Back to Page 1: The Bentley Speed driving experience

The Mulliner Connection 

How far would you go to customise your car as a one-off? The Mulliner name came from a time when car chassis were built separate from the body. While Bentley went about building engines and chassis, Mulliner was the coach builder that put the body on top of the mechanical bits. Today, the Mulliner name is reserved for bespoke trim fitted to a Bentley.

Paul Dickinson, Bentley’s head of commercial in motorsport and Mulliner program, was in Adelaide with us to explain the intricacies of designing a car for people for whom money is no objection.

“We notice that Bentley owners really buy the cars to use them,” he begins. “Unlike some other collector-grade supercars and such that get bought and locked away in garages, even the classic Bentleys get driven and raced, hard.”

Dickinson is referring to the Bentley Speed Six Continuation Classic, a limited-run replica of Bentley’s 1930 Le Mans racing car. Built with concessions to modern safety but still largely driving like how a 1930s racing car would, vintage car racing enthusiasts run these in historic racing events on both sides of the Atlantic.

“We have customers but more than one of them, so they keep one in America and one in Europe, so that there’s no need to freight a single car across the ocean for different events. The drivers really race these cars wheel-to-wheel at vintage events. I remember the first time I attended such a race, and was genuinely surprised at how hard the cars got pushed,” Dickinson reveals.

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He also explains how Bentley’s Mulliner department is all about customising a car’s trim and colour. A member of the team will work with individual customers to build customised, one-off trim specifications that can take up to 18 months from concept to final delivery. These uniquely individual cars are typically ordered by customers from the Middle-Eastern countries, where customers do not mind waiting for bespoke items. The United States, in contrast, has customers that prefer to buy something right there and bring it home right away.

“How we work with this difference in buying styles is to have the Mulliner crew design a special edition , themed version of a Bentley and limit it to very few units. These do very well in the United States, where the dealers can display them as genuine Mulliner editions, and an interested customer can buy it right there rather than design his or her own thing, and wait for months,” says Dickinson.

Just how customised can a Bentley be? Mulliner’s paint department can match just about any colour you bring to it, and it has matched colours to items as diverse as a watch face to the fabric on a well-worn jacket.

Still, Dickinson emphasises that even with the Mulliner bespoke editions, the owners use them as daily drivers rather than garage queens. In the United Kingdom, the average mileage of a Bentley is in the region of 15,000km a year.

For the less extravagant, but still aspirational Bentley customer, there are the “by Mulliner” trim accessories that can be fitted to a car. Similar to brand accessories from the likes of Mercedes-Benz’s AMG Line and BMW’s M Sport line, it is simply an accessory collection with a factory-ready catalogue of parts rather than a custom-made trims.   

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Bentley Continental GT Speed

Drivetrain type	petrol
Engine	5,950cc twin-turbo W12
Power	659hp at 5,000 – 6,000rpm
Torque	900Nm at 1,500 – 5,000rpm
Gearbox	8-speed dual-clutch
Top Speed	335km/h
0-100km/h	3.9 seconds
Fuel consumption	14.0L/100km
VES	C2
Price	S$1,259,000 without COE
Agent	Wearnes Automotive
Available	Now

Bentley Bentayga Speed

Drivetrain type	petrol
Engine	5,950cc twin-turbo W12
Power	635hp at 5,000rpm
Torque	900Nm at 1,750 – 4,500rpm
Gearbox	8-speed dual-clutch
Top Speed	306km/h
0-100km/h	3.9 seconds
Fuel consumption	14.3L/100km
VES	C2
Price	S$1,269,000 without COE
Agent	Wearnes Automotive
Available	Now

Bentley Continental GT V8

Drivetrain type	petrol
Engine	3,996cc twin-turbo V8
Power	550hp at 6,000rpm
Torque	770Nm at 2,000 – 4,500rpm
Gearbox	8-speed dual-clutch
Top Speed	318km/h
0-100km/h	4.0 seconds
Fuel consumption	11.3L/100km
VES	C2
Price	S$1,029,000 without COE
Agent	Wearnes Automotive
Available	Now

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Bentley Bentayga S

Drivetrain type	petrol
Engine	3,996cc twin-turbo V8
Power	550hp at 6,000rpm
Torque	770Nm at 2,000 – 4,500rpm
Gearbox	8-speed dual-clutch
Top Speed	290km/h
0-100km/h	4.5 seconds
Fuel consumption	11.4L/100km
VES	C2
Price	S$1,149,000 without COE
Agent	Wearnes Automotive
Available	Now

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