Bentley Torcal lights up Manhattan

MANILA: The newly launched Bentley Torcal made its debut in Manhattan, to highlight the brand’s electric future in direct conversation with contemporary art and utilize light as a design source and medium. 

Organized in partnership with cultural platform CART Department, the British marque’s all-electric offering lit up a one-night gallery in New York’s vibrant West Village to display a distinct expression of luxury and performance, connected by technology and light as sources of design inspiration. 

“The all-new Torcal represents a transformative design chapter for Bentley as our first fully electric car, where light becomes an essential sculptural medium,” Bentley Motors Director of Design Robin Page was quoted as saying. 

“Rather than simply serving a functional purpose, illumination is woven directly into the architecture and surfaces of the car, defining its form and signalling modern technology while staying true to our sculptural heritage. It allowed us to explore how light itself can express a progressive, radiant vision of Bentley luxury,” he added. 

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Bentley Torcal S First Edition 

The Bentley Torcal made its first appearance in New York as the S First Edition finished in Sequin Blue. 

It carries forward Bentley’s most enduring design signatures: the Bentley Diamond. Appearing since the 1920s as wire mesh grilles and diamond-stitched seats, this design is now reinterpreted for a new era, with the Torcal featuring a striking illuminated diamond grille. 

Other notable features of the Bentley Torcal include its seamless window line, sweeping roof, and its set of ten twin-spoke aerodynamic wheels. 

The cabin boasts appointments like power-adjustable seats, a 12.25-inch touchscreen infotainment display, and a 16-speaker sound system (optional Naim 28-speaker audio setup). 

Propulsion comes from a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive system that draws power from a 113-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. This setup produces 875 horsepower and 1,350 Newton-meters of torque. 

Flying Spur Art Car 

The Bentley Torcal shared the stage with the Flying Spur Art Car, which was transformed by the distinctive graphic vision of British artist David Gwyther, widely known as Death Spray. 

Gwyther harnessed light as both subject and medium through an innovative application of phosphorescent paint technology. He hand-applied an intricate masking over a base coat of deep black, blending white, blue, green, and purple glow-in-the-dark pigments. 

The resulting finish gives the sedan an activated dual identity: by day, an arresting, high-contrast graphic exterior; by night, a luminescent canvas that radiates in the dark. 

Gwyther drew inspiration from organic patterns in nature that oscillate between camouflage and radiant display to merge cutting-edge material with traditional hand-applied artistry. 

“Working with Bentley—from the FULL SEND car to this Flying Spur—has always been about meeting Crewe’s extraordinary craftsmanship with something raw and immediate. That tactile feeling of a Bentley interior, where the knurling and stitching keep you connected to the handmade process, directly influenced how I approached the car’s surfaces,” Gwyther commented. 

“For the Flying Spur, light became the defining material. Layering glow-in-the-dark phosphorescent paint over stenciled speed forms creates a dual identity: sharp contrast in daylight, followed by a striking ‘night mode’ in darkness that turns illumination itself into the graphic statement,” he added. 

The one-night exhibit highlighted CART Department’s ongoing exploration of the vehicle as an artistic medium. 

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