Bentley Mulliner Bacalar

Its a Bentley though, VAG trash.

Would rather buy a Mercedes SLR Sterling Moss.
 
Bentley reveals customisation options for £1.5m Mulliner Bacalar

Just 12 examples of the open-cockpit grand tourer will be made and are already allocated to customers

The Bentley Mulliner Bacalar spearheads a new era for the British car maker’s coachbuilding division, which will launch an ultra-exclusive model as often as every two years.

The £1.5 million Bacalar, an open-cockpit grand tourer, is limited to just 12 units, all of which have already been allocated to loyal customers.

The two-seat design is heavily inspired by the EXP 100 GT concept, which was revealed for Bentley’s centenary last year, with the two cars having been designed side by side.

 
Look out: here are six Bentley Bacalars for you to judge

Bentley Mulliner’s 659bhp speedster is all about being bespoke. Is this how you’d spec one?

Yellow. They chose yellow! Bentley’s bespoke coachbuilding division, Mulliner, pulled the virtual wraps off its first limited-edition car – the Bacalar – last month, and to showcase its fine craftsmanship and breadth of customisation… the Mulliner boys and girls painted it yellow.

Oopsie, correction: the paint was actually called ‘Yellow Fire’ And very striking it was too. But no doubt, it will have offended many of you. Is yellow an appropriate colour for the raffish, caddish, out-of-my-way-indeed character of a Bentley?

Well, allow Bentley Mulliner to present you with some other options, and the inspiration behind them. There will only ever be 12 Bacalars, each already sold with the owners paying £1.5million each for the privilege of speccing one. Here are some Bentley designed earlier, with names pinched from a Jack Wills catalogue.


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This ‘Rainbow’ Bacalar is the most colourful Bentley ever

Bentley recently held a competition in which its staff were tasked with creating their own personalised Bentley Mulliner Bacalar, and the winning entry is quite possibly the most colourful Bentley ever.

The contest was judged by Bentley’s design boss Stefan Sielaff, and the ‘exterior’ winner was Eleanor, whose rainbow-themed concept “reflected the current situation with a symbol of gratefulness and hope.”

The rainbow paint scheme combines seven striking Bentley hues: Dragon Red II, Orange Flame, Yellow Flame, Apple Green, Jetstream II, Sequin Blue and Azure Purple.

The two-seat Baclar marks return to bespoke coachbuilding for Bentley Mulliner, which is said to be the oldest coachbuilding company in the world.

Only 12 of these two-seat grand tourers will be built, all engineered and handcrafted to the client’s individual tastes. All are powered by an enhanced version of Bentley’s 6-litre W12 twin-turbo engine, which produces 485kW.

Produced in world’s first certified carbon neutral factory for luxury car production, the exclusive open-top vehicle is crafted with a range of “ethically-sourced” materials, including rice husk ash paint and 5000-year-old Riverwood.


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Bentley Bacalar concept: first drive of £1.5m roadster

Just 12 examples of the sleek, 650bhp Bacalar will be made to start Bentley’s new era of coachbuilt ultra-luxury. We drive the show car

The Bacalar is much happier as a cruiser, one that is going to be driven on the muscular mid-range of the wuffly 6.0-litre W12 engine. It will certainly be up for travelling faster. The 650bhp engine will appreciate harder use and Bentley’s dual-clutch transmission is one the quickest and cleanest-shifting in this part of the market. GTC underpinnings also mean the Bacalar shares the same dynamic-sharpening tech, including air springs and 48V active anti-roll. But it definitely feels like a car that will be better appreciated at lower speeds, not least because it will make it easier to see all the jealous glances.

The Bacalar is the first modern coachbuilt Bentley, but we’re promised it won’t be the last.


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£1.5m Bentley Mulliner Bacalar starts test programme

Just 12 examples of the open-cockpit grand tourer will be made and are already allocated to customers

The Bentley Mulliner Bacalar has begun a test and durability programme ahead of the limited production run starting in 2021, which includes proving the 200mph+ top speed.

The £1.5 million Bacalar spearheads a new era for the British car maker’s coachbuilding division, which will launch an ultra-exclusive model as often as every two years. It is limited to just 12 units, all of which have already been allocated to loyal customers.

The two-seat design is heavily inspired by the EXP 100 GT concept, which was revealed for Bentley’s centenary last year, with the two cars having been designed side by side.

