IF you think 'upcycling' begins and ends with giving an old chest of drawers a lick of paint and some new knobs, then think again because this is how you really breathe new life into something that's already rather special, writes William Scholes.
The car in question is an exquisite Bentley S2 Continental, specifically one of only four built to this specification in 1961. It originally had a velvet-smooth 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine under its long bonnet, but has now been thoroughly modernised and converted to a fully electric drivetrain by the specialists at Lunaz.
This particular Continental dates from the last days of classic coachbuilding. By the 1960s, bespoke bodywork was largely on its way out, even at the exclusive luxury marques. Most Continentals of the era were given 'standard' bodywork by the factory in Crewe, but Bentley did continue to supply a small number of rolling chassis for coachbuilders to drape in the bodywork of a discerning owner's choosing.
James Young – no, not the Our Jimmy of Norn Iron comic fame, but the esteemed London body-makers – was responsible for the elegant couture of this Continental. With its sleek two-door coupe bodywork it is the epitome of the classic grand tourer, and it's not hard to imagine this being the perfect car in which to glide across Europe and arrive in Monte Carlo in time for cocktails…
Coachbuilding of this sort didn't last much longer, so there's a sense in which the S2 Continental was a car launched upon the threshold of a new era when even Rolls-Royce and Bentley adopted 'unibody' construction.
Today we're on the threshold of another new motoring era, as the shift from fossil fuel to battery power gathers pace. It feels fitting that the old Bentley and its ilk are being given the chance to live on.
Of course, there is more to it than simply ripping out the engine and sticking in a battery and electric motor. When you pay a visit to Lunaz, you get the best of the best…
The British company – it is based at Silverstone – has already electrified classics from Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Jaguar and Range Rover. And though we don't know how much the Continental conversion cost, you can spend more than £500,000 on one of Lunaz's cars.
'Upcycling', as Lunaz calls it, is a serious business when dealing with a rare, high-value car. It starts with a detailed inspection and assessment to determine the chassis, powertrain, and suspension configurations.
Lunaz's engineers use 3D scanning to create detailed computer aided design models as the basis for any renovation and reconstruction work required.
The next step is to strip the body down to the bare metal. From there, it's returned to as-new condition using traditional coachbuilding techniques of the sort used in its original construction.
Everything is repaired and recoated; anything that can't be reused is, to continue with the re- words, recycled.
The engine and its associated systems, lubricants and other fluids are removed and reclaimed, then replaced with Lunaz’s own design of fully-electric powertrain.
Because the Bentley were never designed for the weight, power, torque and other characteristics of an electric drivetrain, the brakes, steering, suspension and electrics are all modernised. This, says Lunaz, brings them "into line with the dynamic expectations of the customer as well as current safety standards".
The suspension is uprated to a fully adjustable coil-spring set-up with a lever arm damper, configurable electronically from inside the car.
And the brakes, which also incorporate a battery regeneration system, have been upgraded to six-piston calipers in the front and four-piston in the rear.
There's no word on the Bentley's range, but Lunaz says its motor produces 400bhp and generates 530lb ft of torque. Those are generous outputs, and ample to allow the big grand tourer to proceed from rest to 62mph in a brisk 6.9 seconds.
David Lorenz, founder of Lunaz, is justifiably proud of what his company has done with the Bentley S2 Continental, saying it was "already an exceptional motor car, as one of just a few examples of its type that remain in the world".
"In its new guise, it’s the rarest vehicle ever to be converted to fully electric propulsion, and the most exclusive project we’ve ever undertaken at Lunaz Design," he said. "It’s literally one of a kind."
