by If you’ve been thinking about buying a new W12 powered Bentley, I’m afraid I have some bad news. You can’t have one.
That’s because the W12 is no more. Actually, that’s not quite true; Bentley is currently winding down production in order to fulfill the final orders for cars with W12 engines, which it estimates will be completed by the middle of the year. But the order books are closed – you can’t buy one anymore. Make no mistake: the time of the W12 is almost over.
It would be disingenuous to try to compare Bentley’s import of the W12 to the old L-Series V8 – the engine on which almost all of the brand’s cars were based from 1959 to 2001 and which remained in production, something incredible, until 2020. .
But equally, it would be remiss to underestimate the importance of the arrival of the W12 to the Bentley Continental GT in 2003. This, you see, was a turning point for the company; the first Bentley for many years that was simply a badged or restored Rolls-Royce, developed with new money from its acquisition by the Volkswagen Group and carrying the engine that would become the backbone of Bentley’s rebirth.
The W12 was developed by Volkswagen and the principle is simple: take two VR6 engines, with a staggered cylinder arrangement halfway between inline engines and a V engine. Cant each to an angle of 36 degrees from vertical and coat them at the crankshaft.
Ready operator
Bentley would rather you didn’t point out that the design basis of the W12 lay in the Volkswagen Golf Mk3, which featured the aforementioned VR6 unit, but the fact remains. However, it is a good idea, no matter where it came from; the result is an engine that’s almost as smooth as a V12 and delivers just as much power, but takes up less space under the bonnet, giving more room for passengers. In the latest Continental GT, it puts out 650bhp, enough to reduce the 0-62mph time to just 3.6 seconds.
Under the bonnet of the 2003 model, in the meantime, it was the beginning of a new Bentley – one that did not appeal only to the nobility in the country. Traditionalists may be appalled, but the money that has flowed into Crewe since then – from footballers, musicians, YouTube celebrities, film stars and those who wanted to make a living – has undoubtedly helped Bentley to heights he could never dream of again. the 1990s.
So there is a good reason to die. And what better way than to toast, with a very special whiskey? Bentley himself, in fact. For that, we had to drive to Scotland. Well, actually, we didn’t – but it seemed like a good excuse for one last blast in W12. A Continental GT Convertible, to be exact.
Fog lights
It’s a March morning when we leave Crewe and point the Conti’s nose north, the second in a convoy of four W12-powered Bentleys. But the fog soon lifts, with that, the top comes out.
It’s entirely possible to cruise the motorway in one of these cars with the roof down even in early spring; with the windows and wind deflector up, buffeting is minimal, and the heated seat and neck warmer keep the cool down.
A trip like this – 400 miles of motorway, just over seven hours’ drive – plays to the Continent’s strengths. Her name doesn’t matter; this is a great tourer, in the best tradition of its kind, and at motorway speeds, the miles go unnoticed. The angular tower of Forton Services slips by a few minutes after we enter the M6; a little while later, we stop at Tebay for a driver change and a comfort break, then continue on.
Our northward surge is about to stop at Skirley Castle, half way between Comarnanallt and Bonny Bridge. Having been built in 2007, it has the distinction of being the first new castle built in Scotland in the 21st century.
In a vaulted banquet hall, surrounded by a suit of armor and stained glass windows – which feels a touch out of place when you know the age of the building – we included crispy and real-run scotch eggs and fresh salmon.
This place feels like an apt metaphor for the Bentleys parked outside: misery of a distant past, true, but the charm of modernity can’t be found – for better or for worse. Although in the case of Bentleys, it’s always for the better.
So settling back into the Continental’s vermillion driver’s seat is no hardship. From here, the roads go from three, to two, then down to one lane in either direction – and this is where one of the W12’s big advantages is shown.
You pay your money…
It’s time I owned up to something. For all this sentimental talk about the end of an era, I’d always prefer a V8 in a modern Bentley.
Yes, the W12 is now a bit of an icon – but the smaller engine isn’t exactly short on power and with the most consistent power delivery and ululating soundtrack, its slightly more caddish character makes it the engine of choice on a continent. For me, anyway.
