Enthusiasts After over 60 Years in Service, Bentley L-Series V8 Production Ends

After over 60 years in production, the Bentley L-Series V8 has reached the end of the line, the automaker says. The final twin-turbocharged 6.75-liter V8 is, fittingly, bound for the final Mulsanne 6.75 Edition by Mulliner, which marks the end of the flagship sedan’s production run as well (production delays caused by coronavirus pushed this moment back a little bit, but it was only a matter of time). Around 36,000 of these V8s have been produced over the past six-plus decades.

© Jonathan Jacob The Bentley 6.75-liter V8 is a prime example of what happens when an automaker effectively hot-rods its own engine over six-plus decades.

Bentley says this 6.75-liter is the V8 with the longest continuous production run in history, and we haven’t been able to find another engine family that can contest that title. Developed by Rolls-Royce and Bentley in the 1950s (the former company owned the latter at that point), the L-Series engine was first deployed in a Bentley in 1959; an example of that model, the S2, is shown up top next to a modern Mulsanne. At that point, it was a naturally aspirated 6.2-liter that produced roughly 180 hp.

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Today marks the end of an era for Bentley . The British automaker rolls out the last of its handcrafted L - Series 6.75-liter V 8 engine in Crewe, which concludes a legendary production run that lasted for Bentley also improved its emissions over the years , with the latest version producing 99% fewer

The mighty Bentley 6¾-litre V 8 engine – the longest serving V 8 design in continuous production – has finally reached the end of its handcrafted Every one of the 36,000 L - Series engines built over the last 60 years has been created by hand in the engine workshops of Bentley ’s Crewe headquarters.

© Jonathan Jacob Roughly 36,000 L-Series engines have been built—each by hand—over the V8’s impressive run.

Rather than tearing up this design and starting over when it needed more power, Bentley took the evolutionary path. In 1971, displacement was increased to 6.75 liters by increasing stroke from 3.6 to 3.9 inches. A turbocharger was first added for the 1982 Mulsanne Turbo, which unlocked a new performance frontier for the engine family.

The most recent major—and final—redesign was for the current Mulsanne, which was introduced in 2010. Bentley says the 6.75-liter received “a new crankshaft, new pistons, new connecting rods and new cylinder heads that brought variable valve timing and cylinder deactivation” at that time. Output was eventually increased to 530 hp and 811 lb-ft of torque.

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In production for more than 60 years , the L - Series V 8 has the same configuration and bore spacing as the very first version from 1959. Developing 530 bhp for the Mulsanne Speed, the low-revving engine delivers a whopping 1,100 Nm of torque. Every one of the 36,000 L - Series engines built over the last

See Bentley Continental GT oem photos on MSN Autos. Request a dealer quote or view used cars at MSN Autos. Reviews and News. After over 60 Years in Service , Bentley L - Series V 8 Production Ends .

Today’s L-Series engine is more compact, far more powerful and vastly more efficient and less emissive than the first examples of the breed, yet it still retains the same bore spacing and fundamental architecture first seen in the 1950s. And they were built by hand until the very end, a process that Bentley says took 15 hours per powerplant.

It’s sad to see a V8 with this much history go out of production, but it’s remarkable that the design made it as long as it did—and it’s a stellar example of what can be achieved when an automaker effectively hot-rods its own engine over the course of many decades. And who knows? In a few decades, maybe Bentley will fire up the foundry and start making new ones for a crop of Mulsanne continuation cars. Weirder things have happened.

© Bentley The last L-Series engine produced will power a Bentley Mulsanne 6.75 Edition by Mulliner.