Luxury cars are not your regular cars and hence usually take a long time to be built. You ask us what makes them so different from the mainstream cars except for the luxury factor and the unaffordable price tags, we would tell you that most of these vehicles are custom built according to one’s preferences or in a layman’s terms, they are made to order.
What makes these cars even more unique is the option of bespoke features which are catered to by the likes of Mulliner in case of Bentley Motors. One of these bespoke features, available only on the Bentley Continental and Flying Spur, is the stone veneers that are made of slate and quartzite stone which are sourced from the few selected quarries in the states of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh in India. This interior finish utilizes one of the best available stone veneer technologies to make the best of the natural product formed over 200 million years ago.
The sections of stone are split from larger pieces and later cured using glass fibre and a bespoke resin. They are then finally shaped and hand finished by Bentley’s renowned Mulliner coach building team at the company’s headquarters in Crewe, England. The stone surfaces of the veneers are just 0.1 mm thick, making them both extremely light and translucent, allowing the grain and pattern in the stone to be visible to the interior occupants.
Speaking on the occasion, Geoff Dowding, Director, Mulliner Operations, said: “Bentley is the established expert in the handcrafting of wood and leather, and now we are exploring new, fine and rare materials to offer even more bespoke tailoring and choice to our customers. Stone veneers are another first for Bentley – but only the beginning of what we plan to do with this luxurious and unique material.”
Mulliner now offers stone veneers in a natural finish, in four different colours namely galaxy, autumn white, terra red and copper.
