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Bentley orders are up by 50% thanks to Chinese buyers

LONDON — Bentley began the year with 50% more orders than the start of last year and built more luxury cars in January than the same time in 2020 as China boosted demand despite challenges from the pandemic, its boss told Reuters on Wednesday. The Volkswagen-owned brand said it had not faced major disruption from Britain's exit from the European Union nor from a shortage of semi-conductor chips, which has forced some automakers to halt or reduce production. Based in Crewe, northern England, the over century-old marque made a small profit in 2020, when its factory was forced to close as Britain entered its first national lockdown, and hopes to build on that this year. "The order bank at the beginning of this year was 50% higher than it was at the beginning of last year," Chief Executive Adrian Hallmark said in an interview. "China, by far, is the most outstanding performance in the world in respect of level of orders compared with normal expectations." The firm sold 11,206 cars in 2020. Related Video:

Inkas reveals armored Bentley Bentayga for risky VIPs

Inkas Armored Vehicle Manufacturing has unveiled what it is billing as the first commercially available armored Bentley Bentayga, a week after we saw the armored X5 Protection VR6 straight from BMW. It can be equipped with up to level B6 protection, so it can withstand shots from a 7.62 mm round fired from an assault rifle. The first example has already been purchased for approximately $500,000.  Inkas, which is based in Toronto, lists armoring services for a number of different vehicles including the Toyota Camry, Mercedes-Benz G-Class, or even Ford Transit vans. And now, it offers a service for Bentley's luxurious and performance-minded Bentayga SUV.  Inkas offers two routes for its customers. An interested consumer can bring a car in and have it outfitted exactly the way he or she wants. Or, the customer can tell Inkas what he or she is looking for, and Inkas will source and build the entire project, including finding the right vehicle. For the Bentayga, specifically, armor options start at $130,000, and fully sourced projects can range into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, as previously noted.  Standard armor for each project includes a safety shell for passengers, multi-layer bullet-resistant glass, battery and ECU protection, reinforced door hinges, a reinforced suspension, and run-flat tires. Inkas says the B6 level of armor is meant to stop armor piercing rounds, but it could also protect from grenade blasts.  Inkas also offers the options to equip the Bentayga with a lightweight armor package, a PA system, heavy duty brakes, emergency lights, a fire supression system, and heavy duty wheels. We imagine most orders tick all the boxes.  Take a look inside the world's first bulletproof Bentley Bentayga made by INKAS® Armored Vehicle Manufacturing #bulletproof #bentley #bentayga #wolrdfirst #inkas #armored pic.twitter.com/rmrsXK7Nyv — INKAS Vehicles (@inkasvehicles) August 28, 2019

Ares Design Coupe for the Bentley Mulsanne is the grand tourer we dream about

Bentley exited the grand coupe business when it made the last of 550 Brooklands models in 2011. The UK carmaker said it will make 19 examples of the Mulsanne Grand Convertible, but that doesn't count as a coupe. So when a U.S. Mulsanne owner wanted his Bentley with a roof but a touch less four-door-y, he went to Italian coachbuilders Ares Design. And not only did Ares do the thing, they did it magnificently. The resulting two-door is called the Ares Design Coupe for the Bentley Mulsanne, and the first of them was just handed over in Beverly Hills in time for a Pebble Beach appearance. Modena-based Ares started with a three-dimensional scan of the sedan, then reworked that CAD file into the coupe they sought by changing just about everything behind the A-pillars. A reprofiled roof replaces the old one, and it falls into a new backlight and longer rear decklid. The engineers moved the B-pillars rearward to install longer front doors, and fabricated new side impact protection for the portals and rear quarter panels. New chrome surrounds on the windows maintain the look as if from Crewe. Yet because the roof and doors are made from carbon fiber, they contribute to the coupe's 992-pound overall weight loss compared to the donor four-door. Inside, Ares replaced the front seats with more rakish thrones, redesigned the interior trim panels to flow with the body style, and matched the wood and leather as if all were factory original. Under the unchanged hood, a tuned ECU means the 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8 produces more than 591 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, both healthy improvements on the stock 505 hp and 752 lb-ft. Completing the transformation, the coupe sits 20 millimeters lower on "a sportier suspension." One report said that a friend of the California owner likes the car so much that a second two-door has already been commissioned. Ares charges $460,000 for the service, to start, and it takes about six weeks. And no, that price doesn't include the donor Bentley. However, that's a lot less than Bentley would charge to make the swap, since the carmaker won't make the actual car. The Italian firm said it wants to keep volumes "ultra-low," yet, "As long as [Bentley] don't make one, we will continue." Although we haven't spoken much of Ares here outside of their Tesla Model S wagon, the firm led by ex- Lotus boss Dany Bahar has kept busy in its four years of operation.