Bentley made only 12 examples of the Bacalar. They were sold for $2 million each to Bentley’s best customers. One of those customers is Kenn Ricci of Flexjet. He likes his Bacalar so much that he commissioned Bentley to create a matching private jet and helicopter for it.
Ricci has been a Bentley customer for more than a decade. His experience with the brand, which includes multiple co-created cars, led him to consider how bespoke personalization could be applied to his own industry. Mr Ricci worked together with members of Bentley Mulliner’s in-house design team on ‘The Bacalar Project’, creating two new aircraft inspired by one of the rarest two-door Bentleys of the modern era, his own Bentley Bacalar.
The Bacalar signifies Mulliner’s return to coachbuilding, with a collection of 12 highly individualized cars being carefully handcrafted by Mulliner’s team of artisans in Crewe. Reflecting the same attention to detail and exceptional design, Flexjet’s new Gulfstream G650 private jet is paired with a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, both personalized to reflect the unique specification of the Bacalar.
The rare and distinctive paint color option of Julep, chosen by Mr Ricci for his Bacalar, inspired a unique change to the Flexjet livery in chameleon paint – normally a red-gold chameleon – but for this pair of aircraft a silver-green chameleon paint has been used for the key accents.
Inside, the copperhead shape and basket weave stitching on the Linen and Beluga leather trimmed seats of the coachbuilt Bacalar inspired the custom seats in the Gulfstream G650 and those in the Sikorsky S-76.
The 5,000-year-old reclaimed riverwood that forms the handcrafted veneer of the Bacalar inspired the matching wood veneer species used in both aircraft. Satin Bacalar Bronze fittings adorn the cabins, as well as unique diamond-carved carpet.
Neither Bentley or Ricci would reveal the cost of the jet and copter. A standard Gulfstream G650 cost $65 million, and a Sikorsky S-76 cost $15 million. It’s a safe to say the Mulliner customizations added significantly to those figures.
