Bentley's design director on the return of its 1950s coach-building tradition
Bentley's design director, Stefan Sielaff discusses the launch of Bentley Bacalar – the tradition offering super-rare models
Bentley has a long history of building luxury cars, but its coach-building tradition – making very small numbers of vehicle bodies and interiors for discerning global customers – hasn’t been a regular part of its product offering since the 1950s. Now with the launch of the Bentley Bacalar, that tradition is returning by offering super-rare models for those with the financial clout and aesthetic taste to desire it. Coachbuilt is one of three new divisions of Bentley’s Mulliner business, the others being Mulliner Classic, where new versions of old Bentley icons like the 1929 Blower can be recreated using authentic techniques and materials and Mulliner Collection, offering personalised details within Bentley’s modern-day production models.
Wallpaper* had an exclusive chat with Bentley’s design director Stefan Sielaff to find out more about the new strategy and its first example: the £1.5m (plus local taxes) 659hp W12, two-seat, roofless luxury Grand Tourer Bacalar, limited to just 12 examples and featuring almost 150,000 artisanal stitches on each seat and 5000-year old reclaimed English wood within its interior.
Wallpaper*: Very limited edition cars by Bentley haven’t been offered in the modern era until the Bacalar. When was the last one?
Stefan Sielaff: There were some special cars for the Sultan of Brunei in the 1980s but they weren’t part of an organised plan. This coach-building idea goes back to the activities of Mulliner many decades ago, for example the 1952 Bentley Mulliner Continental R-Type.
W*: With such bespoke exterior panels and a very different interior treatment how long did the project take to develop?
SS: We started sketching and then building the Bacalar after we finished the EXP 100 GT concept car in the middle of last year. What we showed is literally what the customer will get. It is road-legal, certified and homologated. This was tricky for us, because we had to follow all the rules and legislation of our production car processes, which can take up to five years, and did everything in nine months.
W*: Where did you take inspiration from the EXP 100 GT concept?
SS: From both the exterior and interior, like having two headlights rather than four and with the running daylight light bar through them. We also took inspiration from the EXP 100 GT in the Bacalar’s three-dimensional rear lights with this bone structure inside. On the interior we used more sustainable materials, like 5000-year old river wood and wool tweed from the Scottish border.
W*: Why is there no roof for the Bacalar?
SS: It connects the Bacalar to our historic cars like the Blower, also two seats, no roof.
W*: Are you thinking about a car cover at least?
SS: At the moment, no, but it’s a really good point. I’ll take this inspiration across to my colleagues at Bentley Mulliner. As we deliver the first cars at the end of this year we still have time to think about covers.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
W*: Will each of the 12 Bacalars be different from each other?
SS: Every customer wants something absolutely individual and we are doing ‘co-creation’ sessions with the customers and our designers to really discuss what they want. I think one customer wants to go for the show car specification while others might want something more conservative or extrovert: there’s a wide range. For sure, every car will be very different to the next one.
W*: Each seat has nearly 150,000 handcrafted stitches. How are they designed and can you have too many?
SS: [Laughs] One of my favourite parts on this car is the seat embroidery because it’s extremely modern but also a very traditional craft. We can literally walk over the street to our people at the sewing machines with an idea and they come back after two days with an upholstered seat. We then look at it and modify it. This is our advantage at Bentley, we have craftsmen on site with know-how that we can use on big production number cars and also now especially for Bentley Mulliner’s coach-building.
INFORMATION
bentleymotors.com
Guy Bird is a London-based writer, editor and consultant specialising in cars and car design, but also covers aviation, architecture, street art, sneakers and music. His journalistic experience spans more than 25 years in the UK and global industry. See more at www.guybird.com
-
All hail the arrival of true autonomy? On Tesla’s proposed Robotaxi and techno-insecurity
Tesla’s new marketing push predicts a future of robot cabs, automated buses and autonomous home androids. We already want to get off
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Discothèque perfumes evoke the scent of Tokyo in the year 2000
As Discothèque gets ready to launch its first perfume collection, Mary Cleary catches up with the brand’s founders
By Mary Cleary Published
-
This unassuming London house is a radical rethinking of the suburban home
Station Lodge by architect Andrei Saltykov in South West London offers a radical subversion to regional residential architecture
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The new Bentley Continental GT Speed surpasses its top-ranking predecessor
High in the Alps behind the wheel of a brand new hybrid Bentley, we reflect on what it takes to make a modern supercar
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Bentley describes the updated hybrid Flying Spur Speed as a four-door supercar
The latest version of the Bentley Flying Spur is a technological showcase and an outstanding performer
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Bentley rolls out the latest version of its majestic grand tourer, the Continental GT Speed
Available as both coupé and convertible, the fourth generation Bentley Continental GT Speed harnesses hybrid power to become a record breaker for the brand
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Zoute Grand Prix is a car fest like no other at a pristine Belgian beachside town
Amy Serafin takes to the well-heeled streets of Knokke-Heist to experience the Zoute Grand Prix, its annual cavalcade of classic car-related events, from a rally to an auction
By Amy Serafin Published
-
Bentley goes big with an extended, Mulliner-trimmed version of its Bentayga SUV
The Bentley Bentayga EWB Mulliner is the luxury manufacturer’s new flagship, a high-riding limousine that marks a sea-change in how we perceive the very best of an automotive brand
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Bentley Blower Jr shrinks and electrifies the stately form of a racing classic
The Little Car Company’s latest project takes an interwar icon and transforms it into an electric city car for the modern rake
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Bentley’s Mulliner division enters a purple patch with the Batur
Just 18 examples of the new Bentley Batur will be built for customers, designed as the ultimate platform for creative specifications and a showcase for in-car craft and design
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Flexjet takes to the skies with Bentley
Flexjet brings exclusive Bentley interiors to its new Gulfstream G650 jet and Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, in the smoothest of transfers
By Jessica Klingelfuss Published