Fancy riding a two-wheeled Bentley?

Well now you can, except that it’s not really a Bentley at all but a Ducati Diavel. Based on the 168bhp Diavel V4, it’s been repainted in a Bentley-esque British Racing Green (though Ducati call it ‘Scarab Green’), tweaked bodywork to make it look slightly less aggressive and a revised silencer in two banks of two outlets. The idea is to suggest a resemblance between the V4 Duke and the £1.7 million Bentley Batur, the most powerful production car offered with the flying ‘B’ badge.

Price? Well, at £58,000 the Bentleyised Diavel is quite a pricey accessory to sit next to the Batur in your garage. If that’s not exclusive or expensive enough Ducati is also offering the ‘Bentley Mulliner’ version at £71,000 in a colour to match the customer’s car. But you may not be allowed to buy one – only customers of the Bentley’s Mulliner bespoke division can apply.

The Ducati/Bentley twinning doesn’t sound like an obvious one, given the profoundly national associations of these respective marques. Still, the fact that both names are owned by the same car giant (VW) might have had something to do it.

Either way, BMF Chair Jim Freeman thought he wouldn’t be putting his Bentley order in just yet. “Crickey, VW are losing the plot. With their EV production being reduced and sales falling down the proverbial, that’s just the moment to launch a Bentley motorcycle. People’s car, anybody?”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Bentley