Bentley has marked 80 years of car production at its Crewe headquarters with a gathering of 107 customer cars and the unveiling of a one-off Continental GTC commissioned through Mulliner. The event, held at the Pyms Lane site, also marked the 90th anniversary of the Bentley Drivers Club, whose members supplied the vehicles for the display and traveled from around the world to attend.
The 107 cars lined Pyms Lane in chronological order of production, beginning with EXP3, which Bentley says is the first Bentley ever delivered to a customer, and ending with a 2025 Flying Spur Speed. The display covered the W.O. Bentley cars, the Derby years, and the Crewe-built range, with Blowers and current Bentaygas both represented. The first Bentley left the Pyms Lane production line in 1946, eight years after the site was originally built to produce Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engines.
The commemorative Continental GTC is finished in Supernova Purple Ombre, a paint developed for the occasion by Bentley’s paint shop and CMF/Bespoke teams, with the exterior transitioning from Supernova Purple to Supernova Purple Dark. The car carries a bespoke 80 side graphic using a reverse ombre effect, contrasting wheel finishes, embroidered 80 headrests, and an airbrushed fascia graphic depicting the Design Studio building alongside a rendering of eight decades of Crewe production.
Bentley’s Crewe campus now houses design, research and development, manufacturing, and commercial operations on a single site, with recent additions including the Design Studio, Engineering Technical Centre, Excellence Centre for Quality and Launch, Integrated Logistics Centre, and the Paint Shop, which was officially opened by The Princess Royal on July 22. Work continues on converting the oldest building on the campus into the assembly facility for the Torcal, Bentley’s first electric car, which is scheduled for a global reveal on September 23.
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