We visit the iconic Mulliner division, where your wildest dreams easily become reality
A WELL-HEELED GENTLEMAN greets you at the front door of the Bentley motors manufacturing facility in Crewe, England. There are dozens of buildings that comprise the sprawling facility, but this one houses a mini museum which doubles as the start of the factory tour. Your guide walks you through some of the early and iconic vehicles that W.O. Bentley created nearly one century ago. Here, pedigreed steel glistens under spotlights, impressive and imposing 4 ½ liters and the Blowers that rocketed the Bentley Boys to victory at Le Mans.
Around the corner from the race steeds, the likes of the Speed Six and the Continental Type R await, reminding you that “Bentley” and “opulence” have been entwined since the start. Today’s decadent vehicles are created just beyond the impressive exhibit, on the assembly floor. It’s perhaps the opposite of what you’d expect a car factory to be. It’s not loud, you’re not dodging showering welding sparks, and it’s so immaculately clean, the floors would be suitable for serving afternoon tea upon. (Not that Bentley would be so uncouth. Tea and finger sandwiches were fittingly served in a study drenched in fine leathers.) Bustling workers scurry about; the various assembly lines—handling the Mulsanne, the Flying Spur, the Continental and the newer SUV, the Bentayga—are jam-packed. Sales have been strong and there’s no shortage of work waiting.
The lads are busy, but they’re not frenetic. Hand-assembling a luxury vehicle that costs more than a family home mustn’t be a rushed process. Future owners expect the exacting craftsmanship they’ve paid so dearly for. And Bentley does not disappoint when it comes to build quality. By example, a Mulsanne takes 400 hours to build, wholly by hand, with only five such vehicles being completed daily.
ALL BENTLEYS RECEIVE A leather-wrapped steering wheel, fully stitched by hand. Skilled tradesman train for countless hours to be able to adequately turn the stitches, working a needle and thread in each hand. I’m offered a go—on a practice wheel reserved for newbies—and after precise and careful instructions from the department leader, promptly screwed it up on the first pass. “Well, I’d send that back,” the manager smirks.
The best method for marking where the needles are to poke has been in place for decades: pressing a fork into the leather. “It’s easier to get the spacing even,” he says, twirling one. “We showed the Queen when she visited. She laughed.” My skeptical look fades when he produces a photo of Her Majesty, indeed smiling at a similar station to this very one.
Around the corner is the woodshop, housing massive sheets of oak, walnut, maple, chestnut and more in a humidity-controlled room. These veneer leafs come from sustainable trees, each able to be traced back to the root burrow from whence it came. Root burrows or burls are multi-thousand pound dense formations which are like gold to a woodworker. They produce far richer patterns on the veneers. They’re shaved thin, akin to a pencil in a sharpener, then two weeks of prep work begins. First, they’re scanned to be bookmatched, meaning the patterns are symmetrical and mirrored across the interior, they’re laser-cut, then treated to five coats of lacquer and three days of curing, followed by wax polishing by hand. Each panel gets this attention, requiring seven hours to complete. Some 30-plus panels comprise a typical Bentley.
Continuing through the plant, you arrive at hide and seat assembly. Bentley sources hides only from bulls that reside in higher European areas. Why, you wonder? “There are fewer mosquitos and insects at higher elevations, meaning fewer bites, thus fewer imperfections in the leather,” your guide replies. A massive scanner inspects the dyed hides, ensuring they are blemish-free, then they’re laser cut and passed along to the upholsterers who turn the supple raw materials into the plushest, most comfortable (massage-enabled) seats you’ll ever rest upon.
And so it continues, various exotic and beautiful raw materials being transformed into a remarkable finished product befitting the billionaires and heads of state for whom it is destined. The technical and logistical magic happens on the assembly floor, but there’s one building where you can speak your wishes and literally watch your dreams come true. Welcome to Mulliner.
WHEN W.O. BENTLEY ORIGINALLY launched, customers would purchase a chassis and the engine. What coach you affixed was your choice and business, though Bentley would recommend preferred bespoke coach builders who could furnish you a magnificently appointed cabin. One such provider was Mulliner. W.O himself had tapped Mulliner to create the bodywork for his EXP1 and as the years wore on, Mulliner and Bentley’s partnership burgeoned, and Mulliner became an official division of Bentley.
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