THE BESPOKE MOTOR FOR A BESPOKE SUIT

You’ve either got or you haven’t got Style and the Bentley has it in buckets.

That's why so many men who go to Savile Row for their suits also go to Bentley for their cars.
Marie Scott visits Crewe, home of the great motor car, for a private view of the new Mulsanne.

“Many customers tell us that coming to us is like visiting their tailor,” said Robin Peel of Bentley Motors. “It is enjoyable, they have known us for a long time, and, just as a tailor will have built up a knowledge of a customer’s taste, so we will be good at predicting what he wants.”

Invited to see the correllation between a bespoke suit and a bespoke car, I toured the Bentley works at Crewe, in Middle England. I saw the hand matching of wood sections, saw the hand finishing of panelling, the hand stitching of leather seats. At every stage, human skill is what puts a Bentley together and it is what has made this one of the most famous and respected brands in the world.

A Bentley, like a Savile Row suit, is part work of art, part practical construction and part a statement as to the owner’s personal style. A customer will sit down with one of the Bentley team and go through what he – or she – wants. This may range from body colours, interior finish and tones, tyre types and ‘basic’ accessories through to an extensive selection of special paints, monogrammed silk linings, leather designs, and a wonderland of high tech or traditional additions that can turn the motor into a one-off creation every bit as personal and tailored to the individual as a bespoke suit.

"We've even had a request from a lady to match the paint colour to her nail varnish!" said Peel.

At top, the new Mulsanne with the iconic 8-litre engine Bentley of 1929. The best of old models has been incorporated into this latest design, creating another timeless classic.
Left, a classic Savile Row suit by Henry Poole with its own timeless appeal - this was made in the 1970s and worn by then male super-model, Tony Newton.

Founded in 1919 by W. O. Bentley, the company has had its ups and downs. The 1920s were golden years, with WO, as he is still referred to by the workforce, at the helm and responsible for cars that set new standards. And as the cars found fame when they came to dominate the Le Mans race, their reputation for power and reliability became established.

Their image was further helped by the race drivers themselves, the dashing Bentley Boys - the equivalent then of today's international jet set. In 1929, Bentley's dominance of Le Mans was confirmed when the Bentley Boys took 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions.

WO’s final masterpiece was the 8-litre car launched in 1929 (at top) that was his pride and joy. But as the recession of the 1930s loomed,  the company suffered and was bought by its great rival Rolls Royce. WO stayed on for a while but finally went off to join Lagonda.

Above, the 1935 Bentley Cabriolet. Below, the interior of the latest Mulsanne.

The plant moved from London and ended up at Crewe, where by the end of the 30s it was concentrating upon producing Merlin engines for Spitfires. Having done its not inconsiderable bit in helping to win the war, Bentley went back to making cars in 1946.

Today, a workforce of some 3,000 is as devoted to the brand as those early creators. Owned now by Volkswagen, it is still every inch a British car and the craftsmen and women continue skills that have been honed and passed on to successive generations over the years.

And so to the latest model, the Mulsanne. Difficult to know what to say about such a work of perfection.

Just looking at it front on, the power and elegance of it is immediately evident. The flowing lines and complex curves of the body, which takes 9 weeks to build, have been helped by technology from the aerospace industry.

Sitting ensconced in the smooth, luxurious interior, which takes nearly half the entire build process to hand craft, I appreciated the skills I'd seen in action around the plant. Every surface perfectly mirror matched with its opposite, every curve and corner moulded into a mellifluous continuity, with an unbroken ring of wood waistrail, it is a cocoon of luxury.

Why Mulsanne? There was an earlier such Bentley marque, named after the famous corner on the Le Mans circuit.

How much is standard make and how much individual? There is little standard about a Bentley, it has to be said, but there are many, many extras and refinements that may be added as bespoke. These come from boffins within the Mulliner section.

The start of the 1928 Le Mans, above, shows Tim Birkin's Bentley leading Frank Clement and Woolf Barnato. Below, the Mulsanne.

Mulliner predates Bentley by over a hundred years, starting life as a coach building business, initially for horsedrawn carriages and then for cars. Chosen by Bentley for its quality, it was taken into the fold in the 1950s, and is responsible for the the "more different, more exclusive and more expensive" models, explained Robin Peel, who heads this division. Whatever flights of fancy a customer may wish to pursue, from family crests woven into silk roof linings to the latest touch-screen technology, Peel's team are up to it.

So the bespoke correllary between this splendid car operation and that of a Savile Row suit may seem rather lopside, given the sheer variety and complexity of what Bentley has to offer. And yet... the concentrated application of hand skills and personal judgement is what in the end achieves the best results in each case.

There are not many other sectors of British industry that would stand comparison.

For all the technical specs and more info, go to www.bentleymotors.com