426 Built: Bentley Brooklands, Britain’s Last V8 Unicorn
The Bentley Brooklands blends old-world British luxury with a legendary V8. Only 426 built, making this rare Bentley a disappearing automotive icon.
CREWE, ENGLAND — Some cars are built to chase trends. Others exist to defy time itself. The Bentley Brooklands belongs firmly in the latter category — a majestic, unapologetic celebration of old-world British excess created just as the modern automotive era was tightening its grip.
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First unveiled in 2008 and quietly discontinued in 2010, the Bentley Brooklands was never meant to make commercial sense. It arrived during a global recession, carried a staggering £230,000 price tag, and shared showroom space with the far more practical Continental GT. Yet Bentley built it anyway — and in doing so, created one of the most evocative grand tourers of the 21st century.
In spirit, the Brooklands feels less like a modern luxury coupe and more like a pre-war, aristocratic coachbuilt special. Despite subtle Volkswagen-era switchgear inside, its character is unmistakably British: vast proportions, a towering dashboard clad in rich veneers, and seats designed for languid, long-distance lounging rather than aggressive cornering.
At nearly 18 feet long and weighing over 2.7 tonnes, the Brooklands is a rolling monument to excess. Under its seemingly endless bonnet sits Bentley’s legendary 6.75-litre V8 — an engine whose lineage stretches back to 1959. In its final and most extreme form, it delivered a colossal 774 lb-ft of torque, all without revving beyond 4,600rpm.
This was brute force the Bentley way: effortless, dignified, and slightly menacing. The car doesn’t scream its performance; it rumbles somewhere far ahead, like a storm gathering over distant countryside.
Official figures list a 0–62mph time of 5.3 seconds and a top speed of 183mph — remarkable numbers for something that resembles a rolling gentleman’s club. But the Brooklands was never about statistics. It transcends them. For a car of its size, it moves with startling authority, gliding rather than sprinting.
Rarity is another part of the Brooklands’ mystique. Bentley originally planned to build 550 examples, but collectors believe only 426 ever left the Crewe factory. Launched at the height of the worst economic downturn in a century, it was simply too exclusive for its time.
The car pictured here is the most special of all — the final Bentley Brooklands ever built, completed in January 2010 and retained by Bentley for preservation. Finished in stony grey with honeycomb biscuit leather, it evokes a bygone era of cigars, brandy, and quiet power broker conversations behind closed doors.
More than a luxury coupe, the Brooklands is a farewell letter — to large-capacity engines, to indulgent grand tourers, and to an era when cars like this could still exist without apology.
Its name pays tribute to the legendary Brooklands racetrack, where Bentley forged its racing reputation in the early 20th century. That heritage is felt in every inch of this car, even if its designer happened to be Belgian and a few buttons trace their origins to Germany.
The verdict? The Bentley Brooklands is a unicorn — rare, reclusive, and unforgettable. It’s a reminder of a time when cars were allowed to be extravagant, impractical, and glorious simply because they could be.
And perhaps most poignantly, it’s a Bentley we may never see the like of again.
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