accelerate Quickly
High-performance Mulsanne Speed depreciates as quickly as it rushes billionaires to their private jets.
The second-generation Bentley Mulsanne that was produced for the 2011-2020 model years was a whole lot of car for a whole lot of money. Signing over more than $300,000 for one bought you a hand-built English super-luxury sedan with a leather- and wood-lined interior that took longer to craft than it takes to build mass-production cars entirely. The Speed version offered the same legendary finery and even more power. But Bentley’s former flagship model may not be as epically expensive as you might think.
Rob Ferretti, the man behind the popular YouTube channel superspeedersRob, recently took a deep dive into all of the gizmos and creature comforts inside of a 2018 Mulsanne Speed loaded up to a window sticker price of $411,109.99.
The black and white bruiser was upgraded with the $8,515 Naim for Bentley audio system, $2,760 veneer-accented 4-spoke steering wheel, $4,870 hand cross stitching, a $39,219.99 Mulliner design package and other features that make the stock $335,600 car seem so…ordinary.
The Mulsanne Speed’s opulence is not just a bunch of zeros on paper or a list of things to mention a little too loudly at a social function. It’s tangible, especially the cross-stitched leather, which covers the seats, door panels and even the back of the front seats. Down low, there are deep-pile carpets that almost make the idea of not removing your shoes before getting into the Mulsanne Speed seem vulgar.
Leather is everywhere, including inside the little storage bin between the pair of massaging and reclining rear seats. Those come with their own separate pillows embroidered with the Bentley logo. According to Ferretti, they’re perfect for when “you want to just unwind after a long day of not doing anything and being rich.” If the rear climate controls and seat heaters don’t keep the back of the cabin toasty enough, there’s also a dedicated lux blanket. Smokers can rejoice because Bentley clearly didn’t forget about their lighting and ash disposal needs.
Those Speed badges at the bottom of the front fenders mean that the hardcore Mulsanne has even more pavement-rippling thrust than the already powerful Mulsanne. Bentley tweaked the massive 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8 to produce 530 horsepower and an absolutely staggering 811 lb-ft of torque. That’s enough to get the nearly 3-ton executive express up to a top speed of 190 mph.
That’s fast for any vehicle, especially one that’s more than 200 pounds heftier than a new Z71 Suburban. Unfortunately, the Mulsanne Speed can’t outrun what catches up with so many luxury vehicles: depreciation.
Ferretti is well aware of the fact. He estimates the 2,400-mile car he’s sitting in is “probably 235, 240 grand” now. Ouch.
The largely custom nature of Bentleys makes it hard to perform an apples-to-apples comparison between Mulsanne Speeds, but the numbers we’ve found seem to support that grim prediction. A quick search of DuPont Registry turned up two 2018 Mulsanne Speed models (albeit with significantly higher mileage than the one Ferretti profiled), both of which are going for just under $230,000. Of the seven Mulsanne Speeds from various model years with less than 5,000 miles on them that we found on Cars.com, only two of them had asking prices above the 2018 model’s MSRP.
Still not cheap by any means, but proof that patience can be rewarding. Ferretti certainly doesn’t mind waiting. “Would I ever buy one? I would…when it’s like $75,000 with 30,000 miles on it. This would make an excellent daily driver.”
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