When I recently received an invitation to visit the Bentley factory in Crewe and meet the designers behind its new flagship car I of course jumped at the opportunity. However, I am by no means a petrolhead and to be honest Bentley is not a brand I am that familiar with, although I do know that the Queen owns one (two in fact). When we arrived myself and newdesign’s new editorial assistant - Fiona Bennett - were initially taken on a tour around the factory. We were struck by the careful craftsmanship and level of detail lavished on each element of the cars such as the processes involved in creating the veneers for the interior ‘ring of wood’ and the careful stitching by hand of the leather on the steering wheels. We were then taken to see the Mulsanne itself and at 5.5 metres long and 2 metres wide it is certainly something to behold. The head of exterior design talked us through the styling and the design features on the exterior whilst the head of interior design invited us to sit inside and experience true Bentley luxury. After my visit, I can now certainly say that when the Mulsanne is referred to as a ‘work of art’ or the ‘pinnacle of British luxury’, having seen many of the processes first hand I can see why those statements are indeed justified.
IIt seems as though time is running away with us - I can’t quite believe that it’s almost degree show time again. In our ‘Degree Shows 2010’ supplement we have included a number of features together with a degree show listings.
Talking of how quickly time flies - newdesign is almost 10 years old. It doesn’t seem that a whole decade has passed since issue one hit the streets in October 2000. Look out for our ten year birthday issue later this year and please get in touch if you would like to be involved in it.
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