End of the road: Bentley’s legendary V8 bows out at 60

A history of the longest-lived engine still used in a production car

It’s the end of the road for Bentley’s legendary L-series V8 engine. Since 1959 it has transported film stars to galas, the Queen to royal engagements and cash-strapped brides to weddings.

Shared between Rolls-Royce and Bentley for its first four decades, it was first killed off in the late 1990s, only to be resurrected in 2000 for another 20 years of service. But Bentley is doing away with it for good in 2020.

Here are 19 cars that chart the fortunes of the longest-lived engine still being slotted under the bonnet of a production car.

1. Bentley S2 and S3 (1959-1965)

By the late 1950s, Rolls and Bentley needed more muscle than their straight-six and straight-eight engines could provide to keep the V8-crazed American market happy.

The answer was a new 6.25-litre L-series aluminium ohv V8. And with that under the bonnet, the S1 became the S2 and, from 1962, the four-lamp S3.

This car is an S2 Continental Flying Spur, which got more power than the regular S2 – though Bentley declined to say how much either produced.

2. Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II and III (1959-1966)

At the same time as Bentley was dropping the V8 into its S1, Rolls was doing the same with its Silver Cloud, which had replaced the Silver Dawn back in 1955.

The Cloud II junked the old straight-six for the new L-series V8, which helped it hit 60mph in a relatively spritely 10.9 seconds – almost 3 secs quicker than before.

The Cloud III followed in 1962 and brought with it a few minor improvements that increased power output by “about 7%”, Rolls said at the time. It was produced until 1966.

3. Rolls-Royce Phantom V (1959-1968)

Meanwhile, right at the top of the Rolls/Bentley tree, Rolls introduced the Phantom V limousine, as used by the world’s most famous people.

In the case of one of those people, the car itself became a star when Beatle John Lennon had his painted in Romany gypsy style.

4. Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T1/T2 (1965-1980)

Landmark cars for Crewe, the compact, but roomy Shadow/T twins featured modern unitary construction and Citroën-derived self-levelling suspension.

The original 170bhp 6.2-litre V8 made way for a 6.75-litre version with 186bhp in 1970, the year a Mr Ray Richards entered his specially prepared Shadow in the Daily Mirror World Cup Rally. He didn’t win.

5. Rolls-Royce Corniche (1971-1995)

The quintessential Côte d’Azur cruiser, the Corniche convertible (and its less famous coupé sister) was based on the Silver Shadow saloon.

Rolls had already offered both body styles since the late 1960s, but by 1971 they were spun off as distinct models and named after a winding French road – which is of course the least suitable environment on Earth for a heavy, soft and wobbly toff’s cabrio.

6. Rolls-Royce Camargue (1975-1986)

The RR that Rolls-Royce fans love to hate, the Camargue was designed by Pininfarina, rather than in Crewe, and was the first Rolls not to feature a tombstone-straight grille (it was sportily inclined at 7 degrees).

Named after a coastal area in southern France, the Camargue cost almost £30,000 when new – equivalent to almost £260k today – which helps explain why barely 500 were built in 11 years. Or maybe it was just because it looked hideous?

7. Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit (1980-1999)

Out with the curves and in with crisp, geometric lines. The Silver Shadow and T2 gave way to the Silver Spirit and the Mulsanne – the latter named after the famous Le Mans straight.

Bentley and Rolls still refused to stoop to talking about power figures, but output was around 198bhp.

8. Bentley Mulsanne Turbo (1982-1985)

The Silver Spirit and basic Mulsanne could crack 60mph in around 10 secs with their 200bhp naturally aspirated V8s.

But Bentley slashed 3 secs from that when it bolted a blower to the 6.75 V8 in 1982 to create the 298bhp Mulsanne Turbo. The top speed was artificially limited to 135mph for the the health of the tyres – and insects…

9. Bentley Turbo R (1985-1999)

While the Mulsanne Turbo was merely a faster Mulsanne, the Turbo was a more complete package, with suspension upgraded to suit the extra power.

