The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Unveiled GT Mulliner Convertible
BENTLEY MULLINER, the marque’s bespoke commissioning division, has announced the introduction of the Continental GT Mulliner Convertible. Its makers say the new model has been created to appeal to those customers wanting an ‘even greater focus on beautiful details’. There are certainly lots of them, including precisionmade headlamps and a bold new Double Diamond front grille with Mulliner-branded side vents that continue the unique silver on black diamond theme.
The design has been inspired by Bentley’s exclusive Diamond-in-Diamond interior quilting design concept, which adorns all four seats, the door casings, rear quarters and the tonneau cover.
The Diamond-in-Diamond interior quilting itself has been tailored to include contrast stitching in two complementary colours to accentuate the thread against the quilting.
It takes almost 400,000 stitches to deliver this quilting across the cabin, 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.
Furnishing the muscular profile are all-new 22-inch, 10-spoke wheels with floating, selflevelling badges that remain upright as the wheel rotates.
Customers will receive two leather-bound keys in Mulliner-branded presentation boxes, which match the three-colour interior configuration of the car.
The Convertible will be available with
Bentley’s V8 and W12 powertrains.
When equipped with the 6.0-litre, twinturbocharged W12, the Continental GT Mulliner Convertible accelerates from 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and is capable of a top speed of 207mph.
The new generation 4.0-litre, twinturbocharged V8, meanwhile, delivers a top speed of 198mph and 0-60mph in 4 seconds.
The handcrafted interior offers eight custom-made three-colour combinations, while a contrast diamond-milled finish has been applied to the centre console, which is finished with a silver Breitling timepiece set within a quartet of chrome bullseyes.
The same theme carries from the physical to the digital, with the precision-rendered gauges of the LED-display driver’s instrument panel using the same brushed finished and Mulliner branding.
The new Convertible also features mood lighting comprising of seven different themes, uplifted by illuminated Mulliner tread plates and LED welcome lamps that project the famous Bentley wings to the ground from the door mirrors.
As you’d expect, the car is available with the top-of-the-range Naim for Bentley audio system. The setup features 18 speakers and two Active Bass transducers driven by a 2200-watt, 20-channel amplifier and eight DSP sound modes with Active Bass.
Available in the extended Bentley Mulliner paint range of 61 colours, customers wishing to specify their Convertible in a bespoke shade can commission Bentley’s artisan paint specialists to colour-match to any item or sample.
The first example of the new GT will make its global debut at the Geneva International Motor Show on March 3.