2011 Bentley Continental Gtc Convt, Glacier White W/magnolia Leather 1,400 Miles on 2040-cars

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Bentley Batur is the next Mulliner creation after the Bacalar

Bentley's Mulliner personalization division launched the Balacar Speedster in 2020 — named after Laguna Bacalar in Mexico's Quintana Roo state — and sold the limited run of 12 examples almost immediately at about $2 million per. With just four Bacalars remaining to be delivered to customers, and since the first rule of having a hit is having a follow-up ready, it's no wonder that Mulliner will introduce its next small-batch, bespoke car in 10 days: At 8 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, August 20, during Monterey Car Week, the Crewe automaker will unveil the Batur. Our invitation to exhilaration. This is where finely-honed bespoke craftsmanship and next-generation design meet. The #Bentley #Mulliner #Batur. 04:00 BST, 21.08.2022 pic.twitter.com/g0kV5K2ffJ — Bentley Motors (@BentleyMotors) August 9, 2022 We know a couple of things about the Batur. It's not clear what vehicle the model is based on, but we're told it will be a "hand-built grand touring Bentley." We're going to guess this means the Flying Spur chassis gets the nod, because the next thing we know about the Batur is it "showcases themes and forms that will define BentleyÂ’s future range of Battery Electric Vehicles." Bentley's first EV is anticipated to be a high-riding sedan sitting on Volkswagen's SSP battery-electric platform, the even more luxurious follow-up to the Audi Artemis electric sedan that will introduce upscale versions of the SSP architecture. The short video shows a very Bentley diamond grille laid in with burnt orange accents.    The last thing we know about the Batur is that it's named after another body of water, this time Lake Batur in Kintamani, on the island of Bali in Indonesia. There looks to be quite a span between the Batur's EV-forward design and the first Bentley EV. A report out of Germany in July said the VW Group continues to struggle with software for the swarm of battery-electric product the brand wants by 2030, pushing launches back potentially by years — issues that cost former VW Group CEO Herbert Diess his job. Audi's retail version of the Grandsphere concept might not show until 2027 instead of 2024, and the first Bentley EV that was due in 2025 might face a similar delay.

Bentley to retire aging 6.75-liter V8 with current Mulsanne

The massive 6.75-liter V8 in the Bentley Mulsanne is one of the oldest engines still in production. But it may not be around for much longer. According to Car and Driver, Bentley intends to finally put the big old pushrod V8 to pasture once the current Mulsanne is phased out, thus putting an end to a saga that goes back some 57 years. Powerful as it may be, ever-stricter exhaust emissions and fuel-consumption regulations will see that the L Series V8, originally introduced way back in 1957, doesn't stay in production forever. Whenever the Mulsanne is replaced, it will reportedly get a brand-new twelve-cylinder engine. Bentley is currently the world's largest producer of dozen-pot powerplants. Production of the British automaker's 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 far outpaces anything from Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ferrari, or Lamborghini. Over the decades since its introduction, Bentley's long-serving V8 has gone from making an "adequate" amount of power and torque to an impressive 530 horsepower and a positively massive 811 pound-feet (with the help of a couple of turbochargers). Its eventual discontinuation wouldn't be the first attempt on the life of the 6.75-liter engine. When BMW briefly took control of both Rolls and Bentley, it replaced the big engine by a smaller 4.4-liter V8. Customer demand led Bentley to bring the old engine back. It will likely be some time before we get details of Bentley's next powerplant. Models like the Mulsanne and Rolls-Royce Phantom tend to stick around for a long time, and the latest version of Bentley's flagship was just released earlier this year. Related Video:

Bentley Mulsanne 6.75 Edition is the sedan's sendoff into retirement

Bentley is closing the latest Mulsanne chapter with 30 examples the Mulsanne 6.75 Edition by Mulliner, celebrating the 61-year-old V8 that first appeared in the 1959 Bentley S2. Once those 30 cars have been built, the name retires for the second time — after being used on a flagship sedan from 1980 to 1992 — and the Flying Spur takes over as the carmaker's top-tier offering. Starting with the 530-horsepower Mulsanne Speed, the 6.75 Edition adds gloss black and bright chrome jewelry, including a dark tint for the Flying B hood ornament, Mulliner radiator, and exhaust finishers. There are also chrome badges, bright machined faces with black pockets for the 21-inch, five-spoke wheels, and welcome lighting that flashes the special edition name. Under the hood, the normally silver intake cover gets dressed in black, and the engine number plaque bears the signature of brand CEO Adrian Hallmark instead of the engine builder. The interior can be specced in four single-color hides, either Beluga, Fireglow, Imperial Blue, or Newmarket Tan. All are automatically contrasted with silver — silver-painted veneer, silver seat piping and silver sheen that shows through the ventilated thrones, an instrument panel in high-gloss Grand Black, and door trim in Dark Engine Spin Aluminum. Other touches to mark the occasion are ventilation controls designed to look like the engine oil cap, cutaway drawings of the engine on the gauges and clock face, and more 6.75 Edition stitching and badging. The carmaker pointed to the end of the 6.75-liter V8 four years ago, but that was when there were plans for a successor to be powered by a new V12. Times having changed, the Flying Spur will lead the way with its 6.0-liter W12 and 4.0-liter V8 engines sourced from Volkswagen, and a hybrid model coming for 2023.  Bentley didn't mention a price for the Mulsanne 6.75 Edition, because of course. But the 2020 Mulsanne Speed starts at $342,300. Start there and add money.