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Ducati Diavel for Bentley
Would you pay nearly three time the price of a regular Diavel V4 for a Bentley version? We meet the owners doing just that!
Words by: Dan Trent
Published on 21 June 2024 | 0 min read
Given it’s owned by Lamborghini and, by extension, part of the wider Volkswagen group that includes Bentley it’s little wonder we’ve seen Ducati collaborating with some of the more premium in-house car brands. That’s usually been kept an Italian affair with bikes like the (apparently highly collectable) Diavel 1260 Lamborghini and Streetfighter V4 Lamborghini special editions but has now been given a fresh twist with the Ducati Diavel for Bentley, which we saw presented to a group of owners at the Bentley factory in Crewe.
The £58,000 starting price will likely raise a few eyebrows given it’s mechanically pretty much identical to the regular Diavel V4 you can buy for £23,595 and, at a glance, it’s only the green paint that’ll set you apart from any regular Ducati owner. But for the buyers we met – many of them Bentley owners as well as Ducati fans – it makes total sense, the assured exclusivity of the 500-unit production run across all markets meaning they’ll always be a rare sight. And a collectable trinket to treasure in air-conditioned garages full of equivalent luxury supercars and the like.
The £58,000 starting price will likely raise a few eyebrows given it’s mechanically pretty much identical to the regular Diavel V4 you can buy for £23,595 and, at a glance, it’s only the green paint that’ll set you apart from any regular Ducati owner. But for the buyers we met – many of them Bentley owners as well as Ducati fans – it makes total sense, the assured exclusivity of the 500-unit production run across all markets meaning they’ll always be a rare sight. And a collectable trinket to treasure in air-conditioned garages full of equivalent luxury supercars and the like.
On that basis many may not turn a wheel but the owners we chatted with seemed keen to get out there and enjoy their bikes as intended, albeit on a limited basis and to the kind of places where its pose value will be noted and appreciated.
What do you get for the money? Well, there aren’t any meaningful mechanical changes but anything made of plastic on the regular bike has, where possible, been replaced with carbon fibre and everything from the shape of the front mudguard to the rear wheel design and mesh in the intakes has been styled to resemble cars like the ultra-exclusive, £2m-plus Bentley Batur. The seat is also matched to the upholstery of the car and if the regular bike isn’t already fancy enough an additional 50 will be made available to owners of Bentleys from the firm’s Mulliner customisation department. A bright orange prototype bike was displayed alongside the regular green version as an example of what’s possible there, one buyer apparently requesting saddle leather to match that on the interior of his car. Crazy times? Maybe for regular bikers and even Ducati fanboys, but for high-rolling buyers with money to burn this exclusivity counts, and who can begrudge Bentley and Ducati creating something to indulge them!
What do you get for the money? Well, there aren’t any meaningful mechanical changes but anything made of plastic on the regular bike has, where possible, been replaced with carbon fibre and everything from the shape of the front mudguard to the rear wheel design and mesh in the intakes has been styled to resemble cars like the ultra-exclusive, £2m-plus Bentley Batur. The seat is also matched to the upholstery of the car and if the regular bike isn’t already fancy enough an additional 50 will be made available to owners of Bentleys from the firm’s Mulliner customisation department. A bright orange prototype bike was displayed alongside the regular green version as an example of what’s possible there, one buyer apparently requesting saddle leather to match that on the interior of his car. Crazy times? Maybe for regular bikers and even Ducati fanboys, but for high-rolling buyers with money to burn this exclusivity counts, and who can begrudge Bentley and Ducati creating something to indulge them!
