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Bentley Mulliner builds 1,000th bespoke commission

Some people just walk into a car dealership and buy a car from the showroom floor, or from the inventory the dealer has in stock, while others go through the factory brochure and scrutinize the options list to put together the exact car they want to own, put in an order, and wait for ‘their’ car to arrive, which might take some time depending on the make and model.

However, once you get into the luxury car market, where makes like Mercedes, Audi, and BMW are present with their flagship models, those options lists get a lot more complicated, but it’s still a lot of fun to go through them and put together the car of your dreams … but there is still a select group of high-net-worth individuals that take it a step beyond that segment … they are shopping from a car from Rolls Royce or Bentley, and while the saying goes ‘you get driven in a Rolls Royce, but you drive a Bentley’, both makes are in the upper segment of the luxury car market.

With most makes, you have the choice of a multitude of colors for the body and interior but mostly limited to what they offer the customer, once you walk into the Bentley showroom things change considerably, the list of body colors is almost limitless, as it the list of options for the interior hides, stitching, and veneers … but that’s not even good enough for the most discerning clients … for those special customers Bentley inaugurated their Mulliner Design team in 2014.

And it seems customers were eagerly awaiting something like this, a way to create ‘their’ own Bentley, not just putting down a long list of ‘standard’ options on an order form, but a more personal way of actively designing their new car, Bentley expected an increase in the demand for bespoke and highly personalized cars, and over a period of 7 years the Mulliner Design team completed 1,000 very special cars.

The first Bentley to be created by the Mulliner Design team was the Flying Spur Serenity, a limited production series of 15 units that came with different seats and headrests compared to the regular Flying Spur, this was the model that introduced the unique diamond quilting and specifically textured leather we now see in the new Continental GT Mulliner.

The Bentley Mulliner Design team can take on just about any request a customer might come up with, with a bespoke door sill plate, over custom stitching, right up to a complete bespoke coachbuilding project, and while many of their 1,000 projects are one-off cars created for a specific customer, some are limited edition models, like the Bentley Continental GT’s that were inspired by the famous Breitling Jets aerial display team, a series of seven cars were color-matched to the aircraft that inspired them, all finished in black, silver and yellow.

If you take a look at the numbers again, it comes down to about 3 commissions per week for the Mulliner Design team, making clear just how popular a bespoke build has become of the last years, they are involved in all areas of the Mulliner department, from Classic to Coachbuilt, to Collections, this team sits on the cutting design edge of what Mulliner can deliver.

Personally, I really like the bright green Bentley Continental GT Pikes Peak edition that was created in 2019 to celebrate Bentley’s Production Car record at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, complete with a custom inlay on the dashboard showing the Pikes Peak run, and the record-setting time of 10:18.488, an amazing detail set on a clear carbon fiber background in front of the passenger.

And that’s another thing the Bentley Mulliner Design team can accomplish for you, don’t like wood veneer on the interior of your new Bentley? No problem, how about carbon fiber for that sporty look, or lacquered to match, or contrast with the interior? Not a problem at all … but what about real stone inlays inside your Bentley? No worries, the Mulliner Design team has you covered, first, they will make a stunning 3D render on how it will all look together with the upholstery and stitching pattern you selected, then they will source the stone of your liking and create the less than 1 mm thick inlays, just for you.

Not a real fan of smooth leather? Again, no problem at all for the artisans at the Mulliner Design team, you prefer Alcantara, they can do that easily, come to think about it, they can even use your very own, custom tweed design on the door panels, parts of the seats, even on the dashboard … in fact, there are only two limiting factors when it comes to creating bespoke builds through this team: your imagination … and the law, the car has to remain street-legal to drive in the end, so a glass steering wheel might not be possible.

Paul Williams, Director of Mulliner and Motorsport, comments: “Since 2014, our Mulliner Design team has averaged three customer commissions a week, showing just how popular bespoke Bentleys are becoming. The team, led by Design Manager Phill Dean, has worked on everything from Continental GT3 liveries all the way up to the specifications and details of the 12 cars of the Blower Continuation Series. The only thing all of those designs have in common is that they are for individual customers – apart from that, each one is as unique as the rest. The scope of what’s achievable with a standard production Bentley has now been brought to life by the team through the use of the dedicated Mulliner visualiser, which allows our customers to choose the colour and trim specifications of their cars with real-time photorealistic visualisation of the result. The co-creation process with Mulliner designers is now available to everyone.”

Just so you know, the Mulliner Design team not only works on bespoke commissions on cars, but they were also instrumental in the creation of the exquisite optional picnic hampers for the Bentayga, complete with refrigerator, bespoke fine china cutlery, crockery, and crystal glass, and storage area for dry goods. For comfort in the great outdoors, the hampers themselves could be removed and used as seats.

