Bentley Motors is reaching back in time to trim the cockpit of its new Bacalar roadster.
Waaaaay back in time.
The hand-built $1.9 million two-seater from the new Mulliner Coachbuilt portfolio is using fine and exotic materials to distinguish its models.
For the Bacalar's wraparound dashboard, Bentley is using 5,000-year-old wood, recovered from fallen trees preserved in peat bogs, lakes and rivers in the marshy areas of East Anglia, England.
With such rare material, "you create value, because there's only so much CO2-neutral, Bronze Age wood to be bought," says Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark. "We've got most of it. And when it runs out, there won't be any more for another 5,000 years."
According to Bentley, the wood has been air dried in a controlled environment to prevent damage and to preserve its natural characteristics. It is then veneered and split into two panels. The upper panel has a semi-matte finish and the lower panel a high-gloss finish.
The trim may be ancient, but Bentley kept the rest of the Bacalar's cockpit modern. It features a trick three-way rotating dashboard display that can switch from a touch screen to analog gauges to the recovered wood.
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