Elite Traveler Summer 2019

Bentley Mulsanne WO Edition by Mulliner

Price from $371,340 Engine 6.75 twin-turbo V8 Power 505 hp (standard wheelbase) or 530 hp (Mulsanne Speed)

A celebration of what Bentley calls 'the beauty of bespoke,' the 100-unit, limited-edition Mulsanne provides not only a notable bookmark to celebrate the company’s centennial, but flexes the depth of the British brand’s custom services. While the WO Edition can be built in any of three models in the range (standard Mulsanne, Mulsanne Speed or Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase), each automobile will include a shard of the crankshaft fromWalter Owen (WO) Bentley’s original 1930 personal eight-liter sedan. Call it a literal slice of history embedded in the highly bespoke rear armrest. Customers can choose between a cocktail cabinet or bottle cooler for the marquetry scene adjacent to the armrest. Four different wood types play off the geometric aluminum pattern. The spotlight, though, remains on commemorating Bentley’s history: Owen’s signature is embossed on the seats and appears on the Dark Stain Burr Walnut dashboard as well. Designers delved into Mulliner’s bespoke division, emerging with a Fireglow Heritage leather for the interior, complete with a custom soft patina oft- witnessed in vintage cars. Options aplenty, owners can create their own exterior color, although Onyx with Beluga black wheels is the most direct homage to Owen’s own vehicle.

Rolls-Royce Black Badge Dawn A call to action sounded from Rolls-Royce’s younger and new patrons for something different. Rolls-Royce responded in 2016 with the creation of Black Badge, a permanent bespoke bloodline that began with the Ghost and Wraith. It continues its expansion to Dawn, the company’s most powerful convertible. Rolls-Royce offers 44,000 paint colors for the customizable Dawn, as well as 44 layers of folded black carbon fiber through Dawn’s wheel hubs and spokes. Intentionally darkened, varying gradients of black paint and lacquer create sensuous interior and exterior lines. The car communicates a sense of increased urgency with 30 hp and 20 Nm of torque, unusual for a brand that’s equally associated with leisure driving and business chauffeuring. Pops of color arrive in woven aluminum thread, found in the carbon fiber dashboard panel or the chrome air vents, which are blackened with a vapor deposition technology that’s also tarnish-proof. The sun has set on the starlight headliner; black substitutes for the typical sand in the fiber optic-filled starlight headliner. Certainly, the more assertive alter ego, Black Badge Dawn is unmistakably a Rolls- Royce; just listen to the V12’s bass baritone. Price from $401,200 Engine 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 Power 593 hp

Photos Stuart Morgan, Richard Prescott