It takes a lot of muscle to move a Bentley sedan, which can tip the scales at three tons. The company's own V-8 has answered that call for 61 years. But no more. Bentley technicians in Crewe, England, built by hand the last of the whisper-quiet, silky-smooth 6.75-liter V-8s last week. It was installed in the final Mulsanne 6.75 Edition by Mulliner sedan.
The L-Series V-8 debuted in 1959, featuring an aluminum block and some design details from the famous Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The L-Series saw several modifications and upgrades over the years that enlarged capacity and added state-of-the art technology, such as turbochargers and cylinder deactivation.
The last major update came a decade ago, when engineers redesigned the cylinder heads and crankshaft, installed new pistons and added variable valve timing. Horsepower for the final engine is 537 and torque is a robust 811 pound-feet.
Two smaller engines will replace the famous Bentley 6.75: a 4.0-liter V-8 and a V-6 hybrid. Bentley will continue to offer a 12-cylinder engine.
All of these engines are derived from various divisions of parent company Volkswagen Group.
The entire L-Series production run totaled about 36,000 engines.
