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Understanding the Bentley Mulliner Story

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A simple breakdown of the 3 new divisions that Bentley Mulliner will drive into the future with, and just how Mulliner and Bentley became intertwined.

Understanding the Bentley Mulliner story

Mulliner was founded as a saddler in 1559 passing down craftsmanship from generation to generation. In the 1760s, the Mulliner family business refocused on coachbuilding for horse-drawn carriages. With the arrival of the motor car, the company stepped away from horse-drawn carriages and focused on mechanical powered coachbuilding.

In the early days of the motor car, there were no showrooms; no gleaming car exteriors from which the buyer could choose. The very first drivers bought a vehicle comprising only an engine, a drivetrain, four wheels and a set of controls. For the rest, they needed a coachbuilder.

1912 Munlliner advertisement for limousines
A 1912 Munlliner coachbuilding advertisement for a limousine coach design.

In 1923 Mulliner was still an independent coachbuilder and were commissioned to craft a bespoke, two-seater Bentley for the 1923 Olympia Show in London. This created a bond between the two companies sparking a Bentley Mulliner Story that would last for decades. Mulliner bodied over 240 Bentley chassis in the 1920s alone and became renowned as the very best of the new coachbuilding firms.

1952 Bentley R Type Continental
1952 Bentley R Type Continental

In the 1950’s Mulliner designed for the 1952 Bentley R-Type Continental, the origins of which continue to influence design today through the Bentley Continental GT. It wasn’t until 1959 that Mulliner cemented its partnership with Bentley by becoming part of the Bentley business when Rolls-Royce, who owned Bentley at the time, purchased Mulliner as well.

Mulliner later moved into the old engineering experimental department at the Bentley headquarters in Crewe, UK and has remained there ever since and has been responsible for notable cars such as the 2002 Bentley Limousine owned by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Queen Elizabeth II 2002 State Bentley Mulliner limousine
2002 Bentley State Limousine of Queen Elizabeth II involved work by Bentley’s Mulliner division

Today: Bentley Mulliner’s new 3 portfolio divisions

Up until now the Mulliner division of Bentley represented around 40 of Bentley’s estimated 4000 employees. They create some of the most innovatively conceived and painstakingly handcrafted features found on today’s Bentley’s and is responsible for delivering customer personalisation and bespoke commissioning. Today Bentley has announced the separation of the Mulliner portfolio into 3 distinct arms: Bentley Mulliner Collections, Bentley Mulliner Classic and Bentley Mulliner Coachbuilt.

The three new Bentley Mulliner portfolio divisions
The three new Bentley Mulliner portfolio divisions. Credit: Bentley

Bentley Mulliner Collections

Mulliner limited edition 2019 Bentley Continental GT Number 9 Edition
Mulliner limited edition 2019 Bentley Continental GT Number 9 Edition. Credit: Bentley

This arm remains closest to what Mulliner has recently represented at Bentley. The Bentley Mulliner Collections team will continue to offer a bespoking service to every Bentley customer which involves offering unique paints, hides, timbers and thread combinations and other bespoke feature content. This arm will also continue to produce luxury-focused derivatives of the core Bentley range such as the Continental GT Mulliner Convertible, Mulliner limited edition 2019 Bentley Continental GT Number 9 Edition (100 examples) and the Bentley Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner (100 examples)

Benley Mulliner Classic

Bentley Mulliner Classic 1929 Team Blower
Bentley Mulliner Classic 1929 Team Blower pre-war race car continuation. Credit: Bentley
Bentley Mulliner Classic 1929 Team Blower interior
Only 12 will be made, one for every race the original Team Blowers entered. Credit: Bentley

The Bentley Mulliner Classic arm was introduced in 2019 with the announcement that Bentley’s 1929 Team Blower was to be reborn with a new build of 12 supercharged 4½-litre examples of the iconic car. The original Sir Tim Birkin Bentley Blower, chassis number HB 3403, was stripped down to every nut and bolt and digitally scanned to create the 12 new identical replicas which have all now been sold. These models, each individually handcrafted by a team of specialists from Bentley Mulliner, will form the world’s first pre-war race car continuation series. This subdivision of Mulliner also completed an immaculate restoration of the 1939 Bentley Corniche in 2019.

