Bentley Batur

Bentley Batur Convertible, Rarity, Revealed

There are cars, and then there are moments. The Bentley Batur Convertible is both.
Revealed under the fading sun of Dubai’s ochre horizon, this open-air sculpture becomes a closing verse in the poem of combustion. One of just sixteen pieces destined for the world’s most discerning garages, the Batur Convertible marks the swan song of Bentley’s legendary W12. A 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged engine that, for two decades, has defined the brand’s mechanical soul. Now hand-assembled one final time, it sings an aria composed in torque and tone, an era distilled into 750 PS of cultured force.
This is a celebration of fond memories. Legacy, shaped anew. The Batur Convertible is the third coachbuilt Bentley of the modern era, following the Bacalar and the Batur coupe. It is crafted by Mulliner, Bentley’s in-house atelier and the longest-standing coachbuilder in the world. A name that speaks craftsmanship, the act of creation given physical form. Each Batur Convertible is co-authored with its owner, shaped through imagination, metal, and time.

The form is elemental and exotic. Long, low, and wide, with proportions drawn more from sculpture than aerodynamics. The dramatic “airbridge” arches behind the cabin, tapering into rear cowls that echo the barchettas of endurance racing lore. Its silhouette is elegant and hypnotic. A two-seat grand tourer that invites driving, and inspires reverie.

This is a machine for a vanishing breed of enthusiast, for those who view a car not through utility, but through reverence. A Bentley without pretense, content in its purpose, assured in its place. It enters a rarefied circle, shaped by heritage, destined for permanence.

In a world rushing toward silence, the Batur Convertible lingers. It pauses. A final breath from the golden age, painted in bespoke tones, wrapped in open sky, and destined for the private galleries of the fortunate few.

The Car as a Canvas

Every Batur Convertible begins as a blank volume, pure form awaiting imagination. Through Mulliner, the world’s longest-standing coachbuilder, Bentley has created a studio in motion.

Here, materials speak, lines suggest intent, and every surface invites interpretation. The Batur Convertible is shaped as much by its owner’s vision as by the hands that bring it to life in Crewe.

There is no “standard” specification. Each of the sixteen examples is the result of deep collaboration, a process guided by Mulliner’s in-house design team and its specially developed visualiser, a tool for discovering possibilities. Leather, metal, wood, fiber, and pigment stretch across infinite palettes. Tones can reflect the light of a family estate, echo the lacquer of a cherished instrument, or pull from the saturated hues of a dream. Even the most intricate elements, such as the organ stop vent controls, can be rendered in 3D-printed rose gold, created by Birmingham’s storied goldsmiths, who shape heritage into every facet.

Inside, craftsmanship becomes choreography. The cabin of the engineering development car, Car #0, offers a glimpse of what’s possible. A pairing of Cumbrian Green and Porpoise leather is accented with Mandarin stitching, threading a line of tension and release across the interior. Veneers stretch across the dash in Mulliner’s “guitar fade”, a chromatic transition from gloss Beluga to carbon fiber and back again, etched with the W12’s audio signature, like a score across wood and resin. Touchpoints, cool metal, open-grain wood, hand-stitched hides, create a layered narrative that feels as considered as it does opulent.

The exterior is no less articulate. Car #0 wears Midnight Emerald paint, its sculpted panels underscored by high-gloss carbon fiber. The grille flows from Mandarin to Beluga in a gradient that echoes the desert light of its Dubai debut. The central stripe, Gloss Porpoise flanked with Mandarin, draws a visual connection from the bonnet to the cabin, an unbroken expression of harmony.

This approach to design redefines personalization. The airbridge, cowls, tonneau cover, even the convertible roof material, all stand ready to be curated. Each component becomes a site of self-expression. There is no hierarchy. The wheel rim can carry the same narrative weight as the seat upholstery. The front splitter, the same presence as the grille.

At rest or in motion, the Batur Convertible engages like a commissioned sculpture. Its silhouette, a dialogue between muscle and grace. Its details, each a sentence in the language of luxury. This is a car drawn, detailed, and defined by human input, proof that individuality still holds currency in the age of automation.

The Mechanical Requiem

Within the Batur Convertible lies one of the final chapters of mechanical grandeur. Bentley’s W12 engine, a powerplant that has defined the marque’s modern era, reaches its ultimate evolution here, refined, recalibrated, and ready to bow with grace.

This hand-built 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged engine now delivers 750 PS and 1,000 Nm of torque, figures tuned for fluidity and grace rather than headline theatrics. The development process included a revised intake system, upgraded turbochargers, and new intercoolers, all brought together through meticulous recalibration. The result is a powerband that feels inexhaustible, rising without strain, guided by the precision of Bentley’s eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Each W12 is assembled by hand in Crewe, England, within Bentley’s carbon-neutral facility, by craftspeople whose touch turns metal into memory. These final sixteen units are horological in nature, each part aligned with the same reverence reserved for the world’s finest watches. The engine’s internal harmony, its physical mass and emotional resonance, reflect two decades of evolution. Since its inception, the W12 has grown more powerful by nearly 40 percent, more efficient by 25, yet never more indulgent than in this final form.

On the road, it doesn’t surge, it swells. There is no sense of machinery working overtime. Just sustained thrust, refined into motion. The Batur Convertible doesn’t chase corners like a sports car, it moves with purpose, balance, and a grand sense of occasion. Each shift from the transmission is timed with elegance, each sound from the powertrain shaped with intent.

To drive it is to understand what mechanical engineering can feel like when shaped without compromise. This is power matured, expressed with grace, carried by heritage. The W12 may be ending, but in the Batur Convertible, it leaves behind a legacy that will long outlive the petrol that fuels it.

Before the Curtain Falls

There will come a time when the sound of Bentley’s W12 will fade into silence. And when that moment arrives, the Batur Convertible will remain, still poised, still gleaming beneath tailored layers of paint and craftsmanship, as a final word in a language forged by fuel and fire, one that once defined the rhythm of motion and the romance of engineering.

This car carries the full weight of Bentley’s history in its sculpted panels and hand-finished details. From the company’s birth in 1919 under W.O. Bentley’s mechanical vision, to the post-war racers that thundered through Le Mans, to the serene power of today’s grand tourers, the thread has always been craftsmanship and performance, braided together in pursuit of something beyond mere transportation. For over a century, Bentley has built cars where luxury is a material truth, drawn from metal, wood, leather, and time.

Today, Bentley stands at the edge of a new age. Its Crewe headquarters remains, but its powertrain philosophy is evolving. By 2035, every new Bentley will be electric, guided by the Beyond100+ strategy and driven by a new understanding of luxury: one that is clean, conscious, and quietly commanding. The artistry will remain, but the soundtrack will change.

The Batur Convertible is the closing chapter before that shift. It is movement made visible, memory made tactile. Sixteen examples, each a monument to the last breath of twelve cylinders aligned in harmony. A vehicle shaped with reverence and released with pride. Created with intention, it stands ready to be remembered.
And it will be.

Photos: Stephan Bauer, Bentley Media | Words: Pablo Ferrero