The Bentley Batur Convertible Is A 740bhp Farewell To The W12

Bentley’s thumping great handbuilt 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 engine is not long for this world. The final units of it will be produced in a matter of weeks, and the motor that’s been Bentley’s bedrock since the Continental GT launched in 2003 will ride off into the sunset, to be replaced by a V8 plug-in hybrid powertrain for the brand’s highest-performance cars.

We couldn't imagine Bentley would let the engine go quietly, and this is the first piece of evidence of that: the Batur Convertible. It’s the third in Bentley’s modern range of ‘coachbuilt’ cars from its in-house Mulliner personalisation division, following 2020’s Bacalar and 2022’s Batur coupe, and it’s sort of a combination of the two: the Batur’s overall look is blended with the roadster styling of the Bacalar.

The Batur Convertible is mechanically unchanged from its coupe counterpart, which is itself based on the Continental’s underpinnings. That means a whacking great 740bhp and 738lb ft wedge of torque from the W12 – making it the joint most powerful Bentley road car ever – powering all four wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch ’box.

It’s outside where the big changes have happened, where the newly topless Batur gets distinctive twin humps on the rear deck, covered by a floating ‘airbridge’. It’s all inspired by the sort of chopped-windscreen, roofless roadster that would have been referred to as a ‘barchetta’ back in the mid-century period of sports car racing.

We don’t have any images of it with the roof in place, but apparently it’s a fully insulated fabric item that can be raised or lowered in 19 seconds and at speeds of up to 30mph.

The interior is largely identical to the Batur coupe too, bar the wraparound elements behind the seats. Certain touchpoints, like the gear selector, are made from 3D-printed rose gold, crafted in collaboration with goldsmiths in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

How much? If you have to ask, etc, etc. For what it’s worth, the Batur coupe started at around £1.65 million, and the Convertible will be rarer – 16 units plays 18 coupes. That, combined with the fact that convertibles are always more expensive than their hardtop counterparts, means that asking price will likely be nudged up by another couple of hundred thousand. And that’s before customers begin to play around with paint and upholstery colour choices, which are effectively infinite.

We can’t imagine Bentley will have any issue shifting those 16 cars, especially as they represent the ultimate iteration of the engine that’s seen the brand through its 21st century renaissance.