Bentley Mulliner Coachbuilding

Bentley Mulliner Bacalar the first of the Bentley coachbuilding division
Bentley Mulliner Bacalar -The first of the Bentley Mulliner Coachbuilding division. Credit: Bentley

The new Bentley Mulliner Bacalar will be the first model produced under the coachbuilding arm with other new bespoke Bentleys to follow in time as part of the Bentley Mulliner Coachbuilt portfolio.

Tracy Crump, Bentley Mulliner’s Head of Commercial Operations, commented on the new divisions and the new Bacalar, “While Bentley’s motto is ‘Be Extraordinary’, at Bentley Mulliner we look to take it one step further, ‘Beyond Extraordinary’. With the new Bacalar we have been able to do exactly that, providing a select number of customers with the opportunity to express their personal taste in a truly remarkable grand tourer. Meanwhile, Bentley Mulliner Classic will breathe new life into the most iconic cars from our past, while our Collections team continue their work to offer a bespoking service to each and every Bentley customer.”

Bentley Mulliner’s return to bespoke coachbuilding affords them the title of the oldest coachbuilding company in the world.

Luxury Cars

Lamborghini Reveals Countach LPI 800-4 Revival

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Lamborghini is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Countach with a special edition LPI 800-4 model debuting at this year’s Monterey Car Week.
Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 Aerial
The new Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4. Credit: Lamborghini

In celebration of the Countach’s 50th anniversary, Lamborghini has unveiled a special limited edition Countach LPI 800-4 as a futuristic tribute to the poster car of the 1980s.

While sharing the same name and drawing on the visual legacy of its predecessor, the new Countach LPI 800-4 is powered by Lamborghini’s aspirated V12 engine combined with new hybrid supercapacitor technology initially developed for the Sian.

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 Side 1
Powered by Lamborghini’s V12 engine with hybrid supercapacitor. Credit: Lamborghini

Delivering 802hp maximum combined power (rounded to 800 for the sake of its model name), the LPI 800-4 can reach 0-62mph acceleration in just 2.8 seconds and hit a top speed of 220mph.

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 Front Side
The Lamborghini Countach has a top speed of 220mph. Credit: Lamborghini

“The Countach LPI 800-4 is a visionary car of the moment, just as its forerunner was,” says Automobili Lamborghini President and CEO Stephan Winkelmann. “One of the most important automotive icons, the Countach not only embodies the design and engineering tenet of Lamborghini but represents our philosophy of reinventing boundaries, achieving the unexpected and extraordinary and, most importantly, being the ‘stuff of dreams.

“The Countach LPI 800-4 pays homage to this Lamborghini legacy, but it is not retrospective: it imagines how the iconic Countach of the 70s and 80s might have evolved into an elite super sports model of this decade. It upholds the Lamborghini tradition of looking forward, of exploring new design and technology avenues while celebrating the DNA of our brand. It is a Lamborghini that innately expresses the marque’s enduring and emotive power: always inspirational and thrilling to see, hear and most of all drive.”

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 Front
Inspired by the Quattrovalvole edition with low rectangular headlights. Credit: Lamborghini

Inspired by the Countach’s distinctive silhouette, sharp angles, and wedge shape, the Countach LPI 800-4’s exterior inspiration was taken specifically from the Quattrovalvole edition in the bold lines of the front bonnet with long, low rectangular grille and headlights, as well as in the wheel arches with their hexagonal theme.

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 Rear Side
Futuristic hexagonal rear lights like those of the Sián. Credit: Lamborghini

Unfortunately for fans of the Wolf of Wall Street Countach, there’s no fixed rear wing on the latest model. However, there are still air scoops integrated fluidly into the car’s shoulders and the distinctive Countach slatted “gills” and famous scissor doors.

The rear of the Countach LPI 800-4 still features a distinctive inverted wedge shape, with the rear bumper featuring a lower, sleeker line and the hexagonal rear light design similar to that of the Sián.

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 Side
The famous scissor doors still remain. Credit: Lamborghini

Lamborghini has revealed only 112 models of the new Countach LPI 800-4 will be produced (a number chosen in honor of the internal project name “LP 112” used for the original Countach development) with allocations already fulfilled prior to the public launch.

