Bentley marks 80 years of Crewe production with heritage-inspired Continental GT Azure

On 29 August 2026, the International Club for Rolls-Royce and Bentley Enthusiasts (RREC) will celebrate 80 years of Bentley production at the British Motor Museum. Cars brought by members from around the globe will be on display, representing Crewe-built heritage from the 1946 Mark VI to the newest Continental GT. Mulliner's designers and artisans have created a unique Continental GT Azure as a tribute to the two-tone green and black Mulliner-bodied Mark VI in Bentley's Heritage Collection. Both cars will be displayed together, uniting two defining chapters in Bentley's story. While eight decades separate them, each embodies the enduring values of effortless performance, exceptional comfort and the finest British craftsmanship.

The Continental GT Azure is finished in solid Barnato Green with a Mulliner Black contrasting roof, echoing the historic predecessor. Azure exterior brightware is combined with the carbon-fibre Styling Specification, and the car rides on black-painted and bright-machined 22-inch ten-spoke wheels with black brake calipers and self-levelling Bentley 'B' wheel badges. Inside, Cricket Ball main hide is matched with Beluga secondary hide, with contrast stitching and piping, embroidered Azure emblems, diamond quilting and perforations. The dashboard features dark stained burr walnut over Grand Black piano veneer with a chrome pinstripe extending across the fascia and into the waistrails, and Bentley's Rotating Display lets the driver choose between a high-definition touchscreen, traditional analogue dials or plain veneer. Today's Bentley customers enjoy almost 100 exterior paint finishes, yet Mulliner drew inspiration from the two-tone Mark VI for this anniversary theme.

The Pyms Lane factory in Crewe was constructed in 1938 to build the iconic Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engines and began a new chapter as a car factory in 1946. The first vehicle off the line was a Bentley Mark VI, offered either with the J.P. Blatchley-designed standard steel bodyshell or as a rolling chassis for independent coachbuilders. Powered by a six-cylinder 4,257cc B60 engine, the Mark VI was powerful and reliable, often exceeding 100,000 miles (161,000 km) without a major overhaul. In an era of austerity, it found a ready audience for its understated elegance, and by the end of production in 1951, 4,001 had been built—3,171 with the standard steel body—making it Bentley's most successful model of its era. The two-tone green and black Mark VI in the Heritage Collection is one of 241 coachbuilt four-door, six-light saloons created by H.J. Mulliner, then an independent coachbuilder; it was delivered in January 1950 to William Lount of Alabastine Co Ltd and joined the Heritage Collection in 2021.