Bentley EXP 15 design vision concept: A story reimagined for the future

Bentley Motors presents its latest luxury vision concept inside its brand-new design studio, which also officially opens its doors for the first time this week. EXP 15 represents Bentley’s design vision for the future, by taking inspiration from its early 20th century Grand Tourer heritage and interpreting it in a thoroughly modern 21st century way.

Accordingly, the five-metre-plus full-size physical exterior model has an iconic upright grille, long ‘endless’ bonnet and rearward cabin reminiscent of the 1930 Bentley Speed Six Gurney Nutting Sportsman coupe, often known as the “Blue Train”. This famous Bentley from history is associated with a race between Woolf Barnato – then company chairman and renowned “Bentley Boy” – and a luxury express train (Le Train Bleu) from Cannes in the south of France to Calais in the north, arriving in London before the train had even got to Calais. But in combination with ultra-modern exterior surfacing, high-tech lighting details and active aerodynamic elements, the 2025 concept roots itself firmly in the now and future. While not intended for production or indeed sale, EXP 15 also provides hints to the design of future Bentleys including the brand’s first fully electric car due soon.

Within its cabin, the design approach is just as forward-thinking. Created using virtual reality (VR) software to enable customers to see and experience a wider variety of possible configurations, it mixes familiar contemporary physical car interior features like luxury seating, wing-shaped dashboard, steering wheel, dials and switches with spellbindingly futuristic digital elements that can be brought to the fore or melt away into the background as driver mood or functional need requires.

The package is unusual for featuring three seats and three doors – rather than four or five of both – to afford greater luxury in transit for the special few and includes innovative in-cabin storage for treasured pets and/or hand luggage as well. When stationary even the boot space can take on a dual role as upmarket picnic seating.

Material choices are meticulous throughout and feature a mix of the traditional, artisanal and sustainable, combined with the ultra-modern, technical and futuristic. For example, a 100 per cent wool textile by Fox Brothers – the inventors of thorn-proof cloth and English weavers of some 250 years’ standing – is used in a damson ombre effect on EXP 15’s interior and can be found nestling in harmony with various lightweight 3D-printed titanium finishes.

The user experience (UX) is also key to EXP 15 with the car designed to act as an intelligent and thoughtful mix of a fabulous conductor and celebrated chef all rolled into one.

Robin Page, Bentley Director of Design, said: “The beauty of a concept car is not just to position our new design language, but to test where the market’s going. It’s clear that SUVs are a growing segment and we understand the GT market – through four generations of the Continental GT – but the trickiest segment is the sedan because it’s changing. Some customers want a classic ‘three-box’ sedan shape, others a ‘one-box’ design, and others again something more elevated. So this was a chance for us to talk to people and get a feeling.”

Full-size exterior model mixes classic and modern in an exhilarating and elegant new design

The EXP 15 concept embodies the five exterior design principles for Bentley that will influence its future production cars. The first principle is ‘Upright Elegance’ and expresses the idea that all the fronts of Bentley cars – in silhouette – should display a very gently curved vertical line, akin to the upper body of a thoroughbred horse, just after it has that walked forward and come to a confident stop.

Looking directly at the car from ‘front-on’, the second key exterior design principle is the ‘Iconic Grille’ which despite the changes to electrified powertrains is important to the brand’s historic visual architecture especially with a vertical line at its centre, as Director of Design, Robin Page continued: “Grilles used to be all about getting air to the combustion engine through the front of the car. But now with light technology changing we have an opportunity to create a piece of digital art. So the grille stays as our iconic front.”

The third exterior design principle Bentley’s designers have identified is the ‘Endless Bonnet Line’ reflecting a heritage and back catalogue where a large combustion engine needed to be accommodated underneath. This line continues unbroken under the side windows and right back to the rear pillar of the car in a similar way to the historic 1930 Bentley Gurney Nutting coupe. With future powertrains turning electric and less space needed for them, spare space under the EXP 15’s bonnet is repurposed into two elegant storage solutions, accessed via twin panels which again reference the Gurney Nutting coupe, this time its piano-style hinged engine covers.

The fourth exterior design principle – ‘Resting Beast’ – is best understood from the side and above. “All the finest Bentleys feature rear haunches that bulge outward from the body of the car above the rear wheels, expressing their ‘muscle’ and potent energy, just like the rounded shape of the bent upper legs of a big cat,” explains Domen Rucigaj, Head of Exterior Design. “But a Bentley’s overall stance needs to be relaxed and horizontal, not aggressively leaning forward (nor leaning back and looking ‘lazy’). I am also focused on perfect Bentley proportions which are divided, from top to bottom, into one third for the cabin and two-thirds for the body.”