July 11, 2021 / Comments Off

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Bespoke Bentaygas

In the past you could buy a chassis from one of the bigger names in the automotive world, and have a coachbuilder put a chassis on it, this service was available for the ultra-high-net-worth individuals back in the early 1900s when cars like Rolls Royce would come with one-off bodies for Royalty and rulers.

In those days you had names like Hooper, Park Ward, Vanden Plas, James Young, and Mulliner … which now makes sure you can order a bespoke Bentley Bentayga that suits your needs perfectly. H.J. Mulliner and Co. was a family business founded in 1897, they designed coachwork for C. S. Rolls’ personal two-seater Silver Ghost roadster, for instance, then after WWII Mulliner was one of only a handful of coachbuilders to return to traditional, bespoke coachwork, mostly using Rolls-Royce and Bentley chassis as their starting point.

From the 50s on Mulliner started using more modern materials like steel and ‘stressed-skin’ instead of the earlier wood-frame constructions, it was in fact Rolls Royce that took over Mulliner in 1959, merging it with Park Ward that was bought by RR in 1939 already … in 1961 Mulliner-Park Ward was created, in 2021 Mulliner no longer works with Rolls Royce, but it has become the ‘Personal Commissioning’ department that creates truly bespoke models on the entire Bentley range, but not in terms of custom bodywork, but more in terms of special interiors for the more discerning customer.

Just recently the Mulliner Personal Commissioning Guide added the Bentley Bentayga to their list of models, which now spans the entire Bentley model range, you can select from 27 different shades of leather or Alcantara, over 100 painted veneer options, an extended Mulliner paint palette for the body and custom wheel options to create your ultimate personalized luxury SUV.

The Personal Commissioning Guide offers a unique mix of traditional and contemporary options that will appeal to Bentley’s diverse and extraordinary clients. Depending on the customer’s personal preference, each car can take on a new aesthetic while ensuring style and performance are never compromised.

Just take a look at our previous article on ‘The Bentley Mulliner visualiser‘ for more details on how they can create a one-off Bentley just for you, by using color-matched paint taken from a sample the customer brings with him, and that’s not only for the exterior, that same paint can be applied on the veneer on the interior so it complements one of the 27 different hides and stitching options Mulliner offers.

A combination of up to three different shades can be selected for the interior, and if you really want to go wild, go for a tweed insert on the doors or ask for a bespoke color hide and stitching for the ultimate expression of personality, add to that any color for the piping, carpet binding or cross-stitching … just keep in mind this won’t come cheap, it takes one of Bentley’s craftsmen up to 44 hours to hand-stitch that impressive cross pattern.

Not a fan of smooth leather? No problem at all, as Mulliner offers the same level of craftsmanship when combining Alcantara on the seats, headrest, and door panels with smooth leather, you can even opt to have the steering wheel and gear lever finished in Alcantara, it takes the Bentley Bentayga from a luxury SUV into the more sporty SUV class.

Furthermore, those ‘puddle lights’ we find everywhere these days, when you open the door there is a light to illuminate the floor next to your car, mostly a logo or a design … Mulliner will create one just for you, showing your name, or a crest for your brand on the floor when you enter or exit your Bentayga. Still not good enough? No problem, even the doorsills can show your name or logo … or whatever you prefer, all in good taste naturally.

With Bentley’s revered craftsmanship, the new Bentayga makes a clear statement and reintroduces Cross Banding Inlays as an option for the fascia and waistrail inserts. The Cross Banding uses an Australian straight grain veneer with a boxwood inlay available on a number of veneer options, enhanced with a Bentley Mulliner overlay in either a silver or gold color.

With innovative and state-of-the-art technologies, Bentley Mulliner has utilized stone formed over 200 million years ago to create lightweight veneers just 0.1mm in thickness. Stone veneers feature a visible natural ‘open pore’ texture, a customer can select one of four different colors for their stone inlay: Autumn White, Copper, Galaxy, or Terra Red.

March 5, 2021 / Comments Off

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The Bentley Mulliner visualiser

I don’t know about you, but I have spent way too many hours online in configurators (or visualizers) for some of the world’s most exclusive car makers, I just love to play around with options on cars I will probably never be able to afford anyway, but it’s so much fun putting dreams together on a computer’s screen, this went so far as me actually designing and programming my very own Lamborghini virtual configurator because I felt the factory one didn’t go far enough.

Now it seems management at Bentley in Crewe, UK, had the same sentiment, they just released their Mulliner visualiser to have customers create their very own, bespoke car by using an application together with their retailer or with a designer from Bentley, without leaving the comfort of their house.

