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Bentley Bacalar: There are only 12 and it is not worth being a millionaire to have one
Bentley
We tried (in California) the most spectacular bentley in several decades, an exclusive convertible 650 hp
ActualizadoIt is Saturday morning at the end of July in Pebble Beach, the luxurious enclave of California, just a dozen miles from the Monterey Peninsula.Even if it is full summer, even after 10 in the morning there is a breeze (too much) refreshing of the Pacific.
Bentley Bacalar test
Although the seats do not have heating (in the end it is a prototype that serves to validate components such as the chassis, the engine, the integrity of the construction, and so on, but not the system of heating of the seats), one does not feel likeSitting disgust in the Bentley Bacalar, surrounded by Beluga's skin, English pure wool, wood with more than five centuries of history and titanium.
'Barchetta' convertible
All combined with a difficult elegance to overcome, as one would expect from the crafts of the Mulliner assembly technicians, the models customization department, of classic recovery and now creator of very exclusive and limited series of Bentley models.
They already have an owner
In the case of this 'Barchetta' (an expression used to designate a 'roadster' without a ceiling structure and that was taken from the Italian word for a small yacht) there will only be 12, but if you are a billionaire willing to stay with one, you will have to be more alert for the next one, because this dozen already has an owner.
Maximum luxury and exclusivity
There are many details that distil luxury in this open cabin (Bacalar is the name of a lagoon on the Mexican coast of Yucatan, where it almost never rains, so 'no need' cape), from the anodized titanium finish of theMain controls to the dark bronze of ventilation outputs, from leather coatings with insertions made by a kind of tailoring service for seats (each one thoroughly with 148,199 meticulous stitching) to wood of trunks recovered from swampy areas in the English regionof East Anglia and whose unique tone results from being literally deposited for thousands of years in moisture.
Similar to the Bentley Continental GT
However, a warning: with such exclusivity, it would make sense not to have the same splash configuration and central console (with too many physical buttons in the light of technology in 2021) that the Bentley Continental GT (including the sensational splash central rotating block), A care that has been taken in the design of the outside of the Bacalar.
It is explained by Paul Williams, director of the department of Mulliner in Bentley: "The body of the Bacalar is inspired by that of the Exp 100 GT prototype (made to celebrate the centenary of the brand in 2019) and in the classic Blower of the 20s 20.He doesn't share anything with the continental GT, except the doors of the doors ".
And yet, the Bacalar reminds the Continental GT, even abroad, although it can admit that it comes to share the same stylistic genetic code.There are more than 750 specific components created specifically for this 'roadster', such as doors, front flanks and bumper (all in carbon fiber) or aluminum humps behind the headrests.
Pebble Beach
Meanwhile, the air leaves the ventilation grilles at 22 degrees to make the trip more pleasant and allow to enjoy the beautiful landscape of the 17-Mile Drive (a circular road section with this approximate length of 25 km that gives a good impression ofThe Virgen de Pebble Beach coast), which we share with some runners who barely notice the very special car that has just passed them (the truth is that they are accustomed to living with beautiful jewels on wheels, whether they are from many millionaire car collectors that out there that out thereThey live or participants in the most famous car elegance contest in the world, which every year brings together thousands of elite classics and sports).
Grand Tourer convertible
The steering wheel of this Grand Tourer convertible is that we are living a special moment, halfway between reality and fiction.Among the many details that contribute to Williams to affirm that "an unprecedented personalization level in Bentley" is the bags made by Schedoni, a historic Italian manufacturer of custom bags for luxury cars, placed behind the seats ofThis first Barchetta of the modern era of the English manufacturer in the hands of the Volkswagen Group.
Just above, behind the heads of the lucky occupants, we have two prominent humps that refer to the style of classic vehicles, at the same time they promise and a pure sports performance.It is true that artisanal production at the Crewe plant in England is already exhausted, but perhaps the next model of the Mulliner Coachbuild family can try to differentiate more from the 'normal' bentleys (Bacalar is only the first of this lineage and otherswill continue).
Power and benefits
This is because the differences with the continental GT Speed are scarce, as is easy to understand: same chassis (including pneumatic suspension with three air chambers per wheel, active stabilizing bars, 4x4 traction and 12 -cylinder engine in W, Biturbo, 6 liters of 659 hp and 900 Nm, performance managed by the known double clutch automatic transmission of 8 speed clutch.
Being a proof unit (more to tune the final car than for the hands of journalists, since those who had this opportunity can count on the fingers of one hand), all prudence is not too much when driving aJewel Thus, that's why the promised 322 km/h of maximum speed (there are 13 km/h less than the new GT Speed, but it will already be an interesting challenge in a homeless car) they were already far from our radar (not even halfOf that, because the driving was made on public roads and the police of the city of Carmel is famous for not being kind to fines for speeding).
Driving impressions
More than that, the idea was to feel the passage of the car on the asphalt and the steeringEven more dynamic prominence (in addition to aesthetic), combining well with the priority to rear traction granted by the 4x4 system.Little remained to be done in the final touch -ups of the 'Engineering prototype', after the intense work done in the wind tunnel, stability at high speeds and curve behavior.Thus it is not strange that the first units can begin to be manufactured at the beginning of 2022.
The combined variable damping action, pneumatic suspension, electronic dynamic stabilization and electronic limited sliding rear (ELSD) allows, as in the new continental GT Speed, reach a level of agility never seen in a Bentley road car.The electronic stabilization system uses an electric motor within each stabilizing bar that, in the most rigid configuration, can generate up to 1.300 Nm in 0.3 seconds to counteract transverse forces and keep the body stable.
As usual with the directional rear axle systems, at low speeds the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction to the front (resulting on a reduced rotation radius and in a better maneuverability).At medium to high speeds, they revolve in the same direction as the fronts to promote stability.The address is direct and precise enough for a GT (even one with a high testosterone content, as in this case) and the 8 -speed automatic change is soft and fast for a more relaxed or aggressive driving style, respectively.
Design and customization
For each of the magnificent future 12 who will have a bacalar in their garages these last dynamic impressions will probably import less than the visual impact of their seductive outside mantle, its interior sumptuous or the guaranteed level of customization/exclusivity.
But it is always possible to go further in the latter case: one of the future clients commissioned his car without exterior mirrors, which amazed Bentley's managers, who still managed to solve it: how this client's whim was against the rulesOf homologation, the solution will be to deliver the car with an addition.And then it will depend on the demanding client when to assemble and what routes to the illegal bacalar on the private lands of one of its mansions.I hope no more than that...
Mulliner: A five centuries story
Mulliner adds value to the company H.J. Mulliner & Co fundada en el siglo XVI como fabricante de sillas de montar caballos y prosperó en los siglos siguientes con importantes contratos como el que en 1760 le dio la responsabilidad de ser el proveedor oficial del Royal Mail, fabricando y manteniendo los asientos de los caballos de los correos ingleses.
With the arrival of mechanical propulsion vehicles, the company knew how(Only in the 1920s - a century ago, therefore - gave birth to more than two hundred Bentley).
One of his most famous designs was the continental R-Type of 1952, Deportivo 2+2 faster of his time and whose genes still live in the current continental.In 1959 he joined Bentley, making its facilities shortly after the headquarters of the car brand, in Crewe, where their approximately 40 employees still work, in a universe of 4.000 of Bentley.
Currently, Mulliner has three subdepartame: classic (which was responsible for making the millimeter recreation of the 1929 Blower, shown this summer and whose production is also limited to 12 units);Collections (which deals with the special series of the continental ranges, Flying Spur, Bentayga) and Coachbuilt (of which the Bacalar is the first example, with the promise that other models will follow it).
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