The fifth and final key exterior design principle is dubbed ‘Prestigious Shield’ and on EXP 15 relates to the large and clean surface at the rear of the concept, which on heritage Bentleys like the Gurney Nutting coupe were luggage sections separate to the body – but which on EXP 15 is part of the tailgate, upon which the new winged Bentley emblem proudly sits, framed by diamond-patterned rear lights.

Muscular forms hewn and carved to create a bold presence

The surfacing of EXP 15’s bodywork over these proportions also reflects the new way modern Bentleys will be sculpted. Page and his team identified three key traits: ‘Monolithic Presence’ – to give the visual expression that elements of the car appear to be cut from a single block of stone; ‘Muscular Form’ – creating tensioned surfaces that visually indicate potential power, like an athlete’s body after an intensive training programme; and ‘Carved Precision’ – which is about reducing visual weight to ensure a clear and exact surface while keeping a sense of solidity.

Next-generation exterior lighting and aero technology elevates Bentley’s signature diamond pattern to new heights

Beyond the proportions and surfacing of EXP 15, its exterior is accented by many delightful details, both functional and aesthetic. The front headlights are made up of four ultra-slim strips towards the car’s sides – the top two vertical and the bottom two kinked inwards – and positioned just inside the wheel arches to help define the car’s edges. These lights also frame the large front grille, where a central light spine descending from just below the Winged B emblem separates the grille’s two halves and features a horizontal interpretation of Bentley’s famous diamond quilt seat design, repeated here to recall the pattern of an historic grille, but rendered with modern LED lights instead.

On each flank, just behind the front wheel arch, a pair of chunky vents help channel airflow, visually break up the body mass and provide graphic interest. Moving to the rear, more slim lights frame the large ‘Prestigious Shield’ surface and protrude for aerodynamic benefit while also revealing a pleasing 3D depth and another intricate interpretation of the diamond pattern in the process. Further aerodynamic elements include twin active spoilers that deploy from the end of the car’s rear-sloping roofline and an active aero diffuser at the car’s rearmost lower lip.

Virtual reality interior reveals innovative three-seat package

The designers of the futuristic cabin of EXP 15 also gained influence from the inside of the 1930 Speed Six Gurney Nutting Sportsman coupe, in seating number and function, if not layout and form. Darren Day, Head of Interior Design shed light on the story and thinking his team used on EXP 15’s package:

“Bentley’s then chairman Woolf Barnato had a Speed Six four-door Weymann fabric saloon by H J Mulliner, which he used to race the Blue Train in 1930. Meanwhile, he had a unique one-of-one Speed Six coupe being built, with a body by Gurney Nutting. Even though the coupe wasn’t finished when the race took place, it’s that car that’s become associated with it and has since become an iconic Bentley. What we were influenced by is the idea of a three-seat car with a unique window line and super slick proportions used for grand tours.”

In keeping with that spirit, EXP 15 also offers a three-seat layout. One door on the driver’s side opens to the driver’s seat plus a cocooning rear seat behind, while twin coach doors and part of the panoramic roof open upwards on the passenger side to allow smoother entry and exit via a more luxurious and flexible passenger-side seat that can swivel 45 degrees outwards. “The seat can rotate and you step out, totally unflustered, not trying to clamber out of the car like you see with some supercars,” continued Day. “You just get out with dignity and the Instagram shot is perfect. If you look at the car we built for Her Majesty the Queen, it was always designed around the aperture of the door and ‘the art of arrival’. It was really important for us to create that feeling here too.”

That passenger seat can also be moved to different positions according to customer mood or need: upfront alongside the driver in ‘Co-pilot’ mode, slid back to the rear-seat in ‘Standard’ setting or reclined for ‘Relax’ mode. In the latter two configurations massive legroom is created and the concept’s Concertina Floor Storage system allows footwell footrests to fold downward into the floor to create a shallow space for a pet or personal hand luggage to be strapped in – and crucially both accessible without needing to stop and open the boot.

Even the boot holds more potential function than as mere luggage carrier. Open the large rear hatch and two small seats can deploy alongside an atmospheric physical lamp and fridge stocked with cold drinks, which can slide back from the rear seats, to truly make luxury tailgate parties a pleasurable and practical reality.

Interior mixes natural and physical with technical and digital

The ‘Wing Gesture’ dashboard has long been a staple ingredient within Bentley cabins and is the brand’s first of five interior design principles, referencing the shape of the marque’s feathered emblem. The second principle – ‘Bold Gravitas’ – is about using luxury materials across large enough spaces for customers to really see and feel them properly. As Darren Day, said: “We are used to natural materials such as wood, metal – and now stone – in our cars and the human mind can tell whether something’s real or not because they’re used to seeing trees and animals and natural shapes. So we don’t try and over stylise these shapes but design them in unison with the form of the material. ‘Bold Gravitas’ is all about the confidence to have a generous amount of any one surface material, so you can really enjoy the wood veneer or the beauty of the metal.”

