Bentley wowed the car community when its Mulliner Division unveiled a special project back in 2020. It was christened the Bentley Bacalar, an ultra-exclusive GT as exotic as the name suggests. A design highlight that immediately stood out was the roofless profile—and by roofless, we do not mean a convertible with a canvas or hard top tucked away behind the passenger cabin. No, the car was deliberately designed without a cover whatsoever.
It represented yet another chapter in the latest round of roofless mania that has swept through marque car brands at various points in automotive history, one that took off with Ferrari’s Monza SP1 and SP2. McLaren followed this with the Elva. Then Aston Martin and Bentley hopped on board with their own topless creations.
There’s a reasonably strong chance of more topless supercars in the near future. From a business standpoint, it makes perfect sense: build a limited-series car, tack on a seven-figure price tag, and offer it to your most loyal clients. And there are definitely carmakers with the right amount of brand power to pull it off. Just look at Ferrari’s Icona success story. Meanwhile, Bentley Mulliner started with 12 Bacalars, all of which were sold before the car was even made public.
There will always be wealthy car enthusiasts looking for the next ‘big exclusive’ to add to their private collections, and carmakers will be keen to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. The next wave of roofless marques may be closer than you think.
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