BENTLEY NEPAL (U.K.)
Price: $300,000.
Birthdate: Late ’92, early ’93.
How to say it: Close to “appall.”
Not since the Camargue has Rolls-Royce or Bentley reached so far geographically to grasp a name, but what we reportedly have here is the Bentley Nepal. This new coupe will share no body panels with any other vehicle assembled in Crewe. In true Bentley tradition, however, it will be nearly as big as Connecticut: four inches longer than a BMW 750iL, in fact. The Nepal will also be fast. Its 6.7-litre V-8, with four-valve-per-cylinder heads by Cosworth, will produce 400 hp—a 75-hp increase over the current Bentley Turbo R. The goal is a 6.0-second 0-to-60 time (1.7 seconds quicker than the two-and-a-half-ton Turbo R) and a top speed of 160. The Nepal’s price should be around $300,000; a soft-top version will doubtless fetch a few pennies more.