Bentley’s big, charismatic twin-turbo W12 engine is on its way out, making way later this year for a series of powerful V8 plug-in hybrids, a powertrain we’ve probably just had a sneak preview of in the form of the Lamborghini Urus SE.
The British marque isn’t going to let its big 6.0-litre, 12-cylinder lump slip away quietly, though. It’s just announced the third model in the run of exclusive ‘coachbuilt’ specials from its Mulliner division. Just 16 will be made, and they’ll be amongst the very last cars to emerge from Crewe with the engine that debuted over 20 years ago in the original Continental GT.
It’ll follow on from 2020’s open-topped ‘barchetta’ style Bacalar, and 2022’s Batur coupe. With 730bhp, the latter was the most powerful road car ever produced by Bentley, so we’d imagine whatever’s being previewed here will at the very least equal that.
The short, shadowy teaser video accompanying Bentley’s announcement shows a front end that’s very similar to the Batur. The rear lights look the same too, although there’s the addition of a little ducktail spoiler. It’s the bits in between that raise the most questions, but we can see what looks like an open cockpit with twin humps, similar to those on the Bacalar.
Bentley Mulliner special teaser
Sensible money, then, says we’re looking at an open-topped version of the Batur, although that’s about all we can discern at the moment. Well, that and the fact that it’s orange. Very orange.
The name is a mystery, too, although both previous coachbuilt models have been named after lakes, so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see this one follow suit.
Bentley Mulliner special teaser
We’ll have more details on Bentley’s W12 send-off when it gets a full reveal on 7 May. Until then, we’ll be busy guessing what watery name it ends up with – Bentley Rutland Water, anyone?
