New Bentley Bacalar: First Look
Vehicle will cost $1.7 million, only 12 will be built, and every Balacar will be bespoke in just about every way you can imagine.
Coach-building, ever heard of it? Back in the day before we had anything near a production automobile, you would have your coach chassis and engine, but no body. You wanted a body? You needed to go to coach-builder. In this way, all coaches were completely individual. Every detail of the design was built to your specific needs and wants. Bentley, a company with origin in coach-building decided it was time to get back to their roots. After teaming up with their compatriots at H. J. Mulliner & Co, another well-known coachbuilder, the dream was set. The result? Well, they called it the Bacalar. Why? Carfection host Henry Catchpole is here to answer those questions.
So as we described, this Bacalar beckons only one thing: “a return to coach-building.” What is the chassis this “coach” is based on? Well, it’s not surprising this is essentially a Continental GT underneath. The 6.0L W12 powering the Bacalar still makes 650 HP and has a faster 3.6 second 0-to-60 time. How so? Well, even though this body is only 10mm wider up front and 20mm wider in the rear than a standard Continental, it has something no other Continental chassis does. This is the bespoke carbon-fiber body.
In regards to this body, the styling is insanely detailed in ways one could only really appreciate in person. However, we will do our best to describe the complexity seen in the Bacalar. Here’s a direct quote from one of the Bentley designers about how a Bentley should look: “A car that looks like it could have an argument with the wall and the wall would always lose.” Thus, you can understand the ideology behind this car.
The “Flaming Yellow” paint made of rice husk ash, which is then turned into a silica and then integrated into the paint. This gives this yellow a hue unlike anything ever seen before in any automotive application. Not only this, but the uniqueness of the blend also allows for the curves and angles of this car to really shine. Those features are all unique and designed specifically for this vehicle. “They wanted on this car stuff that couldn’t be done on a production line… the only things that are carried over from the Continental GT are the door handles to retain the keyless entry.”
All Bacalar customers are able to choose any tri-color configuration they please with the 22-inch wheels. These wheels flow into the muscular hips the Bacalar is built on. All of these visual features tie into its key ingredient: no roof. You might think, that’s absurd. It rains more in England than there is sunlight. However, there is a reason for this.
Let’s not forget that this vehicle is being limited to only 12 production models. Bentley involved all potential customers from an early point in the production process and they unanimously decided the car should have no roof. So in blunt terms, if you’re buying this, you’re building it too. The details don’t stop there, however.
After seeing and understand the exterior, you would be hard-pressed to believe that they could make the interior as outstanding. However, Catchpole agrees that the interior is “just as special…everything is bespoke” The wood paneling is made out of river wood, which is “63 times more expensive than the next most expensive wood used in a Bentley. This wood is 5,500 years old.” Each of the seats features 148,119 stitches (the actual amount) and each of the 12 cars will feature their own unique stitching pattern and design.
So yes, this Bacalar has somethings to prove but impresses even more. You still might be wondering about this Bentley’s name, however. Well, the Bacalar is named after a world-famous lagoon in southeastern Mexico that features an incredibly vibrant aqua blue coloration in the water. You can see this aqua color featured on the signature watch face focused in the center of the interior.
The price? Around $1.7 million, starting price. Don’t forget, each of these will be hand-tailored to the customer’s needs. Thus, “each one is going to be very different. This is just an idea. Black, grey, green, whatever you want. You could have different woods, different color wheels. The world, as they say, is your oyster.” That’s one hell of a coach if you ask us!