Next-Gen Bentleys Will Get Chassis From Porsche

It’s been just over a month since Volkswagen took formal control of Porsche, and we’re already seeing repercussions impacting its upper crust English cousin. To support its next-generation of Bentleys, VW has tapped Stuttgart to design a new chassis based on the Panamera, which—as DJ put it—is “kind of sad and interesting at the same time.” And as usual, he’s spot on.

When Rolls-Royce and Bentley were sold off to BMW and Volkswagen, a chapter was closed on a storied age of English motoring history. Remember when Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the first Phantom produced under BMW? He thought it was a great car, but also said it was something of which his countrymen could no longer be proud. Even if you’re not a Brit, that’s kind of sad. And as enthusiasts, it’s always a little disheartening to think of a company like Bentley losing an iota of its bespoke cache.

But it’s also kind of awesome. Because while Bentley’s heritage is steeped in performance, racing and the legendary Bentley Boys, the fact of the matter is that the company stopped being associated with performance around the time my grandfather got his driver’s license. And regardless of what you think about the Panamera’s styling—I’m warming to it, but still on the fence—it’s a wicked machine, with an incredibly capable chassis. So with Stuttgart providing the backbone for new Bentleys, this could be less a story of a company losing its identity and more of a return to its roots. A light, rigid chassis with a bone-crushing W12 under the hood sounds good to me... and I'm sure there will still be acres of supple leather and gleaming wood. What do you think?

[via Autocar]

 

Ha, thanks for the quote JC!