This is the Bentley Mulliner Bacalar, to give it its full name, or the Bentley Bacalar in the informal. It's a car which signals the return to true coachbuilding by the Mulliner division of the British luxury brand, as only 12 of these things - based, as they are, on a Continental GTC - will be built and all of them have already been allocated to lucky customers. However, each one will be bespoke to the individual owner's personal tastes, although they'll all look as wonderful as this barchetta, the Bacalar being a two-seat open-top machine. Its glorious, hand-crafted styling takes cues from the EXP 100 GT revealed as part of Bentley's centenary celebrations in 2019 and the name comes from a particularly beautiful and scenic lake in Mexico, following on from the tradition of the Bentayga being named after another landmark, that being the mountain of the same name on Gran Canaria. Aside from its exquisite exterior panels and an interior with a new, steeply angled centre console with a wraparound theme, there's an air of sustainability about the Bacalar - its paint uses ash from rice husks, to give it a metallic finish, while there's natural British wool for the carpets and the 5,000-year-old Riverwood leather-like material for the seats, a material which is sourced from the Fenlands of East Anglia. Power comes from the familiar 6.0-litre biturbo W12 TSI, but while torque remains the same at 900Nm, there's been a hike in horses, from 635hp in the Conti GTs to 659hp here. An Active All-Wheel-Drive System, which varies the torque split between the front and rear wheels, is also fitted and it favours the rear axle in most driving situations, in order to maximise efficiency (on a six-litre, twelve-cylinder engine, oh yes) and improve dynamic performance. Adrian Hallmark, chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said: "The Bentley Mulliner Bacalar is our ultimate expression of an open-top, luxury grand tourer, and of the immense capabilities of our team in Crewe. In Bacalar, we have created a fully bespoke Bentley, orientated towards a two-seat open-top experience, and carrying a number of the forward-thinking elements of future luxury, first heralded in our EXP 100 GT as part of our centenary celebrations last year."

Matt Robinson - 3 Mar 2020