The Original W12 Engine

It was the end of an era this week as Bentley built its final W12 engine at its UK headquarters in Crewe. The last W12-powered Bentayga, Continental GT and Flying Spur cars mark the closing of an important chapter in the British brand’s history which has seen more than 100,000 W12s produced.

The original W12 was first seen on the Continental GT in 2003, essentially pairing two narrow-angle V6 engines sharing a common crankshaft. New intake, exhaust, turbocharging and intercooling systems allowed the 2003 Continental GT to develop 552bhp (with later models around 650bhp) and a top speed of nearly 200mph, helping four generations of the model to become a success.

The process of building a W12 engine at Bentley’s Crewe facility takes around seven hours and uses 2,600 separate components.

The New Ultra High Performance Hybrid

The 6.0 litre W12 will now be replaced by an all-new Ultra High Performance Hybrid, combining a V8 combustion engine with an advanced battery. More performance-based and developing even more power, the new engine will produce around 740bhp, the highest ever output ever offered in any Bentley.

Commemorative Lunch and Dr. Matthias Rabe's Statement

To mark the manufacturing of the final W12, a commemorative lunch was held for the assembly and R&D teams was held at Bentley’s Heritage Garage in Crewe, with guests later spelling out W12 in a birds eye view photo.

Dr. Matthias Rabe, Member of the Board for R&D at Bentley Motors:
“The W12 has propelled our cars and business forward at an exceptional speed and will go down as one of the most important innovations in our illustrious history. Today marks the end of a development journey that our R&D and manufacturing colleagues over the years should be extremely proud of. Not least in the conceptualisation, but also the continued progress with regards to power and performance optimisation, while at the same time improving both emissions and refinement.” 

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Bentley