- Six themed examples show the range of customization possible for the upcoming open-topped Bentley Bacalar.
- Three of the editions are named after U.S. locations, although U.S. buyers are limited to "show and display" rules.
- Production of the Bacalar is limited to just 12 cars, all already sold, according to Bentley.
Bentley officially unveiled the Bacalar last month, a roadster based on the Continental GT convertible but with bespoke bodywork and a nearly limitless level of color and trim customization from the company's Mulliner division. Now the company has released more images of different versions, presumably to give some inspiration to those who have put their names down for the W-12–powered special.
The company is keen to emphasize that buyers remain free to choose pretty much anything they want for their own cars—a freedom expected by those paying the seven-figure price– but the six distinct versions have been created by Bentley’s Mulliner design team to highlight "the essence of what makes the Bacalar a genuine coachbuilt car."
The six themes have all been given names reflecting some of the locations the company clearly thinks that putative Bacalar buyers are most likely to be associated with. Interestingly, three of these carry names inspired by the U.S., despite the fact we’ve been told the Bacalar won’t be federally type approved for sale in the U.S., so any owners will need to bring them in under restrictive "show and display" regulations.
The Brickell is named after Miami's financial district and features what is described as Atom Silver paint—although it looks more gold in the rendered images—with a black interior and snazzy orange pinstriping. The Fulton (pictured above) is named after Chicago's Fulton River district and gets what the company describes as an "understated" theme—which is hard to achieve in a Bentley speedster—with Lacquer Red paint and a darker cabin.
The Menlo is pitched as a more modern theme, combining lighter blue paintwork with yellow detailing of the sort that we've previously seen Aston Martin use on some of its showier offerings. The name comes from Menlo Park in Palo Alto, where "many of the world's greatest entrepreneurs gather at leading technology companies."
Of the other themes, two are named after areas of London. The Clerkenwell (shown at top) wears a shade of green we find it hard to describe without referencing slime, paired with a very wood-heavy cabin featuring some mossy tweed detailing (it actually looks far better than that description might lead you to expect). The Greenwich is less exciting. Despite the promise of its name, it's actually gray, with the interior trim inspired by that most English of objects, a cricket ball. Finally, there is The Randwick, the design of the car that was built for the Geneva auto show (but unveiled online instead), named after a suburb of Sydney, Australia.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the value of the British pound to fall against the dollar. That means, that, since the Bacalar is priced at £1.5 million, any American buyer will actually pay slightly less. When we wrote our original story it was $1.9 million, and at current exchange rates, it has fallen to $1,840,000.
As all 12 examples of the Bacalar have already been sold. Bentley has gone to a significant amount of work to create these six separate interpretations, with no certainty that any of the buyers will like any of them enough to order a matching car. But we're certainly grateful for some eye-catching distraction during these difficult times.