The Bentley Bentayga by Bengala

When the General Manager of Spanish company Bengala Automotive Design says the project began as a joke, it’s sure to raise some eyebrows.

But this Bentley Bentayga defies reason and demands that you take it seriously. The ultimate in luxury SUV has been given a wild off-road indestructible look.

The words come from Shoghi Saeidnia, who along with Bengala has some previous when it comes to building stealth and sinister looking rides that wouldn’t be too out of place in the latest Batman or Mad Max movie.

You may remember that in 2016 Bengala revealed an equally aggressive vehicle in the form of the angular and quite over-the-top Ferrari F12berlinetta.

That particular vehicles’ sharp and aggressive lined design ethos has largely been set aside for this Bentley Bentayga Bengala SUV in favour of a more domineering size and presence. The 4×4 has a hefty bull-bar built into the front end, which includes integrated LED lights, while extra ground clearance and height are aided with some oversized wheels.

The suspension has been reworked too, to cope with the change in weight and ride height. Meanwhile, side-exiting exhausts will keep the ankles of any passers by warm. The extra steel protection is extended to the rear bumper area along with more LED lights on the roof and along the privacy louvres on the rear window. Shaped LEDs make up the rear stop lamps too.

Although the Bentley Bengala does feature plenty of carbon-fibre, Bengala say that weight saving is not actually a priority for a project like this, where overall look and feel is the aim for an impressive end result.

This tough looking Bentley has been designed in conjunction with Manolo Plaza, a man who knows just what such a 4×4 should look like having competed in the gruelling Dakar Rally an impressive 13 times so far.

As far as power goes, well that hasn’t been revealed as yet, but the Bentayga’s V12 6-litre twin-turbo or V8 4-litre twin-turbo would no doubt work out pretty well.

However, I can’t help thinking that Bengala will tune whatever engine they choose to cope with – and enhance – all the extra modifications that the Bentley Bengala has.

Like the Ferrari F12berlinetta before it, this Bentley will be a very limited edition vehicle – just the 15 units worldwide in fact. But then considering that the standard vehicle costs in excess of £130,000 already.

It will probably be a select and small group of people who are likely to find themselves in a position to consider the Bentley Bentayga Bengala as a daily ride… whatever the price ends up being.