Bentley to unveil the world's fastest saloon car

Bentley, the Crewe-based luxury car maker, will today unveil the world's fastest and most powerful production saloon. The Arnage T, which makes its world debut at the Detroit motor show, has a top speed of 168mph and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds.

Bentley, the Crewe-based luxury car maker, will today unveil the world's fastest and most powerful production saloon. The Arnage T, which makes its world debut at the Detroit motor show, has a top speed of 168mph and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds.

The new Arnage also has a price tag to match – it will cost £166,500 compared with £149,000 for the previous model. Apart from the familiar Bentley features – Connolly leather, Wilton carpets and automatic climate control, the car also features a new computer-controlled sports suspension.

The car is the first new Bentley to be produced since the company was taken over by the German car giant Volkswagen in 1998. VW is investing £500mat Crewe through to the end of next year to modernise the plant and overhaul the model range.

The re-engineering project on the Arnage has taken three years and has involved a "bumper to bumper" redesign of the car.

VW plans to increase production at Crewe five-fold to as many as 10,000 cars a year. It will hand over the Rolls-Royce marque to BMW at the end of this year.

As well as being one of the most expensive Bentleys ever built, the Arnage T is also the most powerful, its 6.75 litre V8 engine producing 450bhp.

Bentleys traditionally appeal to older motorists but the company is aiming the Arnage T at a slightly younger audience made up of Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin drivers. A spokeswoman declined to say how many Arnage cars it hoped to sell this year. But a word of caution for the super-rich – there is already a three-month wait for delivery.