If Bentley’s transformation and rise from obsolescence over the past four decades could be packaged and embodied in a single model, it would have to be the Arnage. Launched for the 1998 model year at the very outset of Volkswagen’s corporate takeover, and lasting through 2009, the Arnage bridged “old Bentley,” steeped in decades of tradition and floundering, with “new Bentley,” which would metamorphose into the success story it is today.

Though VW was instrumental in the Arnage’s evolution over its 11-year lifespan, it was the German giant’s predecessor, British engineering company Vickers—which had acquired Rolls-Royce in 1980 and Bentley along with it—that first devised the Arnage as part of an ongoing effort to restore Bentley’s vaunted high-performance heritage. Conceived together with the largely similar but statelier Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, the Arnage and its sibling were to be powered by BMW V-8 engines—a marked departure in strategy. The plan was thwarted almost from the start.

Complications from VW’s corporate takeover meant that by 2002, the company ditched the outsourced engines and reverted entirely to an old standby: the long-running L-series 6.75-liter V-8. Though larger, heavier, and less advanced than BMW’s sophisticated 4.4-liter engine, it produced far more torque, was reliable, and a known quantity. Furthermore, with VW’s wherewithal, it would be continually refined and improved over the years. Of the several variants Bentley launched in the early 2000s, the Arnage T was the sportiest, boasting a claimed 450 horsepower and 645 pound-feet of torque. As the engine evolved, so did the Arnage’s styling: a redesign for 2005 brought it more in line with the revolutionary new Continental GT.

The Bentley Arnage T offered here benefits from upgrades made for the 2007 model year. Low-inertia Mitsubishi turbos replaced the previous Garrett units to improve engine response, while the smooth-shifting ZF six-speed automatic transmission from the Continental GT supplanted the long-running four-speed. Claimed output for the Arnage T climbed to a staggering 500 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque.

This Bentley spent most of its life in the United States in the stewardship of three previous owners before being brought to Switzerland in 2016. The current, Kuwait-based owner acquired it in 2020. Documents on file, including a Carfax report and service invoices with mileage logs, show that the odometer was likely reset at some point in the United States prior to being exported in 2016, and that the actual mileage is higher than presently indicated. However, total mileage likely does not surpass 20,000 miles, still making this a low-mileage and well-preserved example.

Notably, this Arnage T came highly specified from the factory, with Mulliner quilted seats and door cards, walnut and engine-turned aluminum trim, polished chrome sill plates, drilled pedals, walnut rear picnic tables, and embroidered headrests. It also features headrest-mounted screens for the rear seats, as well as darkened privacy glass.

Well-documented, generously specified and still able to hold its own for performance, presence, and comfort, this Arnage T represents phenomenal value, and few are likely to be more desirable than this well-cared-for example.