 
First drive: 2021 Bentley Mulliner Bacalar prototype review

Does Crewe's ultra-exclusive £1.5 million speedster represent a bold new future for its coachbuilding arm?

Of course, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The Bacalar will largely reside on the south coast of France, and for that, it feels absolutely perfect. It wafts very well, with the wraparound cockpit doing a good job of reducing wind noise to a minimum and that air suspension keeping the worst of the Tarmac at bay. The Bacalar rides on 22in wheels, and you can feel the weight of those over sharp undulations, but it’s a civilised place to toddle along in. The silken nature of the W12 only reinforces the impression of a car that knows exactly what’s required of it.

Has Bentley tapped a new market for itself? Quite possibly. Half the buyers - admittedly that’s only six people - are new to Bentley. Usually, in the ultra-rarefied world of these sorts of cars, people have to have spent gazillions with the brand before they’re allowed into the limited editions. Not so here. It’s a customer-driven focus and hopefully one that will yield more special projects in the future. The world doesn’t need more of these sorts of cars, but want and need are two different things. If a profitable Mulliner helps Bentley, that’s no bad thing in my book.


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Mulling things over: What next for Bentley coachbuilding division?

Mulliner hopes the Bacalar will spearhead a new era with more exclusive and personalised builds

The Bacalar spearheads a new era at Bentley, one in which it hopes its coachbuilding division, Mulliner, will lead a personalisation charge to give customers ever-more exclusive cars (if the idea of ‘more exclusivity’ doesn’t sound like a paradox too far).

Mulliner claims to be the world’s oldest coachbuilder, starting out around 500 years ago when it was a saddle maker. Its links with Bentley date back to 1923, when it exhibited a two-seat 3 Litre Bentley at the Olympia Show in London. But the bond grew stronger from 1952, when Mulliner built the R-Type Continental, before the coachbuilders officially became part of Bentley in 1959.

Now Mulliner has three arms within Bentley: Classic (to recreate icons such as the Blower), Collections (where customers can specify unique personalisation options) and Coachbuilt (where Mulliner will build entirely different versions of series production vehicles). The Bacalar is from the latter.

Mulliner sees itself as more than a simple offshoot of Bentley. Instead, it believes it can drive development at the company, almost like a skunkworks department where new ideas are forged and tested quickly. As Omar Sheikh, project leader at Mulliner, says: “The advantage with coachbuilding is that we can turn around a project in a relatively short period of time. We can bring in new innovations and technology and trial them out in a very short period of time. If they’re successful, then they can be looked to be brought into future cars within Bentley.”

 
Bentley Mulliner Bacalar: first example completed in Crewe

First of 12 examples of the open-cockpit, handcrafted grand tourer finished as work begins on next three cars

The first example of the £1.5 million Bentley Mulliner Bacalar has been completed at the company’s workshop in Crewe.

Dubbed ‘Car One’, the car’s carbonfibre body is finished in Atom Silver satin paint, riding on 22in wheels sporting a ‘Tri-Finish’ with polished faces, dark grey satin spokes and gloss, Moss Green highlights.

The green detailing appears on several other areas of the exterior, as well as on the hide of the console wings inside. The seat centres are finished with fine Nappa leather, with beluga diamond-carved carpets bound together with matching green stitching.

Virtually every detail has been specified by the car’s soon-to-be owner, making the Bacalar entirely bespoke. Meanwhile, the first example of the Bentley Blower Continuation has also been finished.

“Seeing these first two cars now finished has given the whole team an enormous sense of pride,” said Paul Williams, Bentley’s director of Mulliner and Motorsport. “Years of work have gone into the design and development of these projects, and seeing them together is incredibly rewarding.


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Mulliner Completes First Bacalar and Blower recreation Customer Cars

The first customer cars in Bentley Mulliner’s new series of pinnacle, handcrafted, bespoke projects have been completed. With each Mulliner series being limited to just 12 units, both the Bacalar and Blower creations have been meticulously created to customer specification.

They represent the breadth of ability within Bentley Mulliner, being able to recreate a millimetre-accurate mechanical recreation of Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin’s 1929 supercharged 4½-Litre, while alongside it creating Bentley’s modern interpretation of the barchetta body style.

