And that's where I get back to answering my friends' questions about the Arnage T's value proposition. I searched high and low, and couldn't for the life of me find one item made of plastic other than the pop-up navigation system atop the dash, heating, ventilation and air conditioning buttons on the HVAC interface, audio system knobs and row of ancillary switches just below - that incidentally appear very BMW-ish, attesting to the Bavarian marque's involvement in engineering the Arnage/Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph models that debuted in 1998. Even the sliding shoulder belt adjusters attached within the B-pillars are metal, covered in what appeared to be a soft suede-like material. Possibly only the
Rolls-Royce Phantom could make this claim, the Maybach can't.
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| The number of plastic components found in the Arnage's interior could be held in two hands, with room to spare. (Photo: Bentley) |
But to compare apples to apples the R-R and Maybach aren't driver's cars are they? They're luxury conveyances, cars to be driven in, not mastered by their owners. Bentleys have never been limousines, unless of course you're the Queen of England who just happens to own one or two. For the most part a Bentley has always been the motorized equivalent of an Arabian steed; fast, agile, yet fortunately nowhere near as cantankerous.
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| The Arnage T is a stunningly attractive automobile, and a powerful statement of cultured good taste. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
And like the Arabian, the Arnage T is beautiful to look at. It's not as rakish as some of its contemporaries, but then again next to the R-R Phantom it's as aerodynamically efficient as a Lamborghini. OK, so I stretched that one a bit. Still, I couldn't help continually looking over my shoulder, catching a glimpse of its elegant sheetmetal from a new angle, crouching down low to the ground for a different perspective. Each view only reiterated my initial reaction; the Arnage T is a stunningly attractive automobile. From its wire mesh grille to its four round headlamps, across its strong shoulder lines to its classically formal C-pillars, and then cresting downward past its sculpted rear trunklid and tastefully integrated rear taillamps to its robust twin exhaust pipes, it's a powerful statement of cultured good taste.
