We drove a Bentley Mulsanne Speed from Amsterdam to Maastricht, Rotterdam, and back — a 680-kilometre assessment of what hand-crafted luxury feels like on Dutch motorways and coastal roads.
The Mulsanne — what it is
The Bentley Mulsanne Speed is the last hand-crafted ultra-luxury saloon produced by Bentley — the model was discontinued in 2020 after forty years of production, replaced by the Flying Spur as the marque's principal sedan. This makes the Mulsanne the final example of a particular tradition: a car whose interior required approximately 150 hours of hand-stitching, whose walnut veneers were selected and matched by a craftsperson at the Crewe factory, and whose 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V8 — a lineage that traces to 1959 — produces 537 bhp with a torque figure that makes the flat Dutch motorways feel like a test of resolve rather than distance.
Amsterdam to Maastricht — the A2 in a Mulsanne
The A2 motorway from Amsterdam to Maastricht runs 220 kilometres through the flat heart of the Netherlands, past Eindhoven and into the Limburg hills. In the Mulsanne Speed, this two-hour journey is divided between the motorway's absolute calm — at 130 km/h, the cabin is quieter than most business class airline seats — and the gradual introduction of gradient as the road enters the Limburg heuvelland. The hills are modest by any European standard but sufficiently marked to change the character of the drive.
Rotterdam — the coastal route
The return via Rotterdam added the Nieuwe Maas waterfront and the coastal road north through the Hague and Wassenaar: the most consistently beautiful driving route in the Netherlands, where the Mulsanne's size and presence are exactly calibrated to the properties lining the Wassenaarseweg — the private lane that runs through one of the wealthiest postal codes in Europe.
The Mulsanne in the FFGR fleet
The Mulsanne operates in FFGR Nederland's fleet primarily for principals who wish to be driven in it rather than from a particular location to another. It is a destination as much as a vehicle. We offer half-day and full-day Mulsanne programmes: a coastal drive along the North Sea coast from Hoek van Holland to Den Helder, a literary circuit through the Gooi district (birthplace of the Dutch UHNW landscape), or a simple Amsterdam–Rotterdam–Amsterdam circle that serves no purpose except the one its passenger has in mind.
The Mulsanne is not fast in the way sports cars are fast. It is decisive — which is a different and more interesting quality.
Plan Your Journey
Speak directly with our Amsterdam operations team. Available 24/7, response within 90 minutes guaranteed.
