2005 Bentley Arnage Drophead Coupe Concept

Bentley Calls It a Concept but Expect a Production Version Soon

Anyone who thought that Bentley's flagship Arnage was on its way out of production after the unprecedented sales success

Anyone who's taken a stint behind the wheel of a Bentley Arnage will be able to attest to the lofty price being worth every penny. (Photo: Bentley Motors)

the luxury marque has experienced with its new Continental GT coupe, and expects to achieve with the upcoming four-door sedan based on the GT's architecture, may have jumped to conclusions too soon.

The Volkswagen-owned British automaker still sells a substantial number of top-line Arnage sedans, available in R, RL, T, T Mulliner and Limousine configurations, the latter not certified for North America, for an even more substantial entry price of $289,990 (2004 pricing).

Anyone who's taken a stint behind the wheel will be able to attest to the lofty price being worth every penny, not only because of the car's impossibly athletic road manners but also due to its superior craftsmanship and stunning attention to detail.

Yet as wonderful as it is, the arrival of the Arnage Drophead Coupe Concept may be a bit of a surprise to those attending the

The arrival of the Arnage Drophead Coupe Concept may have been a bit of a surprise to those attending the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show where it was unveiled. (Photo: Bentley Motors)

Greater Los Angeles Auto Show where it was unveiled. After all, many would have been expecting the luxury marque's well kept secret to be something else.

What, per say? Talk of the upcoming Continental GT-based 4-door sedan has kept automotive analysts playing guessing games as to when it will debut, as is the highly anticipated Drophead Coupe (British for convertible if you hadn't already figured that one out) version of the lovely new GT, which is probably the single most reason why the Arnage drop-top was unexpected.