From within the Mulliner virtualiser, the customer can view their new car, both from the outside and on the inside, complete with their selected choice of paint and upholstery, it is even possible to color match the hides on the interior to the outside, and have the correct color code sent directly to Bentley Mulliner for the dye on the leather.

Naturally the choice of stitching options is almost endless, and now the client can even specify how the veneer inside his (or her) new Bentley will be finished, Mulliner offers the fascias and waist-rails painted to the same piano-finish standard as the exterior, in any one of the scores of colors on offer.

I know for a fact the list of paint colors on a Bentley is daunting to say the least, it contains 62 colors, and with the new Mulliner visualiser, things get even more complicated with the addition of 26 more shades, fifteen of those are solid or regular metallic, but Mulliner also offers 4 new satin finishes and no less than seven complex, pearlescent three-layer paints, all applied in a combination of hand spraying and robot technology for the best possible finish … the ‘stock’ pallet of Bentley colors is one of the largest in the industry.

Some of the additional paints from Mulliner:

First created in the 1960s, Oxford Blue is a stunning solid paint and one of the darkest blues in the Bentley palette. This mesmerizing Mulliner paint recalls the power and elegance of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.

Viridian is the latest metallic paint to be introduced and is a modern take on the traditional British racing green. This mysterious dark emerald is inspired by the EXP 10 Speed 6 concept car shown at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2015. The deep green with light green and blue undertones creates depth and a sporting dimension, while flecks of amber and gold embody the character of luxury.

White Sand Porcelain – White Sand was the launch colour for the Continental Flying Spur. A silky, creamy colour, it is created by blending two hues to a warm finish.

Snow Quartz is a modern white three layer pearlescent paint, which creates a simple and fresh silhouette. The finely layered pearl effect creates a beautiful shimmering and lustrous whiteness, providing an infinite amount of opportunities to complement interior color combinations.

The glimmering surface of Extreme Silver has been given a striking new finish to create Extreme Silver Satin. This distinctive Mulliner Paint alters the character of this warm silver almost beyond recognition, replacing the metallic gleam with a subtle satiny sheen that brings the sharp Bentley design lines to the fore.

Storm Grey – Storm Grey has appeared on several Bentley models since its introduction in the 1990s. It blends hints of blue into a strong grey base to create a powerful and eye-catching finish.

And if that doesn’t fit your specific needs, no problem, Bentley’s personal commissioning division can color-match virtually any sample provided, using innovative color recognition software to analyze the composition of the sample provided and reproducing it to perfection.

Radium – A Mischievous sporty and youthful colour, with a superfine metallic effect, invoking the feeling of confidence.

February 23, 2021 / Comments Off

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Bentley Mulliner Bacalar Revealed As Mulliner Takes Charge

The Bentley Bacalar is the most exclusive and bespoke Bentley of the modern era. It was revealed today at Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, England. It was due to be revealed in Geneva this morning, yet with the cancellation of the show, Bentley executives decided to launch the car electronically instead!

The two-seat Bacalar marks a return to bespoke coachbuilding for Bentley Mulliner, one of the oldest names in coachbuilding. It also marks a return to bespoke limited edition custom models for Bentley, a stark change from the mass-production Continental GT and the Bentayga.

The release of the new model coincides with an announcement that Bentley will utilise Bentley Mulliner through a new three-portfolio future: Classic, Collections and Coachbuilt.

Bentley Mulliner Bacalar

The Bacalar is the first model to join the Coachbuilt sector. It is named after a lake called Laguna Bacalar in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. The ‘Barchetta’ design “delivers the ultimate expression of open-top, driver-focused grand touring”. Top-down motoring sits at the heart of this two-seater.

The Bentley Bacalar uses an enhanced 6.0-litre W12 TSI engine producing 659 hp and 900 Nm of torque. Bentley has incorporated a rear-biased advanced Active All-Wheel-Drive System together with an adaptive chassis which uses Bentley’s intelligent, 48-volt Dynamic Ride System.

Just 12 individual Bacalar’s will be released. Each one is designed, engineered and handcrafted to individual customers’ individual tastes. If you want one, tough, they are all already allocated.

The design uses the DNA and sustainable materials debuted in the EXP 100 GT concept car, launched last summer to celebrate Bentley’s centenary. The materials include ethically-sourced materials such as rice husk ash paint and 5,000-year-old Riverwood.

The Bacalar is also the first model to be produced in the world’s first certified carbon neutral factory. Each customer will get a bespoke Schedoni luggage to fit the rear compartment.

GTSPIRIT NEWSLETTER

March 3, 2020 / Comments Off

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