More than a year after the Bacalar was revealed for the cancelled 2020 Geneva Motor Show, Bentley has announced that it has completed the first customer unit of its new coachbuilt roadster. The car was revealed alongside a recreation of Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin’s 1929 supercharged 4½ Litre “Blower”, the first production unit of which has also just been finished.
Both of these Bentleys followed their prototype counterparts, which underwent significant durability mileage, performance and climatic testing to be signed off by engineering. Just 12 units of each series will ever be made, with the next three currently being built.
The customer Bacalar is rather more subdued compared to the bright yellow show car, finished in the champagne-coloured Atom Silver satin paint and featuring satin dark grey on the three-tone 22-inch alloy wheels. Adding a bit of vibrancy back into the mix are the Moss Green highlights, including the centre grille bar, headlight internals, beltline strip, rear buttresses, wheels and the insides of the gloss black exhaust tips.
The theme continues inside, with Moss Green leather on the “wings” of the dashboard, outer seat backs and the contrast stitching for the quilted Beluga black leather upholstery, Nappa leather seat centres and diamond-carved carpets.
As with the show car, the customer Bacalar features 5,000-year-old open-pore Riverwood trim, accented with gloss black veneer, bronze and satin nickel metal and anodised black brightwork. You’ll also find bespoke luggage behind the seats, finished in the same Beluga and Moss Green colour scheme as the interior. Even the key has Moss Green trim, presented to the owner in a matching box.
Named after the Laguna Bacalar lake in Mexico, the Bacalar marks a return to coachbuilding for Bentley Mulliner. The roofless two-seater barchetta is based on the Continental GT Speed and features that car’s 6.0 litre twin-turbocharged W12 that makes 659 PS and 900 Nm of torque – sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. A 48-volt active roll stabilisation system is also fitted.
As for the Blower, it comes in the same specification as the car it is based – Team Car No. 2 with the registration number UU 5872. This includes the recreated Birkin Green paint on the body and wire wheels, period-correct Rexine faux leather exterior trim, colour-matched leather upholstery and a black folding roof.
The recreation was made by disassembling the original – still owned by Bentley and run weekly – into its individual components that were then 3D-scanned. The parts were then recreated using the original 1920s moulds and jigs, traditional hand tools and the latest manufacturing technology.
Mechanically, the Blower is identical to the original, save for two safety features – a modern electric fuel pump and a foam fuel tank baffle. The dynamo has also been replaced by a dynator, retaining the same look while providing a more powerful and reliable charging system.
The WO Bentley-designed 4.4 litre four-cylinder engine features the same aluminium pistons, overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder and twin spark plugs. The Roots supercharger made by engineer Amherst Villiers is fitted to the front of the car and enables the near 100-year-old design to make a reliable 240 hp.
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