(July 10, 2021) CREWE, England — Bentley Mulliner is celebrating its 100th bespoke commission since its own design team was formed in 2014, when the increasing demand for bespoke and personalized vehicles was recognized. The 100th bespoke project is for a European customer who wanted two specific interior features to extend the personalization of their Bentley. The first request was the application of Olive Ash — a veneer associated with the heritage of Mulsanne — to the interior of a Bentayga. The second was to introduce a contrast twin stitch to the upper areas of the seats and door trims adding further contrast to the interior.

Seven years earlier, the first project was a small limited edition of 15 vehicles which focused on increased levels of passenger comfort - the Flying Spur Serenity. The seats and headrests were re-engineered and as part of the broader redesign a new and unique diamond quilting throughout the cabin was introduced to create a truly bespoke feel. This unique textured leather formed the inspiration of the diamond design that can be seen in the current Continental GT Mulliner today.

In celebrating this project milestone, the Mulliner Design team has shared some of their favorite examples from the last seven years. Their work spans the entire Bentley model range over that time – from jet-fighter inspired Continentals, to Mulsannes that celebrated its 6¾-liter V8 engine, and even a Bentayga that had different interior trim specifications between the driver and passenger sides.

The 1000 bespoke projects since 2014 range from personalized, bespoke treadplates all the way to completely unique and Coach-built projects like the Bentley Mulliner Bacalar, and include regional and global commissions, limited series and even race cars designs.

The specialist team, itself part of the Bentley Design department, consists of designers and digital artists to create the perfect blend of impeccable design with the ability to produce photo-realistic renders of customers’ designs before orders are placed. This single team, responsible for every Mulliner-designed product over the last seven years, has allowed for a deeper integration of core Bentley design DNA into Mulliner products while also expanding the scope of possibility to the customer.  The Mulliner customer of today is now only limited by two constraints – their imagination and the law.

The Mulliner Design offering is a core part of Bentley’s Mulliner portfolio strategy, with the team working across all three parts of Bentley’s bespoke and personalization division. The team led the 12 customers of the Bentley Mulliner Bacalar through their design choices over Zoom during the pandemic, helped guide the 12 clients of the Blower Continuation Series in their specifications, created the Mulliner versions of the Continental GT coupe and convertible, and also define and issue the Mulliner Personal Commissioning Guide that affords every Bentley customer the option to add any level of bespoke detailing to their car. Their involvement in all areas of the Mulliner department – from Classic, to Coach-built, to Collections – has made the team the cutting design edge of what Mulliner can deliver.

The low-volume nature of Mulliner’s work also brings additional freedoms to the design team, which works closely with the rest of Bentley Design to develop new ideas and concepts that would not be feasible for series production Bentleys. A key example of this work is the range of Mulliner stone veneers, which can only be sourced in small quantities due to the exceptionally intricate and difficult manufacturing processes involved in shaping and finishing a sheet of stone less than a millimeter thick.

Paul Williams, director of Mulliner and Motorsport, said:  “Since 2014, our Mulliner Design team has averaged three customer commissions a week, showing just how popular bespoke Bentleys are becoming. The team, led by Design Manager Phill Dean, has worked on everything from Continental GT3 liveries all the way up to the specifications and details of the 12 cars of the Blower Continuation Series. The only thing all of those designs have in common is that they are for individual customers — apart from that, each one is as unique as the rest.

"The scope of what’s achievable with a standard production Bentley has now been brought to life by the team through the use of the dedicated Mulliner visualizer, which allows our customers to choose the color and trim specifications of their cars with real-time photorealistic visualization of the result. The co-creation process with Mulliner designers is now available to everyone.”