It gained even more power in 1987, when a switch from carbs to fuel injection helped push output to 328bhp, while ditching the electronic speed limiter meant it could now top 145mph.

And by 1997, now with a mesh grille and Turbo RT badging, it was a genuine 400bhp, 150mph machine.

10. Bentley Continental R (1991-2003)

Confusingly, Bentley had two different Continentals in its early 1990s brochure: a naturally aspirated Rolls Corniche convertible clone, and the stunning turbocharged Continental R coupé.

The 385bhp R was soon joined by a 400bhp S, and an even sportier short-wheelbase T with 420bhp that could brush 160mph and reach 60mph in 6.2 secs.

11. Bentley Azure (1995-2009)

The Continental R’s droptop cousin (and replacement for the earlier Rolls Corniche twin) arrived in 1995 with a 360bhp version of the single-turbo 6.75 V8.

It took a break in 2003, reappearing three years later with a radically overhauled V8, before finally bowing out in 2009.

12. Bentley Arnage (1999-2009)

Bentley and Rolls replaced the Silver Spirit and Mulsanne with the Arnage and Silver Seraph, both powered by BMW engines – a V12 for the Rolls, and V8 for the Bentley.

But following the sale of Rolls to BMW, and Bentley to VW, Volkswagen was obviously uneasy about engine supply and brought the V8 out of retirement for the 2000 Arnage Red Label.

A year later, Bentley revealed a massively reworked version of the 6.75 V8, now with two blowers and 399bhp. By 2007 The Arnage T was pushing out 500, along with a stonking 738lb ft of torque.

13. Rolls-Royce Corniche (2000-2002)

Rolls’ classic convertible name was back for 2000 after a five-year layoff.

The last Rolls-Royce car to be built at Crewe before it became a uniquely Bentley operation (and Rolls opened its new factory at Goodwood), it was powered by a 321bhp version of the 6.75-litre V8.

14. Bentley Brooklands (2008-2011)

The second Bentley named after the famous Surrey circuit – the marque had previously used the moniker for an updated Mulsanne from 1992-1998 – the Brooklands was a 530bhp twin-turbo coupé version of the Azure cabrio.

15. Bentley State limousine (2002)

Two of these mutated Arnage-based limos were built for use by the Queen, and are still in use today.

Both feature huge suicide rear doors, armoured bodywork and bulletproof glass, plus a 400bhp version of the turbocharged V8 to help spirit HRM to engagements.

16. Bentley Mulsanne (2009-2020)

This Arnage replacement shared almost nothing with the cheaper Flying Spur saloon, which borrowed its platform and W12 engine from the Volkswagen Phaeton-derived Continental GT coupé.

Still getting by with one cam buried deep in the vee, the 6.75 did now feature variable cam timing, could operate on four cylinders while cruising to save fuel, and was mated to an eight-speed ZF transmission.

17. Bentley Mulsanne Speed (2014-2020)

In 2014 Bentley launched a sportier Mulsanne, the Mulsanne Speed. The standard 505bhp Mulsanne was already pretty speedy, but with 530bhp, a monstrous 811lb ft of torque and the ability to reach 60mph in 4.8 secs and top out at 190mph, the Speed was on another plane.

It remains the most powerful factory version of Bentley’s L-series V8.

18. Bentley Grand Convertible (2018-2019)

Carrying on where the Azure had left off over a decade earlier, the aptly title Grand Convertible was based on the Mulsanne platform and featured a wooden rear deck claimed to be the biggest chunk of tree ever fitted to a production car. Just 19 were built.

19. Bentley Mulsanne 6.75 Edition (2020)

The last hurrah for the L-series V8. Bentley has just announced the end of Mulsanne production, and because its other GTs, saloons and its Bentayga SUV all use Volkswagen group engines, that means time’s up for the old pushrod V8.

Based on the Mulsanne Speed, the 6.75 Editions, of which there will be only 30 built, get special 21in wheels, black tinted brightwork, a plaque on the transmission tunnel commemorating the engine and a technical drawing of the V8 on each of dash’s supplementary gauges.

A fitting end to one of the longest-lived engines in recent history.