Bentley is gearing up to go electric but before it does, the UK automaker plans to go out with a bang. Earlier this year, the 2023 Bentley Batur debuted at Pebble Beach with the most powerful twin-turbocharged W12 yet. This gas-powered swan song produces 730 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque, and only 18 lucky customers will have the opportunity to purchase one for $1.95 million.

Trials for the development cars have just begun in Europe, including 120 individual tests over 58 weeks. Two development cars, including number 0 (codenamed Purple Sector) will be put through the wringer to ensure vehicle quality prior to the mid-2023 customer delivery date.

Car 0 (pictured here) will start with a 1,600-mile drive across Germany, Italy, France, and Spain, simulating real-world conditions. Once the drive is complete, the purple beauty will head to Bentley's proving grounds for additional testing before going back out for 4,700 more road miles. Bentley will even punish the car with 600 hours of solar loading, which equivalent to five years of sitting in the Arizona desert.

"There are a number of unique features that bring new challenges," Paul Williams, Chief Technical Officer for Mulliner explains. "For example, the exterior headlamps are very compact LED units and made to our styling teams challenging proportions, which transforms the exterior appearance of the car but are complex to produce. We're also working with the most powerful development of the W12 in its 20-year history, which brings an enormous validation program."

Each of the 18 Batur examples will be completely bespoke, and the development cars are no exception. Development car 0 is finished in a bespoke color called Purple Sector with Gloss Dark Titanium accents. We hope one of the owners chooses this spectacular color. Unlike any of the customer cars, the development car has small, white arrows on the body panel edges, letting the engineers see if there is any panel movement or relaxation.

CarBuzz confirmed with a Bentley spokeswoman that this pre-production car will be "retained by Bentley and will ultimately become part of the heritage collection."