Bentley will use this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed to celebrate the brand’s W12 engine before the powerplant’s retirement. Plus, the Mulliner division will premiere the Speed Six Continuation Series there as a revival of the classic Le Mans winner. The event starts July 13.
A 12-car parade of W12 Bentleys will take on the Goodwood hill climb. They’ll include a Batur, the new Continental GT Le Mans Collection, and a Mulliner-customized Continental GTC Speed. Seven of those vehicles will be from the brand’s Heritage Collection of special models.
Gallery: Bentley At 2023 Goodwood Festival Of Speed
The twin-turbo 6.0-liter W12 debuted in the Continental GT in 2003. The company plans to build the final one in April 2024. The engine’s swansong is in the Batur, which has a limited run of 18 units, and the powerplant makes 740 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque.
The Continental GT Pikes Peak will also make daily runs up the hill. The car set the Production Class record for that time at the hill climb. Since then, a Porsche 911 Turbo S went even faster up the course.
Bentley will bring one of its Blower Continuation Series models to the event as a way to promote its second project like this. The Speed Six Continuation Series is an upcoming revival of the 1930 winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bentley is making just 12 for customers and two development vehicles.
Vehicles Coming To Goodwood:
Beyond Bentley, several automakers will use this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed to reveal new vehicles. Caterham will show its electric Project V there. The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster Pickup will also be among the premieres. Maserati will retire its current V8 by introducing the Ghibli 334 Ultima And Levante V8 Ultima. Hyundai will unveil the high-performance Ioniq 5 N EV. MG will show off the Cyberster and MG4 EV XPower.
If you want to get an idea of what it’s like to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed, check out this episode of the Rambling About Cars podcast from 2022:
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