However, I have to admit that what the W12 has over the V8 is a great thumping sled of low-rev torque. When it takes a downshift on the V8 and a few revs to really get on song, the W12 is endowed with a bucket of grunt that pours itself out across the road the instant you step near the accelerator.
Yes, the Conti will drop a few ratios to get you into the powerband, but the difference is that when you need to overtake a dawdling Toyota, the W12 is off and running even before that shift comes down, swinging forward and being carried safely down long before there is any danger of going off the road.
As a result, overtaking becomes unfavorable; if the road is straight and clear enough, a quick blip with the right foot is all that’s needed, and you’re gone.
Whisk away
The sun is out as we pull into the Dowans Hotel in Aberlour. Twenty minutes later, we’re picked up by a glorious red Bentayga for the short hop down the road to our destination: The Macallan Estate.
This is where the W12 will be welcomed this evening – and what better way to do that than with whiskey bearing Bentley’s name? Horizon, a limited edition from The Macallan, is, if you believe the marketing spiel, a celebration of the two brands’ shared heritage and shared commitment to sophisticated craftsmanship.
It is presented in a bottle completely unlike anything you have seen before; a glass vessel nestling in a cage made of copper, aluminium, leather and wood, which sits horizontally, rather than vertically – “inspired by the horizontal trajectory of the automotive world”, apparently.
It’s easy to make fun of effective copy, but we’re in pretty high territory here; granted, Horizon won’t sell anywhere near the £2 million or so that the most expensive bottle of whiskey ever sold – a Macallan as well – went for in November last year. But this is still a play out of reach for most of us, at £40,000 a bottle.
Roaring forties
Inside The Macallan’s extraordinary new distillery, its roof covered with undulating hills of grass, the better to blend into the hill on which it sits, we are led into a dark, circular room with walls made entirely of glass, through which hang it. racks of gently lit cases are visible. And here, right in the middle, is the oddly twisted form of the Horizon bottle.
It is important to state on the record that I am not an expert on whiskey. I love a little dram every now and then, of course, but on a driving journalist’s salary, I can only really stretch to the kind of single malt you’d find on supermarket shelves – I rarely try anything more exclusive.
So you’ll have to forgive my taste buds for their lack of experience with this type of whisky. Fortunately, The Macallan’s master whiskey maker Kirsteen Campbell is on hand to tell us what we should be tasting – dried fruit and spice, apparently, as well as oak and leather aromas designed to waking up the inside of a Bentley.
I pop the £40,000 whiskey into my mouth and hold it there. Immediately I am surprised by the sweetness; or more accurately, the lack of sarcasm. That’s the sherry cask talking, or so I’m told later – the specialty of The Macallan; in fact, all his whiskey is distilled this way.
The results of the vroom
After beating, yes, the fruit is dried – like a delicious boozy Christmas cake with candied orange peel. I can also detect the spice, but the oak and leather are harder to come by; no doubt, the relative crudity of my palate is to blame.
What I notice is the depth of flavor; an elegant kick of soft heat that radiates out from the chest and feels like it trickles slowly but harmlessly into every corner of your torso. It is something I have never experienced before; Is this really expensive whiskey to drink? If so, I can see why people do.
It would be easy to write Horizon off as nothing more than a marketing exercise, but somehow it feels more than that. Both Bentley and The Macallan point out that if they had a quick PR win, they could easily have slapped the Bentley name on a bottle of The Macallan 18 year old.
Instead, Macallan’s – and Bentley’s – talk about Horizon like proud parents and point out that the experience of creating it was so fruitful that this will not be the last time the two companies will collaborate.
As one door closes, another one opens. This won’t be the last time we see a classy Bentley that sits above the V8 only petrol in the range. A hybrid V8 is rumored to be on the way, offering even more power than the W12 – as well as a promise that it’ll run quietly some of the time. How very Bentley.
Naturally, enthusiasts will mourn the loss of one from Bentley. But running is a reminder that change is inevitable. Once upon a time, the W12 represented that change; a sign of a bold new era in which Bentley needed massive change to survive.
Twenty years later, when the last drops are dropped of (probably) the most exclusive thing that will ever pass my lips, it’s hard not to conclude that mission is accomplished.
