Bentley Mulliner has revealed the all-new Bacalar at the home of Bentley in Crewe, England this morning. The rarest two-door Bentley of the modern era, and the ultimate expression of two-seat, open-air luxury, this definitive Grand Tourer spearheads a return to coachbuilding by Bentley Mulliner – the oldest coachbuilder in the world.
Just 12 examples of this striking, limited edition model are being created, guaranteeing rarity and exclusivity, and offering supreme luxury and breath-taking performance. Bacalar looks to the future of bespoke luxury motoring – each model will be handcrafted in Bentley Mulliner’s workshop in Crewe, according to the individual customer’s personal tastes.
This exceptionally rare car is appropriately named after Laguna Bacalar in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, a lake renowned for its breath-taking natural beauty, continuing Bentley’s strategy of naming cars after remarkable landmarks which started with Bentayga in 2015.
Bacalar has been brought to life by Bentley Mulliner, reviving its specialism in providing rare coach-built cars to only a few discerning customers. A roofless Barchetta design with all-new and highly muscular coachwork, embracing a myriad of options and materials, each Bacalar will be truly unique, the result of direct interaction between the Bentley Mulliner design team and the individual customer.
The most exclusive two-door Bentley of the modern era launches a new Bentley Mulliner operation, and forms part of a new strategy for the world’s oldest coachbuilder that will see the division offer three different portfolios: Classic, Collections and Coachbuilt.
Bentley Mulliner has an illustrious history and can proudly trace its roots back to the 1500s when the company’s original focus was customising luxurious, horse-drawn carriages. The remarkable Bacalar is therefore the culmination of almost 500 years of expertise and heritage in the art of vehicle design.
“The Bentley Mulliner Bacalar is our ultimate expression of an open-top, luxury grand tourer, and of the immense capabilities of our team in Crewe. In Bacalar, we have created a fully bespoke Bentley, orientated towards a two seat open top experience, and carrying a number of the forward-thinking elements of future luxury, first heralded in our EXP100GT as part of our Centenary celebrations last year.” – Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and Chief Executive, Bentley Motors
“Bacalar is a rare and remarkable Bentley, and whilst clearly defined, will be an extraordinary and collaborative experience for just twelve discerning people who will now co-create, collect, drive and treasure one of twelve being built. Our customers are as excited as we are about Bacalar, as it brings our team and discerning enthusiasts together, to create the finest bespoke, hand-built cars, and push the boundaries of our imagination and capabilities,” added Adrian.
A masterpiece of craftsmanship, the Bacalar is a seamless fusion of materials with an intelligent curation of technology. It draws on design DNA from the beautifully sculpted, award-winning EXP 100 GT which was recently crowned ‘Most Beautiful Concept Car of the Year’ at the prestigious French Festival Automobile International and ‘Concept Car of the Year’ by GQ magazine.
A statement of purpose for the future, Bacalar now propels Bentley into a new century of extraordinary, as the design team has envisaged the most dynamically sculpted model to date. The dramatic, tapered cowls at the rear hark back to the Barchetta sports cars of old, whilst underlining the promise of a dynamic, driver-focussed adventure in a cosseting, cocooned environment.
Pure in line and execution, the distinctive, wraparound cockpit flows from a new, steeply angled centre console seamlessly into the dashboard and doors. These then wrap rearwards towards the semi-enclosed luggage compartment behind the two seats.
Sustainable, ethically-sourced materials previewed in the EXP 100 GT concept car last year have now become reality in the Bacalar – just eight months after first being previewed. These include paint containing ash from rice husks, which provides a sustainable way of delivering a rich metallic finish, natural British wool and 5,000-year-old Riverwood sourced from the ancient Fenlands of East Anglia.
The Bacalar features an enhanced version of Bentley’s peerless 6.0-litre, W12 TSI engine. The most advanced 12-cylinder engine in the world, it produces 659 PS (650 bhp) and 900 Nm (667 lb.ft) of torque.
An advanced Active All-Wheel-Drive System varies the torque split between front and rear wheels. It allows the Bacalar to use rear-wheel drive as much as possible during normal driving for optimum efficiency and dynamic performance. The drivetrain is at the heart of the Bacalar, creating the ultimate open-air, two-seat luxury Grand Tourer available in the world today.
All examples of the exquisite Bentley Mulliner Bacalar have already been allocated to customers from around the world.
