It didn’t take long for the 2011 Bentley Mulsanne to make an impression to car enthusiasts, did it?

Only a few hours removed from its unveiling at Pebble Beach, Bentley’s new flagship luxury car has already found a buyer willing to pay a cool $500,000 – with proceeds going to the Pebble Beach charity - for a chance to own the first Mulsanne ever produced after ‘chassis No1’ Mulsanne auctioned off at the Gooding & Company auction.

The Mulsanne, which is set to replace the dearly departed Arnage, is being billed as the up-and-coming challenger to the Rolls-Royce Phantom for luxury car supremacy and with car No. 1 being sold for half a million, the Mulsanne has served its notice to the Phantom. It has arrived and it’s ready for battle.

With the first Mulsanne already sold, the lucky buyer has around a year’s worth of bragging rights considering that his Mulsanne will be the only one out on the road until the rest of the cars go on sale around the summer of 2010.

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