Bentley Bacalar inspires Bespoke luxury aircraft with Flexjet.
23-10-2022 22:29 - CAR NEWS
An aviation entrepreneur has taken inspiration from his new Bentley Bacalar and worked with Mulliner Design to create two bespoke, personalised aircraft, which have now joined the fleet of his private aviation company, Flexjet. Flexjet owner Kenn Ricci has been a Bentley customer for more than a decade. His experience with the brand, which includes multiple co-created cars, led him to consider how bespoke personalisation could be applied to his own industry. Mr Ricci has now worked together with members of Mulliner's in-house design team on ‘The Bacalar Project', creating two new aircraft inspired by one of the rarest two-door Bentleys of the modern era, his own Bentley Bacalar.
The Bacalar signifies Mulliner's return to coachbuilding, with a collection of 12 highly individualised cars being carefully handcrafted by Mulliner's team of artisans in Crewe. Reflecting the same attention to detail and exceptional design, Flexjet's new Gulfstream G650 private jet is paired with a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, both personalised to reflect the unique specification of the Bacalar. The personalisation of the luxury aircraft was inspired by the specification of Mr Ricci's own Bacalar. Finished in rare Julep exterior paint, the car features customised tri-colour 22” wheels in dark grey satin with polished faces and Arctica highlights, providing a monotone contrast to the vibrant exterior. The centres of the headlamps were colour matched to the Satin Bronze exterior brightware that can be seen on the waistrails and edging the Satin Carbon rear deck. The bonnet vents provide a visual accent, also being finished in satin carbon fibre, as were the wing mirrors. Satin carbon fibre also gave additional definition to the ‘power humps' behind the front seats, along with the side skirts and rear diffuser. Exhaust finishers with Satin Bronze outers and matte black inners complete the look of the rear of the car.
A white and black cabin with Bacalar bronze accents creates a striking contemporary interior theme. A dual veneer of open pore Riverwood over gloss black encapsulates the occupants, sweeping from one side of the cabin to the other, matching the exterior technical details harmoniously. Every panel and detail of the interior was specified to the customer's choice, through careful combinations of leather and Alcantara in white, black and bronze, gloss and satin metals in black, dark tint and bright chrome finishes, and the usage of satin carbon fibre. Bacalar bronze leather accentuates the form of the top roll, the centre line in the steering wheel and headrest surround. This continues with further stitching details to the rear of the seats within the oval perforated Beluga piping and hand cross stitching along the door following the styling line around to the centre console.