Tuesday 8th November 2011

Is Bentley Planning To Take On The Dakar?

Stranger things have happened at sea, as they say...

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Bentley (and parent company VW) looks like it could be considering an attempt on the Dakar rally (at least according to the good folks at Autoblog Spain). Which sounds like complete madness until you consider the following things:

Bentley is hard at work on its first-ever SUV
The 4x4 Bentley flagship is on the cards for a 2015 launch, with a chunky W12 motor and a platform shared with Audi, Porsche (and most likely VW) - and a rally-raid programme would be an excellent way to publicise a new off-roader

VW is concentrating on the WRC
After years of dominance with the VW Race Touareg, Volkswagen is moving into the WRC with the Polo - and this means the Dakar programme is unlikely to continue. With a VW badge, at least...

Don't Forget the Bentley Le Mans win in 2003
VW has form taking Bentley into competition using other cars' technology - remember that the EXP Speed 8 was based heavily on the all-conquering Audi R8.

Put all those factors together and you've got a compelling argument for VW taking the Race Touareg project, handing it over to Bentley and saying: "There you go. Re-brand it, re-skin it and go and win the Dakar."

After all, it can't be any weirder than that Rolls-Royce we featured last week...

[Stew2000]

.*cough*
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

[thomablue]

Is this any stranger than the Porsche 959 ? Not sure it is.
A Bentley 4x4 would certainly mean most premiership football ground car parks all look the same in 2015/16.

[Riggers]

Stew2000 said:

.*cough*
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

Well that one went well, didn't it...

thomablue said:

Is this any stranger than the Porsche 959 ? Not sure it is.
A Bentley 4x4 would certainly mean most premiership football ground car parks all look the same in 2015/16.

Strange you should mention the 959 - for that is what lies behind my ropey photochop...

[sprinter1050]

Oh dear-so another version of a Porsche Cayenne/VW Touareg then ? :yawn:
Just pitched even more up market at Bentley "segment owners" !!

[Steamer]

I'd be more convinced if I saw Wheelie Girl going up there!!

[cookie1600]

They've had foreign customers helping on the development for some time......

[Andrew[MG]]

WTF is that ^^!?!

[Stew2000]

Is it a 4x4 hearse?

[GFWilliams]

Riggers said:

Strange you should mention the 959 - for that is what lies behind my ropey photochop...

And there was me thinking it was a real photo

[m0rris]

Tis the sultan of bruneis Bentley 4x4, which was basically a restyled Range Rover IIRC.

[cookie1600]

Andrew[MG] said:

WTF is that ^^!?!

http://wikicars.org/en/Bentley_Dominator

[KDIcarmad]

I think some one is pulling our leg here! But a 959 entered and won, so anything is possible! First the winning VW are diesel powered and secondly it would not improve Bentley's image. Unless they won.

Still anything is possible! Dakar has seen some very odd cars in the past! We will see in January this year or next if VW keeps winning. Person I look to the BMW "Mini" and Rick Gordon in his, two wheel drive, Hummer to push them for the win this year.

[moskvich427]

Is that Derek Bell driving the photoshopped Bentley?? This gets weirder by the second....

[Riggers]

moskvich427 said:

Is that Derek Bell driving the photoshopped Bentley?? This gets weirder by the second....

[BMWill]

Andrew[MG] said:

WTF is that ^^!?!

Antonov AN-12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-12

[E-B]

I'd drive for them. I'm just about to renew my Race licence for next year, i'll even get it upgraded to international for Bentley.

[B10]

http://www.bentleyspotting.com/2007/03/sultan-of-b...

[mikeg15]

"Don't Forget the Bentley Le Mans win in 2003
VW has form taking Bentley into competition using other cars' technology - remember that the EXP Speed 8 was based heavily on the all-conquering Audi R8."

Not according to Race Tech magazine it wasn't.

[thewheelman]

thomablue said:

Is this any stranger than the Porsche 959 ? Not sure it is.
A Bentley 4x4 would certainly mean most premiership football ground car parks all look the same in 2015/16.

The 959 was developed for rallying in Group B, so to develop it into a Dakar racer wasn't too much of a stretch for Porsche, so yes, this is far more "strange"

[KDIcarmad]

thewheelman said:

thomablue said:

Is this any stranger than the Porsche 959 ? Not sure it is.
A Bentley 4x4 would certainly mean most premiership football ground car parks all look the same in 2015/16.

The 959 was developed for rallying in Group B, so to develop it into a Dakar racer wasn't too much of a stretch for Porsche, so yes, this is far more "strange"

I think you have got that wrong. There was a Group B in sportscar racing, could you have mixed them up!

Edited by KDIcarmad on Wednesday 9th November 15:15