Nobody expected Bentley to mark 80 years at its Crewe factory with anything less than a one-of-a-kind car. A total of 107 Bentleys lined up along Pyms Lane, tracing the marque's entire history in a single row. But all eyes were on one Continental GTC that will never exist again — Mulliner built it as a single, unrepeatable commission.
The body wears a Supernova Purple Ombre gradient, fading from light purple at the front to a deeper shade at the rear, with a mirrored colour sweep worked into the “80” graphic itself. Inside, embroidered anniversary emblems sit alongside an airbrushed rendering of the design studio building. Bentley hasn't named a price, a buyer, or any plan to build another. This is a one-off showpiece, full stop — there's no limited series coming.
Autoevolution credited the convertible with a hybrid V8 producing 782 hp and 1,000 Nm of torque — figures that do match the production Continental GTC Mulliner. Bentley's own anniversary release, though, never says which version the car was actually built on, or whether the mechanicals were touched at all.
None of it started with cars, either. The factory went up in 1938 to build Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engines, and only turned to cars after the war. Now its oldest building is being converted for final assembly of the Torcal — Bentley's fourth current model and its first series-production EV. The world premiere is set for 23 September 2026 in London, though the company still hasn't said when production actually starts.
The anniversary announcement also carried a curious slip. Bentley describes the EXP3 that led the parade as the first Bentley ever delivered to a customer. But an earlier official Bentley release points to the third production 3 Litre chassis, handed to Ivor Llewellin back in August 1921. Officially, only EXP1 and EXP2 carry the “experimental” label.
The next real test comes with the Torcal reveal. It'll show how Bentley folds its first electric car into a factory that's spent eight decades perfecting handbuilt combustion-engine cars.
