Bentley Bacalar goes 200 mph in final testing
Bentley’s ultra-exclusive Mulliner Bacalar is undergoing a 20-week test program to ensure that the $1.9 million machine is ready for 12 connoisseurs to take delivery in 2021.
The barchetta-style Bentley has been sent all over Europe to validate its ride comfort, refinement, handling and performance. It has spent hours in the wind tunnel having its aerodynamics fettled, and in a climate chamber that has baked the Bacalar to more than 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Bacalar is much more than just a re-styled Continental GT. It doesn’t share a single body panel with any other Bentley, and in excess of 750 new components have been crafted for it. Only the door handles are borrowed from the GT.
The Bacalar embraces carbon fiber to reduce weight, using the material for the rear clamshell, wings, and top deck, while the doors are aluminum. Each owner will be be able to personalize his or her Bacalar with an almost limitless number of paint hues and luxurious interior trim.
Powering the Bacalar is an “enhanced” six-liter W-12 engine sending 659 horsepower and 667 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels. Despite the wind-cheating challenges of the open-topped design the Bacalar has already topped 200 mph in testing.
Bentley’s Director of Mulliner Paul Williams says, “The Bacalar is a thoroughly modern iteration of the coachbuilt Bentleys of the past—extremely rare, entirely hand-crafted, totally bespoke to each customer and exquisite in its details. The whole team behind the car is thrilled to see the prototype shrugging off every test we throw at it, and we’re really looking forward to starting the build of the 12 customer cars.”
