If you’re considering buying a new Bentley with a W12 engine, I’m afraid I have some bad news. You can’t have one.
This is because W12 is no longer available. Actually, this is not entirely true; Bentley is currently halting production to meet final orders for W12-engined cars, which it estimates will be completed by mid-year. However, the order books are closed; You can’t buy it anymore. Make no mistake: the W12’s era is almost over.
It would be disingenuous to try to compare the W12’s import for Bentley with the outgoing L-Series V8 engine, on which almost all of the brand’s cars were based from 1959 to 2001 and which, incredibly, remained in production until 2020. .
But equally, it would be presumptuous to underestimate the importance of the W12’s arrival in the Bentley Continental GT in 2003. You see, this was a turning point for the company; It’s the first Bentley in decades that isn’t just a rebadged or restyled Rolls-Royce, but was developed with new money from its acquisition by the Volkswagen Group and carries the engine that would form the backbone of Bentley’s rebirth.
The W12 was developed by Volkswagen and its principle is simple: Take two VR6 engines whose staggered cylinder arrangements are in-line and midway between those of the V engine. Tilt each one at a 36-degree angle from the vertical and mate them on the crankshaft.
smooth operator
Bentley would prefer you not to point out that the W12’s design has its origins in the Mk3 Volkswagen Golf, which featured the aforementioned VR6 unit, but the fact remains. Still, a good idea is a good idea, no matter where it comes from; The result is an engine that’s almost as smooth as the V12 and delivers the same amount of power, but takes up less space under the bonnet, giving passengers more room. In the latest Continental GT, it produces 650bhp, enough to reduce the 0-62mph time to just 3.6 seconds.
Meanwhile, under the hood of the 2003 model, it marked the beginning of a new Bentley that did not appeal only to the landed upper class. Traditionalists may scoff, but there is no doubt that the money flowing into Crewe from footballers, musicians, YouTube celebrities, film stars and those who want to emulate them has helped Bentley rise to heights previously only dreamed of. 1990s.
So there is good reason to mark its passage. What could be better than toasting with a very special whiskey? Actually Bentley’s. We had to go to Scotland for this. We didn’t actually do that, but it seemed like a good excuse for one last blast at W12. More precisely, a Continental GT Convertible.
fog lights
It was a damp March morning when we left Crewe and headed north to Conti, the second in a convoy of four W12-engined Bentleys. But the fog soon lifts, and with it the ceiling opens.
Even in the first crisp weather of spring, it’s entirely possible to cruise down the highway with the top down in one of these cars; Shaking is minimal when the windows and wind deflector are raised, while a heated seat and neck warmer keep the cold at bay.
A trip like this (640 kilometers of highway, just over seven hours of driving) plays to the Continental’s strengths. The name is not a misnomer; This is a proper grand tourer, in the best tradition of such a thing, and at motorway speeds the kilometers pass unnoticed. The angled tower of Forton Services appears to be slipping away moments after we join the M6; After a short while, we stop by Tebay for a driver change and a comfort break and continue our journey.
Our northbound wave ends with a stop at Glenskirlie Castle, halfway between Cumbernauld and Bonnybridge. Built in 2007, the castle is the first new castle built in Scotland in the 21st century.
In a vaulted-ceilinged banquet hall surrounded by suits of armor and stained-glass windows (which feels like an incongruous touch when you know the age of the building), we enjoy crispy, perfectly runny scotch eggs and fresh salmon.
This feels like an apt metaphor for Bentleys parked outside: It evokes a distant past, true, but the glint of modernity is also inevitable, for better or worse. In the case of Bentleys, it’s almost always better.
Therefore, it is not difficult to settle into Continental’s red driver’s seat once again. From here the roads go from three to two, then reduce to a single lane in both directions; One of the biggest advantages of W12 reveals itself here.
You pay your money…
Now is the time to stand up for something. For all this sentimental talk about the end of an era, I’ve actually always preferred a V8 in a modern Bentley.
Yes, the W12 has become something of an icon; but the smaller engine is no less powerful, and with its higher power delivery and louder soundtrack, its slightly more caddish character still makes it the engine of choice in the Continental. For me anyway.
