Styled in-house by Austrian born Fritz Feller, the Bentley Mulsanne had somewhat less fussy lines than its T2 predecessor.

Introduced in 1980, its greater road presence masked a larger glass area.

While it looked suitably imposing from the outside, internally it proved pleasantly airy.

Although, based on the Shadow/T2 floor plan, the Mulsanne offered considerable improvements in both ride and handling thanks to its new Girling automatic ride-height control and gas shock absorbers.

Copious amounts of sound deadening combined with the finest quality upholstery kept intrusion from the 6.75-litre V8 engine and three-speed automatic transmission to a muted hush unless the model's full 120mph potential was explored.

Driver inputs were minimised with power-assisted steering and disc brakes.

Launched in October 1987, the Mulsanne 'S' benefited from firmer, more sporting suspension and a new centre console design (the latter feature donated by the Turbo R).

Fitted with alloy wheels as st...