- The Bentley Bacalar is a pure speedster, with no roof or weather protection beyond glazing.
- It will be produced in a limited edition of 12, all of which are already sold.
- Price? The equivalent of $1.9 million.
The strategic brains that guide the very top of the auto industry seem to have been thinking some very similar thoughts, because here's Bentley, following the trend set by other luxury makers in announcing a new model without any kind of roof.
Freshly unveiled as part of the now canceled Geneva auto show, the Bacalar uses the same mechanical hardware as the Continental GT convertible but will have the much greater exclusivity that comes from a production limit of just 12 cars, each of which will carry a seven-figure price.
The unusual name comes from Laguna Bacalar in Mexico, a lake in the Yucatán Peninsula, continuing the company's tradition of naming cars after "remarkable landmarks." Apparently, Bentayga is an especially scenic rock in the Canary Islands. The car is produced by Bentley's Mulliner division, and company executives admit that part of its role is as a manifesto piece to show the sort of high-level customization the company is capable of delivering to its most affluent customers.
So while the Bacalar's core underbody structure is the same as that of the Continental GT convertible, and the two cars share an identical wheelbase, Bentley’s design team has been able to make nearly total changes to the exterior appearance. We're told the door handles are the only exterior parts carried over directly; they were kept because they contain the mechanism for the keyless entry system.
This Is No Understated Bentley
While the Bacalar has the visual scale and grandeur appropriate to an open-topped Bentley, it a very different proposition from the relatively understated Continental GT, with a new design featuring single headlights rather than the brand’s long trademark twin elements and with vast mesh-covered intakes that make the front end more hole than car.
The doors and front fenders are made from carbon fiber, with the rear deck constructed from aluminum. In back, the Bacalar's lengthened tail tapers inward when seen from above. The design team refer to this as a barchetta look, highlighted by the length of the rear lighting elements. Bentley engineers estimate the car will weigh around 220 pounds less than the regular Continental GT convertible.
There is only room for two, and occupants lack the weather protection of the ragtop Conti. Unlike the Ferrari Monza and the forthcoming McLaren Elva, Bentley has opted to keep a windscreen and side glazing, although this has been cut down from the one in the Conti. And luggage will be sheltered, the Bacalar set to be sold with a matching set of fitted Schedoni bags which will fit beneath the rear decking. The cockpit's close relationship with the existing Continental is obvious, we’re told that changes were limited by airbag placement, but interior materials are even more upmarket and, this being 2020, ethically compliant. The concept’s trim includes natural British wool, hand-stitched materials, and trim paneling formed from 5000-year-old petrified wood from the boggy East Anglia region of England. We’re also told that the paint contains ash from rice husks, providing "a sustainable way to deliver a rich metallic finish."
Less virtue is signaled by the choice of powerplant: the same 6.0-liter W-12 turbocharged engine the company uses in its other range-topping models. This has been turned up to deliver 650 horsepower, a modest increase over the Continental and enough, Bentley hopes, to deliver on its aspiration that the production version will be the fastest open-topped Bentley of all time. The company is estimating a 3.5-second zero-to-60-mph time and a top speed of "more than 200 mph." The rest of the mechanical package is shared with the Continental, including an eight-speed twin-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive, as well as a 48-volt electric anti-roll system. But Bacalar buyers will have to do without much of the active-safety technology of the base Continental, as the recalibration work would have been too much for the modest scale of this project.
Similarly, Bentley is not going to undergo the considerable cost of getting the Bacalar through federal approval, so any of these reaching the U.S. will do so under the restrictive "show and display" regulations. The car's basic price is the equivalent of $1.9 million at current exchange rates, with more expensive bespoke options set to add a considerable premium to that. But if you're tempted, you’re too late; Bentley says that all 12 have already been sold.