W12-engined Bentley Batur Convertible begins sign-off trek

Strictly limited to just 16 units, the Batur Convertible has begun its final suite of sign-off testing. The third car in Mulliner's Coachbuilt family, Bentley's in-house bespoke division, it is the most powerful W12-engined drop-top Grand Tourer in its history.

The Batur Convertible will be the last ever Bentley to use its iconic W12 engines, with the company announcing its retirement earlier this year.

The hand-crafted interior of the Batur Convertible allows customers to have the option of customising the finish of any and every surface of the interior and exterior

The final version of the W12, a 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged engine that ceased production in July 2024, is capable of generating 740bhp; it is the most powerful iteration of the engine to be developed.

The car went through 120 individual tests over more than a year, covering everything from the quality of the surface finishes to the new W12 hardware and software. Over 58 weeks of vehicle validation have been scheduled across a pair of pre-series development cars: The Batur Convertible Car Zero and the Batur Convertible Engineering Car.

The two development cars will both sport different unique paintworks, meant to indicate the choices available to Mulliner customers. Like all Mulliner Coachbuilt vehicles, the Batur Convertible is unendingly customisable: Customers are able to specify the colour and finish of any part of the car.

The Car Zero on the left is sporting the Vermillion Gloss over Vermillion Satin Duo tone paintwork. The Engineering Car on the right is sporting the Midnight Emerald exterior paintwork finished with a high gloss carbon fibre body kit

Real-world testing began with a 3,000km, five-country drive across Europe to simulate natural conditions, leaving Germany and advancing through Italy, France and Spain, traversing mountains, highways and cities. A stop was made in Monaco for photography before its final drive to Idiada, Spain.

At the Idiada proving grounds, the two development cars will begin seven weeks of durability work on handling tracks, mixed road conditions, high-speed testing and abusive surface conditions. All data and feedback will be collated to ensure the technical targets are being met.