Bentley celebrates 80 years at Crewe with a special Continental GTC by Mulliner
Mulliner’s one-off Bentley Continental GTC was joined by 107 Bentley motor cars – legacy models from the pre- and post-war times attended the festivities at Pyms Lane, Crewe
This Continental GTC is a homage to Bentley Motors' facility in Crewe, which completes 80 years
This Continental GTC is a homage to Bentley Motors' facility in Crewe, which completes 80 years
Bentley celebrates 80 years of craftsmanship at Crewe with an ultra funky one-of-one Continental GTC. It's so purple that even the wheels have purple accents. Mulliner calls the bespoke paint ‘Supernova Purple Ombre.’ The party trick of this exterior finish is the tonal shift from vibrant to dark purple. The bespoke ‘80’ body graphics on the side also tie-in the 80th year of the Crewe facility being at the heart of craftsmanship in the ultra luxury motoring world.
The devil is in the details
This unique Continental GTC also portrays bespoke touches with purple ‘80’ embroidery on the seat headrests and bespoke airbrushed artwork on the passenger’s side dashboard which depicts an interplay of the famous Design Studio building and the ‘80’ motif.
The brawns of the beast
The tribute build is based on the fourth generation Bentley Continental GTC. It is propelled by a 4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine which is coupled to a 140kW electric motor and is driven via an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission with active AWD, electronic limited slip differential and torque vectoring. It also packs a 25.9kWh battery to power the electric system. The combined peak output is 771bhp and 1000Nm of torque. The GTC does the 0 to 100kmph sprint in 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 285kmph. It rides on air suspension assisted by advanced twin-valve dampers. It delivers a pure electric claimed range of 78km.
A century-old legacy
Apart from a special convertible coupe, Bentley’s Pyms Lane site hosted 107 Bentley motor cars from the global Bentley Drivers Club. The lineup of cars in attendance included pre- and post-war models like Bentley 3 Litre, Blower Bentley, Bentley Mark VI – amassing over a century’s worth of Bentley heritage in one place.
While the marque celebrates the milestone of its illustrious past, Bentley Motors is gearing up for its all-electric future with the launch of the upcoming Bentley Torcal. The Crewe facility is at the cusp of transitioning into this British luxury brand’s ‘Dream Factory’ – a next-generation production facility which will be outfitted with the best of the new-age technological upgrades, but Bentley will still hold its hallmark artisanal skills at the heart of the car building process which has been working its magic like clockwork since 1938.
