Luxury British marque Bentley has revealed the latest version of its Bentayga SUV – a customised model especially for sports shooters.
It’s called the Field Sports and it has been co-developed with shotgun specialist Purdey. It follows two other lifestyle-focused models, Bentayga Fly Fishing and Bantayga Falconry. The Falconry of course is aimed mostly at markets like Saudi Arabia, where falconry is known as the ‘sport of kings.’
Each specialised Bentayga is tailor-made at considerable cost by Bentley’s coachbuilding arm, Mulliner. Bentley hasn’t revealed the price of the Field Sports, but the Bentayga Falconry, for example, costs NZ$145,000 over the recommended retail price (RRP).
In New Zealand that’s $285,000 for the 4.0-litre diesel and $350,000 for the V12 petrol. New Zealanders who like the idea of a bespoke Field Sports with a Purdey shotgun, for instance, can expect to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over the RRP – a double-barrel Purdey alone starts at around $NZ200,000.
They would have to wait a while for such a package, too – handcrafting a Purdey can take two years. Bentley says the partnership with the shotgun maker is “a perfect fit”, thanks to the two British firms sharing a “passion for painstaking attention to detail and exquisite craftsmanship”.
The Field Sports has a humidor, a twin-compartment stowage unit in the luggage area, and an additional storage cubby between the rear seats for two shotguns.
Mulliner is Bentley speak for ‘whatever you want, made of whatever you want.’ The Bentaygo Fly Fishing comes with:
• Four rods stored in special tubes trimmed in saddle leather with linen cross-stitching and located on the underside of the parcel shelf.
• A pair of landing nets in matching leather bags stored in a carpet-trimmed hard pocket built into the side of the boot.
• Three individual, saddle-leather-trimmed units: a master tackle station; a refreshment case; and waterproof wader-stowage trunk. Inside the master tackle unit is a special Burr Walnut veneered drawer containing a fly-tying vice and tools, as well as a selection of cotton, hooks and feathers.
• Beneath this are aluminum reel cases trimmed in saddle leather with a linen cross-stitching. The interior of the refreshment case is trimmed in linen leather, and contains up to three metal flasks and a set of Mulliner fine-china tableware, as well as a separate food storage compartment. The case can also be removed and used as seating.
• Waders and boots are conveniently stowed in a handcrafted wood trunk, wrapped in saddle leather. It is lined with a waterproof neoprene.
The Bentayga Falconry (below) is fitted with a perch between the front seats. Inside the boot are two compartments – a flight station, which sits behind a second, artificially-turfed perch, and a case for refreshments.
The flight station houses a GPS bird-tracking unit, binoculars, handcrafted leather bird hoods and gauntlets, tracking antennas and various tools and tethers. A blanket, facecloths and three metal flasks are housed inside the refreshment case.
The dashboard boasts a handcrafted desert scene took nine days and 430 individual pieces of wood to craft. It features a native Saker falcon.
