BENTLEY'S GREAT EIGHT FINISHES PRODUCTION

The mighty Bentley 6.75-litre V8 engine – the longest serving V8 design in continuous production – has finally reached the end of its handcrafted manufacturing run. The final engine was assembled in Crewe yesterday by the dedicated team of seven people, who between them have a combined experience of 105 years building Bentley’s iconic V8 engine.

In production for more than 60 years, and with the same configuration and bore spacing as the very first version from 1959, the last L-Series engine will spend its life powering the 30^th and last specially commissioned Mulsanne 6.75 Edition by Mulliner. This bespoke series closes the Mulsanne’s production run, and celebrates the life of its iconic engine with a myriad of V8-inspired details including badging, blueprint graphics and even ventilation “organ stops” featuring a miniature version of the oil cap.

Bentley’s Member of the Board for Manufacturing, Peter Bosch, comments: “Our venerable 6.75-litre V8 has powered the flagship Bentley for more than six decades, and so has earned its retirement. I am extremely proud of the generations of skilled craftspeople that have meticulously assembled every one of these engines by hand over the years. That this engine stood the test of time for so long is testament to the ingenious engineers who kept making the engine ever more powerful, refined and reliable. Now, we look forward to the future of Bentley, powered by our exceptional W12, sporting 4.0-litre V8 and of course our efficient V6 Hybrid - the start of our journey to electrification.”