Bentley’s 12-Car Tribute Born From a 1924 Duel With Rolls-Royce

The story begins on a French road in 1924. W.O. Bentley, piloting a six-cylinder prototype, found himself in an unplanned contest with a Rolls-Royce prototype between Lyon and Dieppe. The rival car pulled away. Bentley’s response was not to accept defeat but to order his engineers to enlarge the engine’s bore from 80mm to 100mm, creating a 6.5-litre unit producing 147 horsepower.

That decision birthed the 6½ Litre, unveiled as a production car at the 1926 Olympia Motor Show in London. It became Bentley’s second model line, designed to haul heavier luxury coachwork without surrendering sporting credentials. Five hundred forty-five chassis were built between 1926 and 1930. The engine later powered the Speed Six to victory at Le Mans in 1929 and 1930.

A century after the Olympia debut, Bentley’s Mulliner division has built twelve Continental GTs to mark the moment. Each carries an Ombré paint finish blending Verdant and Midnight Emerald — a 56-hour process interpreting the shifting shades of British Racing Green, a color that has never been a single hue since its 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup origins in Ireland.

Champagne Gold appears on badges and a lower pinstripe. The matrix grille, air intakes, and rear diffuser wear Blackline specification. Twenty-two-inch Mulliner wheels carry matching gold detailing. Open a door and an animated welcome lamp projects the Lyon-to-Dieppe route onto the pavement.

Inside, Coach Green leather with a heritage-patinated finish meets Cumbrian Green secondary hides. Black-stained, open-pore crown-cut walnut veneers cover the fascia and waistrails. Diamond-knurled controls. Champagne Gold seat piping. Rope-inspired steering wheel stitching. The instrument dials replicate the 1926 speedometer. An embroidered map of the historic French road adorns the rear ski hatch.

Mulliner’s own lineage stretches to 1559, when the family made saddles and carriages. Their first Bentley commission arrived in 1923 — a bespoke 3 Litre two-seater for that same Olympia Show. The division formally joined Bentley in 1959.

Bentley has not released powertrain specifics for the Olympia Collection, indicating the cars retain standard Continental GT mechanicals. No pricing has been announced, though the limited run and bespoke content place it well above the £202,000 base model.

Each owner receives a Brooklands Watch Co. chronograph individually numbered to its car, its strap cut from the same Coach Green leather. Interchangeable tachymeter bezels reference Brooklands’ Outer Circuit and Double Twelve Circuit — the world’s first purpose-built banked track, opened in 1907 and host to the inaugural British Grand Prix in 1926. The watchmaker itself launched in 2017. A commemorative book, presentation box, and fitted green car cover with gold detailing complete the package.