Bentley’s Bacalar And Blower, First Examples For First Patrons Hand-Crafted And Finished

Bentley Mulliner has completed the first customer cars in both of its new series of pinnacle, handcrafted, bespoke projects, the Bentley Bacalar and Blower.

Each car is the first of their respective 12 vehicle series, with Bacalar Car One being the first customer delivery of Mulliner’s new coach built Barchetta. 

Meanwhile, the Blower Car One is a recreation of the 1929 supercharged four and a half litres, making it the first customer car of the world’s first pre-war continuation series.

Bentley’s director of Mulliner and Motorsport, Paul Williams remarked, “Years of work have gone into the design and development of these projects, and seeing them together is incredibly rewarding. These cars are unique, absolutely bespoke, yet have been built to the same quality standards as any other Bentley. Mulliner is truly the only place in the world that could deliver a 21st century, coachbuilt grand touring Barchetta at the same time as recreating an iconic road-going 1929 race car.”

Following their engineering prototypes, known in Bentley as the ‘Car Zeroes’, each has completed significant durability mileage, performance and climatic testing in various locations.

Just like every car in the two series that’s strictly limited to 12 examples apiece, the first cars have had every detail specified by their imminent owners, and as such, are bespoke to them.

“I’m excited for our customers to take delivery of their new cars and to see the rest of the orders in both series come to life. Alongside the more mainstream yet still distinctive cars of the Mulliner Collections family, these are the first models of the Mulliner Classic and Coachbuilt portfolios, but there will be more. We’re just getting started,” Williams added.

The first Blower Continuation Series car, the Blower Car One, is a shining example of classic design executed to perfection.

Its body is trimmed in period-correct Rexine and finished in bespoke Birkin Green paint, a recreation of the colour of the original Blower on which it’s based.

I.e., the Team Car No.2, registration UU 5872 built, owned and raced by Sir Tim Birkin. Interestingly, the car is still owned by Bentley Motors and is run weekly.

Similarly, Blower Car One’s Birkin Green body is complemented by identically coloured wire wheels, with colour-matched leather trimming the interior, and the foldable roof is in black.

Mechanically, the car is identical to Birkin’s original, but with two new safety-critical features, the modern electric fuel pumps and the fuel tank’s foam baffle. 

Moreover, a reworked alternative to the original dynamo has also been added. Called a dynator, it offers a more powerful and reliable charging system while retaining the look of the original dynamo.

As for the engine, it harbours Bentley’s brand-new four and a half litre design, featuring aluminium pistons, an overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder and twin spark plugs. 

Attached to the front is the iconic supercharger that gives the Blower its name and is an exact recreation of that created in the 1920s by renowned engineer Amherst Villiers. 

Power has been measured as part of the engine sign-off, with the near-100-year-old design reliably making 240 bhp.

Moving on to the Bacalar Car One, its design stretches the imagination, with the material, colour and finish of practically every interior and exterior surface being bespoke.

Firstly, the carbon fibre body is finished in a bespoke colour, a champagne-tinted satin silver called Atom Silver.

The car sits on 22-inch Bacalar Tri-Finish wheels, with polished faces, dark grey satin spokes and gloss Moss Green accent highlights. 

Likewise, the same highlights are applied to the front grille centre bar, the insides of the headlamps, the upper body chrome surround and around the gloss black ‘power humps’ at the rear. 

Gloss black also provides contrast to the A-pillars, grille meshes and surrounds, bonnet vents, side vents, lower body, rear bumper insert, and brake callipers. 

To complete the overall aesthetics, the car’s rear is finished with gloss black outer exhaust tips with Moss Green inners.

Interior-wise, it features Beluga leather with Moss Green hide to the wings of the console, the outer seat backs and throughout the cabin.

Then, the upholstery is finished with contrasting details of stitching through the unique Bacalar quilting pattern.

Paired to seat centres with fine Nappa leather, and the carpets are beluga diamond-carved over mats with Moss Green binding and stitching.

Notably, the open pore Riverwood over gloss black veneer with satin bronze accents flows across the cockpit into the doors and behind the front seats, creating a circle of 5,000-year-old veneer. 

Other details of the cabin are significant, such as the bronze finishes to the steering wheel, headrest bezels, upper ventilation bullseye vents and accent rings.

Equally, a satin nickel finish to the clock and Bentley Rotating Display dial faces, black anodised interior brightware, bright chrome Bentley wings and glossed black finishing to the speaker grilles. 

Finally, the key for Bacalar Car One will be presented in a bespoke key box, trimmed in Beluga hide with Moss Green stitching to match the car. 

On top of that, the key itself also features gloss Moss Green to the sides, with a unique Bacalar knurled finish.

Overall, while the Mulliner division continued crafting on the following three cars in both series, the Blower Car One and Bacalar Car One began their journeys with their respective owners.