Dirk van Braeckel | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 February 1958 |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Education | Royal College of Art |
| Occupation | Car designer |
| Employer | Audi |
Dirk van Braeckel (born 19 February 1958 in Deinze), [1] is a Belgian car designer. He is known for the designing of various models for Volkswagen Group, especially for the Bentley brand.
Born in Deinze, [1] after leaving school, van Braeckel studied electrical engineering, [2] before joining Ford as an apprentice car designer in Cologne, West Germany. [1] Ford then agreed to sponsor him undertake a degree in car design at the Royal College of Art, London. [3]
On graduation, he joined Audi in 1984, working on external design [1] including the Audi A8 concept and Audi A3. [4] In 1993, Volkswagen Group boss Ferdinand Piëch personally chose him to be the design head for Volkswagen's newly purchased Škoda Auto division, where he revised the entire model line-up, [3] designing the Octavia and Fabia models. [1]
After Volkswagen purchased Bentley in 1998 from Vickers plc, van Braeckel joined the British-based company in August 1999 as Director of Design and Styling. His brief was to design a car that could sell in higher volumes than the $240,000 Bentley Arnage model. Van Braeckel designed the Bentley Continental GT, which in 2004 sold 5,983 units, exceeding forecasts by 62%, [3] and in 2009 the Bentley Mulsanne which was designed by him was launched. [5]
In 2007, van Braeckel was awarded the laureate of Antwerp's Christophe Plantin Prize, which honours Belgian citizens whose cultural, artistic or scientific activities contribute to the country's prestige abroad. [2] In 2008, van Braeckel was awarded the European Automotive Design Award by Designers (Europe). [1]
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North London, and became widely known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930. Bentley has been a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998 and consolidated under VW's premium brand arm Audi since 2022.
Škoda Auto a.s., often shortened to Škoda, is a Czech automobile manufacturer established in 1925 as the successor to Laurin & Klement and headquartered in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. Škoda Works became state owned in 1948. After 1991, it was gradually privatized to the German multinational conglomerate Volkswagen Group, becoming a partial subsidiary in 1994 and a wholly owned subsidiary in 2000.
The Bentley Arnage is a full-size luxury car manufactured by Bentley Motors in Crewe, England, from 1998 to 2010. The Arnage and its Rolls-Royce-branded sibling, the Silver Seraph, were introduced in the spring of 1998. They were the first entirely new designs for the two marques since 1980.
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The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung, is one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs. It consists of two separate fairs, that subdivided in 1991. While the IAA Mobility displays passenger vehicles, motorcycles and bikes, the IAA Transportation specializes in commercial vehicles. Before the separation, the show was held solely at the Messe Frankfurt.
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The Mulsanne is a full-size luxury car that was manufactured and marketed by British automaker Bentley Motors from March 2010 to June 2020. It served as the flagship automobile for the company during its production run. Honorifically, the Mulsanne was referred to as "The Grand Bentley" during its development.
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Bentley Crewe, also named the Pyms Lane site after the street it is located on; is the headquarters and design and manufacturing centre of Bentley Motors Limited on the outskirts of Crewe, Cheshire, England. The site covers an area of 521,111 m2 (5,609,190 sq ft), of which 166,930 m2 (1,796,800 sq ft) is indoors.
The Rolls-Royce–Bentley L-series V8 engine is an engine introduced in 1959. Built in Crewe, it was used on most Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles in the four decades after its introduction, with its final application being the Bentley Mulsanne which ended production in 2020.
The Bentley EXP 9 F is a concept car produced by Bentley and first shown to the public at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, and is the concept SUV for the Bentayga.
The 2014 Paris Mondial de l'Automobile or 2014 Paris Motor Show took place from 4 October to 19 October 2014 on 'Automobile and Fashion' theme.
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