Mayfair Times – September 2019

MAYFAIRTIMES.CO.UK 69

A CEnTURY

F O R bE n T l E Y

To celebrate its centenary, classic car brand Bentley’s new model

nods to nostalgia while embracing new-age sustainability.

We take a spin with the chief designer

Words soPHia cHaRalamBous

Be

Nt

ley ex

P 100 gt

B

efore the First World War, Walter

Owen Bentley and his brother

Horace Millner Bentley sold

French DFP cars in Cricklewood.

But Walter’s dream was to

make his own motor vehicles.

So, in 1913, when he spied an aluminium

paperweight in the factory and thought it

would make a good replacement for cast iron

pistons, he knew he had to test his theory.

After six years, Walter, known as W.O.,

registered Bentley Motors Ltd, designing

noted models including the sports-

racing Bentley 4.5L and Bentley

Speed Six, as well as Bentley R

Type, Bentley Turbo R, and

Bentley Arnage.

Fast-forward 100 years

and the luxury motoring

company now employs 4,000 people while

constantly on the search for pursuing greater

heights in motor engineering.

To celebrate its centenary, the company has

launched its latest innovation, the Bentley

EXP 100 GT.

Made from lightweight aluminium and

carbon fibre, the Bentley EXP 100 GT

measuring 5.8 metres long and almost 2.4

metres wide, is a nostalgic nod to founder

W.O Bentley’s choice of materials to create

the alloy for his game-changing BR1 Aero

engine piston.

This is a car that seeks to push boundaries;

it includes emotionally intelligent AI,

known as the Bentley Personal Assistant,

a zero emissions powertrain with up to

700km range, and is made with sustainable

materials.

Speaking about why the sustainable

element of the design is so important,

director of design Stefan Sielaff says:

“Observing the mega trends in societies

worldwide, sustainability and taking note of

a neutral carbon footprint are both going to

play a big role in future customer behaviour

and demands.

“This will explicitly play a role in luxury

brands, because mega trends always drift

from the top (luxury brands with small

volumes) to the bottom (mainstream brands

with big volumes). Our Centenary Concept

Car, the Bentley EXP 100 GT, is proposing a

lot of answers in this direction.

“Therefore I believe that future automotive

designs will inevitably contain sustainable

elements, now and even much more in the

f ut ure.”

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