Saar: Crafted to celebrate 100 years of Bentley Motors, only 100 specimens will ever be made.
On July 10, 2018, Bentley Motors entered its 100th year in existence. To celebrate its centenary and to pay homage to its founder, Walter Owen (W.O.), the company has built a limited-run Mulsanne. It is dubbed as the Bentley Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner and only 100 specimens will ever exist. It will make its public debut at Monterey Car Week in California, USA, which will be held over three days from August 24-26, 2018, and deliveries to customers will commence in 2019.
Limited edition models are always special. They always have some bespoke artistry touches that you just don’t find anywhere else. The Bentley Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner is no exception. The Brits actually into the archives and found the original crankshaft that did duty in the Bentley 8 litre from 1930. It was the very car that the founder drove himself. To give each of the 100 production models of the Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner a piece of history, Bentley sliced the crankshaft into 100 pieces and placed it in a display case within the rear armrest. Wow!
There’s more. Customers will be able to choose between four different wood types and they, along with inserts of aluminium, make the interior feel old-school and modern at the same time. The interior upholstery is made from, what Bentley likes to call, ‘Fireglow Heritage and Fireglow hide’. Beluga hide and blind stitching further accentuate the special aura in the cabin. And to top them all, there’s a Mulliner illuminated cocktail cabinet. It had to be there!
The ‘Fireglow’ finishing is also found on the lambswool rugs, glass tumblers, privacy curtains and the entertainment system for the rear passengers. A premium veneer finished in Dark Stain Burr Walnut extends to the minor gauge panel, steering wheel rim and other panels in the cabin.
On the outside, the Bentley Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner gets an Onyx paintwork, chrome bonnet strip and the ‘Flying B’ mascot atop the optional chrome radiator shell and grille. If you don’t like the dark exterior colour, Bentley will let you choose any other from its standard pallet. The self-levelling wheel centres and door treadplates get centenary badging and a W.O. Bentley signature marque is mounted on the lower bumper.
That’s quite a lot that Bentley and Mulliner have done to make the celebratory Mulsanne a very special luxury limousine. The best part is, all this specialness is not limited to just one kind of Mulsanne variant. If you don’t want all this in the standard Mulsanne, Bentley is ready to do all that in the Mulsanne Long Wheelbase or even the Mulsanne Speed.
Obviously, performance will depend on which Mulsanne variant you opt for. But this special edition is not about going everywhere as fast as possible. It is about taking a dip deep in the history of Bentley Motors. It is especially for those who keep aesthetics above everything else.
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