Yes, the Bentley Continental GT Convertible has been out for a while now and it’s been great. However, there are some who looked upon this Bentley and thought to themselves, “this convertible Bentley could do with a touch more opulence”. And so, the Continental you see here has one important word added to its name – Mulliner.
For those not in the know, Mulliner, was a renowned English coachbuilder who over the decades have crafted some of the finest interiors and exteriors ever. Mulliner is now an in-house commissioning department for Bentley and they do everything from monogrammed upholstery to one-of-a kind bespoke interiors.
The devil is in the details and Bentley surely agrees when it comes to this drop-top Mulliner. Starting with the interior. All four seats, door casings, rear quarters and tonneau cover will sport the Diamond-in-Diamond design quilting. It takes almost 400,000 stitches to deliver this quilting across the cabin of the car, with each diamond containing exactly 712 individual stitches – each one precisely aligned to point to the centre of the diamond it creates. Developing the embroidery process to deliver this process alone took 18 months.
Apart from the intricate stitching, customers can choose from 8 custom-made 3-colour combinations for the interior; the hand-stitched hides are embellished with Mulliner embroidery too. The centre console has a contrast diamond-milled finish applied to it and is finished off with a brushed-silver Breitling timepiece set within a quartet of a chrome bullseye. The same theme is applied from the physical to the digital with the LED instrument cluster sporting the same brushed finish.
The interior receives ambient interior lighting comprising of seven different themes, as well as illuminated side sill plates and LED puddle lamps which projects the Bentley wings onto the ground from the wing mirrors. When it comes to the audio system, the new Continental GT Mulliner is available with a Naim system which features 18-speakers and two Active Bass transducers driven by a 2,200-watt, 20-channel amplifier and eight DSP sound modes. Audiophile’s rejoice!
The exterior on the other hand looks fairly untouched. However, upon closer inspection you will discover changes such as the precision cut-crystal inspired headlamps, the new Double Diamond front grille and the Mulliner side vents which continues the unique silver on black diamond theme. The Mulliner Convertible sits on a set of all-new 22-inch 10-spoke wheels, which are painted and polished with floating, self-levelling wheel badges – just like its rival Rolls Royce.
Powering this drop-top luxo-barge is a choice of two powertrains, the more ‘traditional’ W12 or the rorty V8. Equipping this Mulliner with a twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre W12 means it can rocket to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds and onto a top speed of 333 km/h. The latter’s blown eight-cylinder engine performs the same sprint in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 318 km/h.
Of course, being a Mulliner Bentley, customisation options are virtually limitless. The same goes with painting the exterior. While there are 61 colours to choose from, customers can commission their own bespoke shade.
The craftsman from Crewe will be displaying the first example of the Continental GT Mulliner Convertible at the Geneva International Motor Show on March 3rd. For more information on Bentley and for the best deal on your next brand new car, please visit our Showroom.
