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Bentley Motors has today issued the first official photographs of the Bentley State Limousine. Conceived by a Bentley-led consortium of British Motor Industry manufacturers and suppliers, the all new car will be presented as a gift to The Queen next year to celebrate her Golden Jubilee. It will be the first Bentley to be used for state occasions. While the car will be the first State Bentley, the tradition of Crewe designed and built State Limousines dates back over half a century to July 6, 1950 when a new Rolls-Royce Phantom IV was delivered to Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. Since then a further four Rolls-Royce limousines have been presented - two Phantom Vs and two Phantom VI's - the most recent in 1987.
The new Bentley State Limousine differs fundamentally from those previously supplied by Crewe in being a unique car, rather than a production car modified for State purposes. It also bears no relation in either appearance or physical proportion to any other Bentley product, and has been designed with continual reference to and input from both The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and of course, the Head Chauffeur.
The major partners joining Bentley in the consortium are Mayflower Vehicle Systems (bodywork), LEONI Wiring Systems (Electrics), TWR Group (trim packaging), Intier Automotive (trim engineering), Radshape (brightware), Ricardo (powertrain) and MSX International (validation).
Bentley Motors has been entirely responsible for the design, styling, chassis and commissioning of the car and is currently assembling the limousine in a dedicated area of its Personal Commissioning department. It has also overseen the project from start to finish.
The idea that The Queen should be offered a new State Limousine for her Golden Jubilee came from within Bentley Motors and harks back to her Silver Jubilee in 1977. Then the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), on behalf of the entire membership of the society, presented The Queen with the Phantom VI, which remains her first choice of transport on State occasions to this day and has covered over 125,000 miles in the interim. The Royal fleet also retains the later (1987) Phantom VI and the two Phantom Vs, dating from 1960 and 1961.
Work on the project began in February 2000 with Bentley design director Dirk van Braeckel working with exterior stylist Crispin Marshfield to a brief that required the car to appear both timeless and contemporary. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were formally presented with the design in May 2000, approving it with requests for only minimal changes. Since then work has continued non-stop at Crewe and among the other suppliers in the consortium to create, develop and validate this unique vehicle in time for the Golden Jubilee.
The new Bentley State Limousine will be presented to The Queen in May 2002 and will perform its first official engagement in June 2002.
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