Sir Peter Blake: “I am proud to have been involved with transforming this beautiful car, and have enormous admiration for the people at Bentley who brought my design into being, to produce this one-off lovely car.”
Bentley Motors has teamed up with the godfather of British pop art, Sir Peter Blake, to create a one-of-a-kind Bentley Continental GT V8 S Convertible. The unique car will be auctioned for charity by Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 24.
Sir Peter Blake is perhaps best known for designing the sleeve for The Beatles’ iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
Bentley commissioned Sir Peter to deliver the world’s first pop art Bentley, drawing on inspiration from the acclaimed artist’s celebrated career at the forefront of the famous British pop art movement. Bentley has donated the car to the Care2Save Charitable Trust, which provides palliative and hospice care around the world.
The most striking feature of Sir Peter’s bold vision, and one of his trademarks, is a St James Red heart motif hand-painted onto a Continental Yellow bonnet, a symbol in keeping with the compassionate work of hospices.
Throughout the exterior of the car, the use of collage, another characteristic of his work, demonstrates bright but clearly defined colour. St Luke’s Blue, which is a bespoke colour introduced by Sir Peter and named in homage to Bentley’s local St Luke’s Cheshire Hospice, dominates the car’s rear haunches, doors and boot lid, with a British Racing Green lower body and a Fuchsia pink-coloured radiator shell. The bright paint colours complement the black exterior brightware and black hood, incorporating a darker sub-tone while allowing the bright exterior colours to flourish.
The cabin is also an expression of individuality, with each seat trimmed in a different hide colour; Cumbrian Green, Imperial Blue, Newmarket Tan and Hotspur, reflecting more tonal shades of the exterior surfaces.
The same colours are echoed on the sports steering wheel, featuring a Hotspur outer rim, Newmarket Tan inner rim and Cumbrian Green centre, with Imperial Blue stitching. The vivid pink leather gearlever stands out against the centre console, dashboard and interior door panels, all veneered by Bentley’s craftspeople in Piano Black.
Sir Peter’s signature is incorporated onto the fascia panel and embroidered on all four headrests. To finish, unique storage cases feature a Piano Black veneer outer but with Continental Yellow and St James Red internal linings to reflect the bonnet colour theme. A distinctive treadplate, signifying that this is a Sir Peter Blake design and labelling “No. 1 of 1”, finishes the car. These unique features have been delivered through Bentley’s specialist bespoke division, Mulliner.
The Sir Peter Blake design also includes a personalised playlist from the artist’s favourite music.
Read our review of the Bentley Continental GT V8 S.
Read about another one-off Bentley, the Mulsanne Grand Limousine.