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 Front Side
Only 112 Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4’s will be produced. Credit: Lamborghini

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Porsche & Manthey Racing Collab on Limited Edition 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25

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Porsche Motorsport celebrates 25 years partnership with Manthey-Racing and reveals the limited edition 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25.
The new Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25. Credit: Porsche
The new Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25. Credit: Porsche

Porsche Motorsport is celebrating 25 years of collaboration with Manthey-Racing GmbH and has unveiled the limited edition 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 to commemorate.

Founded by racing driver Olaf Manthey in 1996, Manthey-Racing GmbH is responsible for running the Porsche 911 RSR of the factory squad in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and has made a name for itself in both the motor racing world and as a GT road car specialist.

Celebrating 25 years partnership with Manthey Racing. Credit: Porsche
Celebrating 25 years partnership with Manthey Racing. Credit: Porsche

The basic concept and technical ideas for the new special edition was provided by Manthey and based on the 911 GT2 RS Clubsport with Porsche providing the final design. 

Developed specifically for track days and circuit racing, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 is powered by a 3.8-liter flat-six twin-turbo engine and produces 515 HP directed to the rear wheels through Porsche’s seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox (PDK). 

Green and yellow design accents inspired by "Grello". Credit: Porsche
Green and yellow design accents inspired by “Grello”. Credit: Porsche

Taking inspiration from Manthey’s 911 GT3 R, known as the “Grello” because of its distinctive green and yellow livery, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 sports a similar green and yellow color scheme to highlight functional areas of the vehicle and adopts many vehicle components and elements from future Porsche racing cars. 

Limited to 30 vehicles worldwide. Credit: Porsche
Limited to 30 vehicles worldwide. Credit: Porsche

“The design of the 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 expresses the long-standing collaboration between Porsche Motorsport and Manthey,” emphasizes Grant Larson from Style Porsche. “It amalgamates the respective strengths of each partner into one racing car, and at the same time bridges the gap between the 991 and 992 model generations of the 911.”

The Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 is limited to 30 vehicles in total (only six are allocated for North America) with deliveries expected to begin in early 2022.

To order, customers will need to email 911GT2RSClubsport25@porsche.de directly and have a spare $620,00 on hand. 

2021 Porsche 991 GT2 RS Aerial

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Pagani to Reveal Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta at Monterey Car Week 2021

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The new Pagani Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta is set to make its debut at this year’s Monterey Car Week and celebrates ten years of the Huayra supercar.
Pagani Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta Front Side View
The new Pagani BC Huayra Pacchetto Tempesta. Credit: Pagani Automobili

This year at Monterey Car Week, Pagani celebrates ten years of the Huayra with the world premiere of the new Pagani Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta.

Based on the Huayra BC, the new Pacchetto Tempesta package means the Huayra BC’s high-performance platform can be equipped with a range of “state-of-the-art technical and artisan solutions” to maximize the car’s racing abilities and achieve an 8% power increase to deliver 827 hp and 1,100 Nm torque.

Pagani has only teased several introductory images of the green carbon fiber bodied beauty ahead of the premiere, and although full details are yet to be shared, Pagani has noted that the Pacchetto Tempesta features a new front splitter, dedicated air intake, rear wing with an integrated central fin, and six-pipe exhaust system to maximize aerodynamic efficiency.

Pagani Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta Rear Aerial
New rear wing design with an integrated central fin. Credit: Pagani Automobili

A tweaked suspension system and the addition of an all-new “Soft Driving mode” also ensure drivers are afforded maximum comfort in the aggressive Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta.

The Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta will make its debut at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering event on Friday 13th August at Monterey Car Week 2021 and will be seen alongside the Huayra R project and an up-close-and-personal look at the all-new Pagani V12-R engine, six-speed sequential gearbox.

While no prices have been revealed yet, the Pagani Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta will no double start above the $2.25 million price tag of the Huayra BC.

Pagani Huayra BC Pacchetto Tempesta Rear
New six-exhaust design (four central and two below). Credit: Pagani Automobili

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