The idea of a ‘Cocooning Haven’ is the brand’s third interior design principle and is about the importance of cossetting Bentley’s customers. Whether upfront or in the rear, the luxury passenger-side seat has an enveloping canopy on its left-hand side which wraps up and over the seat back to create privacy when desired. The fourth element – ‘Iconic Details’ – describes the now famous elements associated with Bentley interiors, from ‘bullseye’ air vents and knurled switchgear to diamond-quilted seats.

User experience showcases ‘on-demand’ or ‘melt away’ tech that can predict customers’ needs in advance

The fifth interior design principle is a new one – dubbed ‘Magical Fusion’ – and is about Bentley’s intent to offer a mix of physical and digital features and in some instances merge the two. Like an update of Bentley’s existing ‘Rotating Dashboard’ which can reveal a infotainment screen at one moment and then rotate back to a solid dashboard surface when the screen is no longer required, EXP 15’s full-width dashboard can act as a digital interface for all manner of infotainment, or switch off to reveal a veneered wood surface visible underneath the glass. Also nestling centrally behind the screen is a clock-like device with multiple movable and illuminated fingers – called by its designers the ‘Mechanical Marvel’ – which can indicate the car’s direction of travel, the state of its electric charge and much more – or just be a delightful centrepiece to gaze upon. As Robin Page, said: “We think people are going to get fed up with a fully digital experience and are pining for physical mechanical elements too. By combining the two, you can get the best of both worlds. It’s almost like wearing a beautiful mechanical watch on one wrist and a digital watch on the other. Imagine the magical experience you would get if mechanical and digital are overlayed together.”

Material and colour innovation using traditional British suppliers

The exterior of EXP 15 sports a striking liquid metal satin paintwork finish called Pallas Gold, which if you look closely features golden white highlights and is inspired by various nickel elements on the historic Bentley Speed Six, including its grille and door handles. But what makes this paint modern is a new-to-market, ultra-thin aluminium pigment which allows it to be used on bodywork in front of safety radar devices that can still transmit ‘through’ it without reducing signal quality. Furthermore, the coating’s high reflectivity makes it easy to be detected by Lidar systems and therefore suitable in traffic where other autonomous driving systems are deployed.

On the virtual reality inside of EXP 15, the colour, trim and finish team has created four themes, with a mix of traditional and modern materials. Within the rear of the cabin designers have imagined the use of a fine silk jacquard textile to promote well-being. Woven in one of the UK’s oldest mills by the British company Gainsborough founded in 1903 – and a fabric supplier to the Queen since 1980 – the historic natural material sits in perfect harmony in the same interior as a new fine woven metal mesh called ‘Acrylic Couture’ which is encapsulated in acrylic and when illuminated can create radiant 3D effects within the dashboard.

Similarly, back-lit materials sit behind cut veneers of Bentley’s signature quilting in the door cards and elsewhere, to add even more futuristic ambience. As Andrea Jensen, Head of Colour, Materials, Finish and Bespoke said: “When you cut a diamond pattern out of the veneer and put jacquard silk or a hybrid mesh against it and light it up, you can create what we’re calling an active 3D quilt.”

Elsewhere a 100 per cent wool textile by Fox Brothers – the inventors of thorn-proof cloth and English weavers of some 250 years’ standing – is used in the damson ombre effect on EXP 15’s executive trim theme interior alongside real 3D-printed titanium finishes. And due to the material choice and its precise 3D-printed creation these metal details reduce both weight on the car and waste in production.

Conclusion: all the performance and technology required for a sophisticated and sustainable 21st century Grand Tourer

Although a dramatic design concept first and foremost, EXP 15’s creators have of course considered the powertrain that will enable 21st century Grand Tours with sustainable ease and effortless performance. To that end, EXP 15 is conceived as having a fully-electric, all-wheel drive powertrain with a long range and recharging speeds commensurate with the convenience customers have come to expect of a Bentley. But as a design concept, no further details are being given of its technical specification nor possible platform.

While the 1930 Speed Six Gurney Nutting Sportsman coupe certainly stimulated the current design team’s creativity, EXP 15 is far from an exercise in ‘retro’ or looking backwards and the cars clearly look nothing like each other. EXP 15 is not a preview of the smaller all-electric production Bentley vehicle expected in 2026 either. But subtle design cues relating to that first car are highlighted within this concept’s exterior form, as well as showcasing digital and technical ideas on the interior that could become reality in the longer-term.