Classic, Remade Bentleys Show Roots That Extend to Today

Driving along 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, California reveals a mix of sun, sea and green that is immediately soothing. Low speed limits and a healthy amount of enforcement activity allow drivers to truly enjoy the surrounds if they’re behind the wheel of the right type of vehicle.

During Monterey Car Week there’s no better place to be. Not only can you spy some of the world’s most expensive and attractive cars driving by, you can find yourself in the mix, a part of the 25 mile-per-hour parade that takes place, unofficially, from dusk until dawn.

It’s an occasion so popular with auto enthusiasts that they arrive early and bring lawn chairs for proper viewing, just like they do every autumn as hometowns across America celebrate their homecoming.

Setting the alarm to get into the Bentley Speed Six Continuation Series early one day during Car Week was an easy decision. The Continuation Series cars are mechanically and aesthetically authentic to the Bentley race cars that won Le Mans in 1929 and 1930. The originals were the most successful Bentley racing cars of their era and are still regarded as one of the most important models in Bentley history.

The company’s Mulliner customization division hand-built the cars, something I saw first-hand during a visit to Bentley headquarters in December 2022. In that workshop, artisans, craftspeople and mechanics were assembling vehicles, new and old, using modern and time-tested techniques.

I stood in awe as a craftsman stood nearby, inside a booth, and used steam to shape wood around a mold and bind it so that when it dried it could be turned into a Continuation Series seat. Around the corner, a mechanic was following a physical book of instructions and putting together a customer’s Continuation Series car. It was like a magical step back in time.

I’d like to think that the precision and craftsmanship that went into a car like the Speed Six, new or old, is something younger generations appreciate even though their worlds are dominated by mass produced products.

If my 17-Mile Drive journey in the Speed Six Continuation Series with Mike Sayer, the Head of Product Communications and the Bentley Heritage Collection, behind the wheel, is any proof, the kids do. They were just as eagerly pointing and waving at us as they were the Lamborghini Huracán we were following. Every moment was captured on their phones.

Buyers have flocked to the company’s Continuation Series. Ahead of the announcement of the model coming to market, the automaker pre-sold all 12 of the customer models it intended to make. Bentley also made one “Factory Works” car, the one I rode in.

The good news for those kids is that when they are able to afford a Bentley, they won’t have to be disappointed that the time-honed techniques aren’t around any longer, because they are.

Though the company is investing in a state-of-the-art paint facility and sustainability practices, they are also committed to preserving the history and hand-built quality that Bentley buyers have come to know and appreciate.