I have to admit, though, that what the W12 has over the V8 is a huge low-end torque sled. While the V8 needs to downshift and rev a few times to really come into song, the W12 is equipped with loads of grunt that spreads all over the road as soon as you approach the accelerator.
Yes, the Conti will drop a few ratios to get you into the power band, but the difference is that when you need to pass a stalling Toyota, the W12 shuts down and starts before that downshift even arrives, rushing forward and carrying you safely. It passed long before there was any danger of going astray.
As a result, overtakings become perfunctory; If the path is straight and clear enough, all it takes is a quick kick with the right foot and you’ll be past.
whipped
The sun is out as we enter the Dowans Hotel in Aberlour. Twenty minutes later we are greeted by a bright red Bentayga for the short hop towards our final destination: The Macallan Estate.
This is where we salute the W12 tonight – and what better way to do it than with a whiskey bearing Bentley’s name? Horizon, a limited edition edition of The Macallan, is, if you believe the marketing pitch, a celebration of the two brands’ shared heritage and their shared commitment to sophisticated craftsmanship.
It comes in a bottle unlike anything you’ve seen before; A glass vessel that stands horizontally rather than vertically, housed in a cradle made of copper, aluminum, leather, and wood; apparently “inspired by the horizontal orbit of the automotive world”.
It’s easy to make fun of enthusiastic copy, but we’re in pretty high-end territory here; Horizon is unlikely to sell for around £2 million, which was when the most expensive bottle of whiskey ever sold (also a Macallan) was sold in November last year. However, at £40,000 a bottle, this product is beyond the reach of most of us.
Roaring forties
At The Macallan’s extraordinary new distillery, we are led into a dark, circular room with a roof covered with wavy clumps of grass, walls made entirely of glass to better blend in with the hillside on which it sits, and suspended ceilings hanging from within. Shelves of dimly lit barrels are visible. And here, on a dais in the center, is the strange, twisted shape of the Horizon bottle.
It’s important to state for the record that I’m no expert on whiskey. I enjoy a bit of a tipple every now and then, of course, but on a motoring journalist’s salary I can only go so far as the single malt you can find on the supermarket shelves – it’s rare that I get the chance to try something more special.
So you have to forgive my taste buds for their inexperience with this type of whisky. Luckily, The Macallan’s master whiskey maker Kirsteen Campbell is on hand to tell us what we should taste; aromas of oak and leather, apparently intended to evoke the interior of a Bentley, along with dried fruit and spice.
I put £40,000 worth of whiskey in my mouth and hold it there. I was immediately surprised by its sweetness; or rather, the absence of suffering. This is the talking sherry cask, or so I was later told – the Macallan’s specialty; indeed all their whiskeys are barreled this way.
Vroom’s fruit
After a while, yes, there is dried fruit; Like a delicious, intoxicating Christmas cake with sugary orange peel. I can also feel the spice, but oak and leather are harder to find; The relative coarseness of my palate is undoubtedly responsible for this.
What I noticed is the depth of flavor; A generous, gentle hit of warmth that radiates outward from your chest and feels like it’s dripping slowly but inexorably into every corner of your torso. This is something I’ve never experienced before; Is this really what drinking expensive whiskey is all about? If so, I can understand why people do this.
It would be easy to dismiss Horizon as nothing more than a marketing exercise, but somehow it feels like more than that. Both Bentley and The Macallan state that if they were after a quick PR victory they could easily put the Bentley name on the 18-year-old bottle of The Macallan.
Instead, Macallan’s and Bentley’s people talk about Horizon like proud parents, suggesting that the experience of creating it was so fruitful that it won’t be the two companies’ last collaboration.
When one door closes, another opens. But this won’t be the last time we see a top-spec Bentley in the range above the all-petrol V8. Rumor has it that a hybridized V8 is on the way, offering significantly more power than the W12 and promising quiet operation in some cases. What a Bentley.
Of course, enthusiasts will lament the loss of a powerful Bentley. But its passing is a reminder that change is inevitable. Once upon a time, W12 represented this change; It signals a bold new era in which Bentley will need to change dramatically to survive.
Twenty years later, as I gulp down the last drops of (probably) the most privileged thing to ever come out of my mouth, it’s hard not to conclude that mission has been accomplished.