New car news

11 August 2011 - 15:40

Bentley to build SUV

Bentley has begun work on a four-wheel-drive SUV model scheduled to hit the automotive shelf in 2014. You read it right, a Bentley off-roader.

Company CEO Wolfgang Durheimer confirmed to TopGear that an SUV is already in development, and will be based on the architecture of the next generation Audi Q7, Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne; an architecture dubbed ‘MLB'.

If you need some reassuring - and we suspect you might - Durheimer has previous form. He was formerly R&D director at Porsche and worked on the development of the Cayenne. And as ugly as it might be, there's no denying the thing is good to drive.

The Bentley SUV will be more of a crossover - a ‘shooting brake' - and will likely feature the range-topping 6.0-litre 463kW W12 petrol engine from the Continental Supersports (pictured above), as well as a version of the 6.0-litre V12 diesel engine from the Audi Q7. In that application, the engine develops about a million torques and accelerates from 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds.

Although the Bentley SUV is still waiting to be signed off officially by the VW board, insiders expect it to get the green light very soon indeed.

Is this something that tickles a part of your cerebrum?