Tenth Anniversary of Concours of Elegance to Feature World Premiere of Bentley Mulliner Batur in the United Kingdom

(Crewe, 1 September 2022) 

On September 2nd, the Bentley Mulliner Batur will make its first public appearance in the United Kingdom at the 10th anniversary Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace. The commencement of a design revolution for Bentley can be traced back just 11 days to the debut of Mulliner's newest coachbuilt project at Bentley's Signature Party at Monterey Car Week in California.

With a 740+ PS version of the legendary, hand-assembled 6.0 Litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine that has physically and figuratively propelled Bentley's success over the previous two decades, the Batur will be the most powerful Bentley to date. As the Batur is the first step in Bentley's Beyond100 transformation path to becoming totally electric, it is a fitting tribute to the W12's exceptional power, torque, and refinement as the engine nears the end of its life.

Next to the Continental GT Mulliner Convertible, Bentley Mulliner will also display the Blower Car Zero, the prototype for the 1929 412 Litre supercharged 'Blower' Continuation Series. Bentley Mulliner, the company's in-house custom and personal commissioning business, currently offers three separate portfolios, each of which may be applied to any vehicle in the Bentley lineup or beyond.

Winners of the coveted Best in Show title from prior years have been invited back to this year's Concours of Elegance to help commemorate the event's tenth anniversary. A prime example is the Best in Show–winning 1930 Bentley Speed Six ‘Blue Train' from that year. With a raked coupé body by designer and builder Gurney Nutting and a 6.2 litre Le Mans-specification engine, it could reach speeds of around 120 miles per hour.

While racing the famed Blue Train north across France on a bet, then-Bentley Chairman Woolf Barnato gave the vehicle its now-iconic moniker. Even without autoroutes, Barnato was able to beat the train and be in London before it stopped in Calais. Barnato drove an impressively fast average speed of 69 mph across a distance of about 700 kilometres on the rocky, dry terrain. Although it wasn't the vehicle in which he finished the race, he soon after received receipt of a Gurney Nutting coupé that became synonymous with his achievements and became known as the "Blue Train Bentley."

On the last day of the event, a 412 Litre Vanden Plas Open Tourer, originally owned by a founder member of the Bentley Driver's Club, will be among the over 50 Bentleys assessed as part of a special event for the Bentley Trophy.

A brand-new design language for Bentley

Director of Design at Bentley Andreas Mindt worked with Head of Exterior Design Tobias Suehlmann and Head of Interior Design Andrew Hart-Barron to create the Batur's design. As part of Bentley's Beyond100 transformative path to become the world's top sustainable luxury mobility brand, the new form language represents a new chapter for Bentley design.

Design rationale according to Andreas Mindt:

The opportunity to create new standards is the most exciting task for any design team. We have rethought the Bentley aesthetic, maintaining some familiar aspects while introducing many new ones.

"A contemporary Bentley's styling must constantly be dynamic, awe-inspiring, and aesthetically pleasing. The shape must be powerful and muscular while yet being graceful; it must have both a smooth, flowing outline and a muscular, robust body. We call this the "resting beast posture," which is meant to evoke images of a lion or tiger lying low in attack position in tall grass. Our modern take on the iconic Bentley power line and haunch is inspired by this strong silhouette, which conveys a sense of ultimate strength even when the vehicle is at rest.

"A long bonnet has always been a symbol of authority and status. Our updated design cues include a line that extends from the vehicle's "bonnet" all the way to its "tail," joining the bonnet to the body and giving the car a long, low profile and an expanded front end. The "endless bonnet" design detail is the sole decorative element on an otherwise simple body. At the same time, the car's perceived centre of gravity is brought further back, making it seem as if the vehicle is sitting on its rear axle and therefore emphasising the depth of its haunches.

To achieve a more assertive and contemporary appearance, we lowered and elongated the iconic Bentley grille at the front of the vehicle. This regal bearing exudes an air of superiority and pride. A new form and style for the headlights surround the grille, updating the look from Bacalar but keeping the single huge lamp on each side. These are paired with brand new taillights at the back, which can be folded out of the way to make room for a spoiler.

In order to reflect light and dark and add muscle to the design, "the overall shape is cleaner and simpler, and we depend more on curved surfaces bisected in the proper locations."

The "Blue Train" A Bentley with a 6 Liter V12 Engine

The "Blue Train" Bentley Speed Six was created when Bentley Boy and Chairman Woolf Barnato raced and beat the renowned "Le Train Blue" northwards from the Côte d'Azur to Calais. Few vehicles better encapsulate the luxury, speed, and power of the pre-war Bentley period. Barnato's average speed from 1930 was so impressive that it took a rerun by Car Magazine in a Continental GT3-R in 2015 to surpass it.

Years went by with the common belief that the Bentley that bested the Blue Train was a Gurney Nutting-built Speed Six coupé. The Bentley chairman did in fact possess the vehicle, and it was the Gurney Nutting coupé that was shown in the iconic picture of the battle by modern artist Terence Cuneo.

Bentley's design team noted this distinctive form as an influence for the contemporary Continental GT, which has a similar low roofline and 2+1 cockpit with a single'side-saddle' rear seat.

However, the current owner of the Gurney Nutting Speed Six, Bruce McCaw, has lately discovered information that suggests the car was not completed until after the date of the trip. Barnato, the owner of a fleet of Bentleys, is now thought to have driven the Blue Train in a Mulliner-bodied, four-door Speed Six saloon, rather than a Gurney Nutting coupé.

Seattle-based collector McCaw tracked out the chassis and engine of Barnato's Mulliner-bodied Speed Six, as well as the bodywork on a separate Bentley chassis, putting an end to the issue. At the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August of 2003, he displayed both his Gurney Nutting Speed Six and the refurbished Mulliner Speed Six.

Despite the fact that conclusive evidence may never be found, Bruce McCaw now believes that the Mulliner-bodied saloon was the one that raced the Blue Train. However, the Gurney Nutting Coupé is still one of the most recognisable Bentley designs because to its nickname, the "Blue Train Coupé."

The Vanden Plas Open Tourer, a 1929 Bentley 4.2 Liter Model

By the late 1920s, the 3 Litre model had become uncompetitive, while the 612 Litre model was seen as excessively sophisticated by most Bentley consumers. The sophisticated, powerful, and long-distance sports vehicle known as the 412 Litre was created by combining the chassis, gearbox, and brakes of the 3 Litre with an engine that was nearly two-thirds the size of the 6.5.

Between 1927 and 1931, 720 were produced, and in 1928, Woolf Barnato and Bernard Rubin driving a Bentley 412 Litre won the 24 Heures du Mans by completing a lap ahead of their closest competitors driving a Stutz Model BB Blackhawk. The automobile would go on to inspire the Blower Bentley, a supercharged variant of which had 55 production runs at the time. DS3575, an automobile owned by W.O. Bentley's friend and founder member of the Bentley Drivers Club in the 1930s, Johnnie Green, is now on exhibit at Hampton Court.