Bentley Could Celebrate Its Birthday by Building $1.5M Hypercar
Bentley is trying to decide how to celebrate its 100th birthday and the automaker might build a $1.5-million hypercar for the occasion.
CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer has confirmed to Top Gear that Bentley is evaluating a $1.5-million hypercar for its centenary adding, “Our centenary would be a good time to create a new limited series car.” Within the next month, the British automaker will investigate the project intensively with the big questions being whether Bentley wants to build a standard car consumers would expect in the segment, or a special model “with lots of carbon fibre and lightweight components.”
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The CEO has a history of producing high-performance hypercars, having steered the Porsche 918 Spyder into production while he was head of R&D at Porsche. Oh yeah, he also runs Bugatti, so he knows a thing or two about exclusive, high-horsepower machines.
At the 1999 Geneva Motor Show, Bentley showed off the wild Hunaudières concept seen above. Back then, it was powered by an 8.0-liter naturally aspirated W16 engine with 623 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque with a top speed of 220 mph. Now, we all know that’s not hypercar territory in 2015, so expect a big surprise no matter what direction Bentley goes in for its big birthday bash.
[Source: Top Gear]
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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