Trimmed in period-correct Rexine and finished in bespoke Birkin Green paint, Blower Car One is based on Sir Tim Birkin’s Team Car No.2, registration UU 5872. This car is owned by Bentley Motors and run weekly. The Birkin Green wire wheels complement the paintwork, and the interior is trimmed in colour-matched leather with the foldable roof being finished in black.

Aside from two safety-critical features – modern electric fuel pumps, and a foam baffle to the fuel tank – the vehicle is mechanically identical to Birkin’s original racing car. A dynator has been used instead of the original dynamo – it offers a more powerful and reliable charging system whilst retaining the look of the original dynamo. Featuring aluminium pistons, an overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder and twin spark plugs, the 4½-litre W.O. Bentley designed engine is a brand new example of the iconic supercharged four-cylinder motor which now outputs 180 kW.

Unveiled alongside the Blower, Bacalar Car One represents the bespoke nature of the barchetta with the material, colour and finish of practically every interior and exterior surface being unique to the Mulliner creation. It’s Atom Silver paintwork exhibits a champagne-tinted satin silver, unique to this vehicle. The 22-inch Bacalar Tri-Finish wheels feature polished faces, dark grey satin spokes and gloss Moss Green accent highlights which are carried through to the front grille centre bar, the insides of the headlamps, the upper body chrome surround and around the gloss black “power humps” at the rear.


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DRIVEN: R28m Bentley Bacalar shows off the best of the British marque​


If you want a Bentley Bacalar, you're too late.
Each of the 12 individuals worldwide who purchased the open-top two-seater (priced at $2 million, or R28.8m abroad) has already spent many months developing personalised exterior paint schemes, unique tones for the Beluga leather seats, and detailed stitching patterns.

The car, which was first announced in 2020, is built on the underpinnings of the Continental GT Speed Convertible but has a totally unique body - and it is the first two-seat Bentley in nine decades.

The Bentley Bacalar was built by the 40 artisans who at the brand's Mulliner program at its Crewe, England headquarters. As the first of its kind in Bentley's modern Mulliner operation, it is the crowning example of the kind of small-batch, highly specialised cars that Mulliner aims to produce. Mulliner collections include classic models built anew, like the Bentley Blower continuation cars; extreme-luxury focused versions of existing cars from the Bentley model range; and 100% Coachbuilt cars like the Bacalar.

Bentley could have easily sold more than twice the amount it produced, Mike Rocco, Bentley's vice president for sales and operations, told me in Carmel, California.

 
Exclusive: New 2023 Bentley uses W12 and previews first EV

Second model from Bentley’s bespoke coachbuilder expected to cost more than £1.5m

Bentley is well under way with development of the second bespoke model from its Mulliner coachbuilding division, both as a way of celebrating the luxury car maker’s venerable W12 engine and previewing the design of its first pure-electric models.

The Volkswagen Group’s 6.0-litre W12 engine – the only mass-produced powerplant of this format – turned 20 years old this year, having served in a range of flagship Audi, Volkswagen and, most prominently, Bentley models. It is currently only used by the latter marque and will be retired shortly after the launch of the next Mulliner car as Bentley moves towards an all-electric future.

According to a source at the Crewe firm, the new creation will be based on the Continental GT Coupé (its predecessor, the Bacalar, was based on the Convertible) but will feature bespoke styling in line with its far more exclusive build run, a unique technical make-up, heightened levels of personalisation and a far higher list price than that of the standard car. The new model is being designed and engineered in line with the expansion of the Mulliner division, which will launch the finished product in 2023, 80 years on from the start of the coachbuilder’s relationship with Bentley.

It is believed that high demand for the £1.5 million Bacalar (all 12 examples of which sold out even before the first was completed) has prompted Bentley to up the build run for its hard-top successor, 25 of which will be built. It will be priced from between £1.5m and £2m, but the extent of Mulliner’s personalisation offering means that most, if not all, examples will sell for more than £2m, making this Bentley’s most expensive creation yet.


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Custom Bentley Bacalars shown in spectrum of colours

The Mulliner-made, open-air grand tourer is nearing the end of its highly limited production run of 12 and as a result, these custom Bentley Bacalars have been assembled to demonstrate each of their own unique identities.

Taking six months to complete just a single model, these custom Bentley Bacalars are truly “the ultimate expression of two-seat, open-air luxury.” Mulliner, the maker of these limited and exclusive models also happens to be the oldest coachbuilder in the world, so they know a thing or two on how to appease high-end clients and their bespoke wishes.


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