News/ Others/ Bentley W12 Is Also Departing | Final Boarding Call Before The Gate Closes?

Bentley W12 Is Also Departing | Final Boarding Call Before The Gate Closes?

You know, sometimes I just think to myself. Would the world even be beautiful anymore if these so called “environmentalist” hypocrites banned the existence out of internal combustion engines. And guess what? I come up with the same answer every time. NO. NO. NO.

I’d rather be wearing oxygen masks and driving around in a awesome sounding car than breathe clean air and drive around screechy motor nation. But, I don’t know why car companies have to succumb to these “sustainable” policies. Anyways, enough of my ranting before I get thrashed for insensitivity.

So it’s a time of funerals, we have had many in the past and here’s another one. The lovely Bentley W12 is headed towards the grave now.

Bentley has announced an official the retirement of its W12 engine in a move towards sustainability. An engine which has been on the road for the past twenty years, now hits the pits. The British marque says that the orders for the W12 are almost full any only limited slots remain. They say that production will cease in April 2024 regardless of anything else.

Deep down we all know this day was coming, and now, here it is. Of course this does not mean that you cannot get a Bentley W12, there will still be plenty on the second hand market. Bentley says that by the end of its production run, they will have produced over 1,05,000 W12 cars and that’ll probably be good enough for a few years to come.

The Bentley W12 was conceived in 2002 and finally hit the roads (pun intended) in 2003. Since then, the W12 has had 37% power improvements, 54% torque improvements and emissions have been cut down by 25%. What else does the world want? They cut the emissions down for god’s sake! Just don’t expect it to exhaust pure O2 because that’s not how chemistry works. The most potent W12 from Bentley can be seen in the highly limited Bentley Batur where it makes 740Hp and 999Nm of torque.

With the W12’s departure, Bentley has only two powerplants in its vault, the 4.0L twin-turbo V8 and the V6 hybrid…that is, until Bentley decided to give full electric power a try.

One sliver of good hope is that Bentley has decided to retain all 12 master craftsmen of its W12s who undertake the 6.5 hour hand-making process of the W12. They will be reassigned to other jobs. The W12 is available in the Bentley Bentayga, Flying Spur, Flying Spur Mulliner, Continental GT Speed, Continental GT Mulliner. But beware, if you want one, the offer stands while stocks last!

Words: Sresht Garg

TopGear Magazine February 2024