For those who have been reading Top Speed for quite some time now, you’ll know that we’ve been writing about some of the tuning programs created by German tuner McChip. Over the years, it’s created kits for a wide range of cars, including the Mercedes-SLS AMG, the Porsche Panamera, and even the Fiat 500. If diversity were the name of the tuning game, McChip would stand out head and shoulders above the rest. I mention all of this because the German tuner is back in the news, although this time, it’s not for another tuning program. Rather, it’s actually building a car none of us have ever seen before: a Bentley Mulsanne Coupe.

Yes, you read that right. McChip is building a one-off coupe version of the Bentley Mulsanne. It’s something that we’ve been waiting for Bentley to do since the luxury automaker unveiled the Mulsanne all the way back in 2009. It’s never happened so instead of waiting around for something that Bentley will likely never do; the German tuner is taking matters into its own hands, literally. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the build. To be more specific, we know nothing about McChip’s complete strategy for it. The tuner did say though that it’s looking to make extensive use of carbon fiber and create a new aluminum skin for the C-pillars to go with re-engineering specific sections of the Mulsanne’s bodywork. Those are only a few things that the tuner is looking to do on the road to creating the Mulsanne Coupe. It’s unclear how long the build is going to take, but rest assured, the tuner is serious about doing this, as shown by pictures of an actual Mulsanne getting prepped for the proverbial automotive surgery.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

What can we expect from McChip’s Bentley Mulsanne Coupe build?

It’s a little too early at this point to set expectations, but I will cop to being excited about what the German tuner can do with this project. I’ll admit too that I’ve rarely thought about a Mulsanne Coupe in the eight years that the Mulsanne has been around. But thinking about it now did make we wonder why Bentley hasn’t done something like this before. I understand the rationale of a Mulsanne Coupe potentially eating away at the sales of the Continental, but given how Bentley itself has turned the Continental into something of a full-blown performance machine in it of itself, it would have created a distinct separation of identity between the two models. All this talk though is besides the point at the moment.

What’s important now is to showcase what mcchip plans to do with its Mulsanne Coupe build, how it plans to do it, and what its objectives are in the first place. Is a new engine in consideration? How will the tuner reconfigure the interior of the car? Will the car’s dimensions change dramatically if it does make changes to the cabin? There are plenty of questions that still need to be answered and only mcchip at this point can provide those answers. I don’t foresee the tuner having all of the answers right now, so the best thing to do is to give it the time and the space to successfully complete this build.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the tuner’s past works, including some prominent tuning kits its developed for some notable performance cars.

Mercedes SLS AMG “MC700” by mcchip

Arguably one of the most prominent creations to come out of mcchip in recent years, the MC700 kit for the SLS AMG featured two compressor kit options, including one that featured a mechanically driven compressor and a performance-enhancing high-end exhaust system. This upgrade helped the SLS AMG produce an output of 680 horsepower and 567 pound-feet of torque, a steady increase of over 100 ponies from the supercar’s standard output. The second MC700 upgrade came with all the features of the first upgrade but also added sports catalyzers and a stage 4 software. The result of those mods helped the SLS AMG reach an output of 706 horsepower and 584 pound-feet of torque.

Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series by mcchip

Not content with creating two separate programs for the standard SLS AMG, mcchip tripled-down on the Mercedes supercar by giving the SLS AMG Black Series its own tuning kit. The upgrades themselves aren’t as significant as the Stage 4 kit for the SLS AMG, but it was still good enough to generate an output of 654 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque, a modest increase from the SLS AMG GT Black Series’ standard output of 622 ponies and 468 pound-feet of torque.

Porsche 911 Carrera S by mcchip

Mercedes isn’t the only automaker that has been at the crossfires of a mcchip tuning kit. A steady stream of Porsche models have also received tuning programs, including one of the more recent offerings by the tuner for the 911 sports car. Unveiled only last year, this Porsche 911 kit featured a multi-level engine upgrade, beginning with a stage one kit that brought the sports car’s output up to 475 horsepower and 579 pound-feet of torque. There’s also a Stage 2 kit that dials up the output a little higher to 485 ponies and 585 pound-feet of torque.

Knowing what mcchip is capable of, it's definitely going to be interesting how it's going to build the Bentley Mulsanne Coupe. At the very least, a lot of eyes will be on the tuner to see how this project evolves from here.

References

Bentley Mulsanne

Read our full review on the 2017 Bentley Mulsanne.

Read more car tuning news.