Bentley came back to the US event scene for the famous Monterey Car Week with a four-day exhibition showcasing the latest and greatest from Crewe to the public, ultimately they would have over 2,500 guests join them with 100 test drives from the Home of Bentley in Monterey, it was also the first time Bentley Mulliner had all three portfolios together: Classic, Coachbuilt, and Collections.
The cars shown at the Home of Bentley continually changed over the period of four days, but the famous biofuel-powered Continental GT3 Pikes Peak remained a central point of attraction throughout the event, but one car certainly drew a lot of attention too, the Bentley “Unifying Spur” featuring artwork by Rich Morris.
Christophe Georges, President, and CEO of Bentley Americas, comments: “Returning to Monterey for the first time after rejoicing in our centenary at Pebble Beach in 2019 has been a fantastic experience. After the challenges of the pandemic, we chose to celebrate our customers, alongside our thoroughly modern and diverse range of new models, and being able to see customers in person after such a long time apart was a great experience for everyone. Monterey Car Week is always a highlight in our calendar, and was particularly special this year as Bentley continues to deliver the strongest results in the company’s history.”
Talking about the Bentley Flying Spur, Monterey Car Week was also the venue where they introduced the new Flying Spur Mulliner, the top of the line version in the Flying Spur range from Crewe that comes with bespoke Mulliner details like special 22-inch Mulliner wheels with self-leveling centers, a bespoke “Double Diamond” front grille and satin silver mirror caps for more elegance, and naturally an interior to match with even higher handcraftsmanship from the Mulliner team. Together with the Continental GT Coupe and Convertible Mulliner versions, these three cars represented the Mulliners Collections portfolio.
The second branch in Bentley Mulliner is the Coachbuilt portfolio, and that one was beautifully represented by the Bacalar Car Zero, the actual production prototype for the limited edition Bentley Mulliner Bacalar, the one that will not be sold, while the first customer car in the Bacalar series has been completed and is ready for delivery as we speak, the Car Zero was in fact repainted in a magnificent Scarab green and received a new upholstery for the interior, both specifically created just for Monterey Car Week 2021, this car was the star at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering on Friday, 13 August.
So how about the third part of Bentley Mulliner, the Classic Portfolio then? That was represented by something truly special, the actual engineering prototype of the Blower Continuation Series, another Car Zero at Monterey, this time a blast from the past that is being recreated almost exactly the way the original car was built back in 1929 as Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin’s supercharged 4½-Litre.
This development test mule had already covered over 6,000 miles during the durability program, but Bentley insisted on using this very car to drive around the Monterey peninsula every single day, with customers, guests, and representatives from the media as passengers in this world’s first pre-war continuation car, she covered another 350 miles with no issues whatsoever.
With Bentley’s hybrid cars becoming more and more important, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that both the Bentayga Hybrid and the new Flying Spur Hybrid made their appearance during Monterey Car Week, at the time of writing two-thirds of Bentley’s model range is now available with a Hybrid option, as part of their journey to electrification and a first BEV by 2025, Bentley already confirmed they will return to Monterey Car Week next year, August 15 2022.
