In the summer of 1924, W.O. Bentley was driving home from the European Grand Prix in Lyon when he fell into an impromptu duel with a Rolls-Royce prototype on the road to Dieppe, and how easily the Rolls-Royce matched his speed convinced him his engine needed to be bigger. The six-cylinder 6½ Litre that followed debuted as a complete car at London’s Olympia Motor Show in 1926, and Mulliner marks the centenary with the Olympia Collection: 12 individually numbered Continental GTs, each with a specification that will never be repeated. The Ombré paint fades from Verdant forest green at the nose to near-black Midnight Emerald at the tail, a 56-hour hand finish, with Champagne Gold on the badges, pinstripe, and 22-inch wheel faces. Open a door and a light projects the Lyon-to-Dieppe route onto the ground, the same route embroidered across the ski hatch, while the cabin pairs Coach Green and Cumbrian Green leather with black-stained walnut. Each owner also gets a Brooklands chronograph numbered to match the car, its strap cut from the same Coach Green leather. It’s a car for the collector who wants the story as much as the machine, and with only 12 being built, the only way in is to enquire through Bentley.
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Bentley Mulliner Olympia Collection
Mulliner marks 100 years since the 6½ Litre with 12 individually numbered Continental GTs in a Verdant to Midnight Emerald Ombré finish.
