Bentley Continental GT Pikes Peak Edition by Mulliner

The Pikes Peak Continental GT by Mulliner celebrates Bentley’s 2019 production-car hill-climb record with a fifteen-car customer programme. Announced in December 2019, the edition entered limited production in August 2020. Radium paint and track-themed cabin details connect it with the record achievement, while the factory photograph distinguishes the first customer car from the record car behind it.

Bentley Continental GT Pikes Peak Edition by Mulliner at a glance

The record inspires a separate customer edition

The Pikes Peak Continental edition refers to Bentley’s 2019 production-car record at the Colorado hill climb. It is a commemorative customer programme, separate from the individual vehicle used for the timed run. This distinction matters because both can wear related green-and-black treatments and appear together in manufacturer images. The road edition should be identified through its own name and original build specification. The record car’s history belongs to the record car. A connected archive can describe their relationship clearly while keeping each subject’s identity intact, allowing the reader to understand why the customer edition was created without assigning a race result to every one of its cars.

A December 2019 announcement and a 2020 build milestone

Bentley announced the limited edition in December 2019, then reported the first customer car completed in August 2020. The supplied inventory’s 2020 date therefore reflects the production phase, while this profile uses 2019 as the announcement reference. Both dates belong in the story. For an individual car, its completion and delivery records add further detail. Near a calendar-year boundary, keeping events labelled is more useful than selecting one year and ignoring the other. It also helps separate the commemorative programme from the June 2019 record event, which was the achievement that prompted Bentley to create the edition in the first place.

The fifteen-car programme is Continental-specific

The manufacturer limits this Continental programme to fifteen and reports that all cars were allocated. The figure does not describe the earlier Pikes Peak Bentayga edition or every green Bentley associated with the hill climb. Here, fifteen remains the announced programme limit; the first completed car is a documented production milestone, not a complete chassis census. A car’s original order record establishes its membership and selected equipment. The edition count supplies context, while the individual record explains the vehicle itself. This approach is particularly useful for Pikes Peak-themed cars, whose similar liveries can otherwise make separate Bentayga, Continental and competition subjects easy to confuse.

Radium paint and the visual connection with the event

The edition’s Radium finish is part of the manufacturer’s stated visual connection with the record car. Dark surfaces around the body and the contrasting accents make the programme recognisable in the factory image. Look at how the bright colour follows the Continental’s large curved panels and how the dark treatment changes their apparent outline. The body is still that of a modern road-going Continental GT, and the image should not be read as proof of competition specification. A collector file benefits from exterior views showing both the overall livery and the individual edition details, with the original specification retained beside them.

Optional graphics should not become universal rules

Bentley’s production account describes the mountain decal and the centenary 100 grille as optional. A genuine Pikes Peak edition therefore need not reproduce every graphic seen on the launch or first-customer car. This is an important point for photographic identification. Distinctive paint can draw attention, but edition membership is better supported by build records and the coordinated specification than by a single optional marking. When photographing a car, record which graphics it actually carries and preserve the factory order where possible. The archive can then describe variation within the fifteen-car programme without excluding a car simply because it differs from one promotional presentation.

The track appears inside the cabin

The cabin includes a fascia graphic relating to the Pikes Peak route, alongside edition embroidery and contrasting details. This brings the event theme into the passenger compartment rather than leaving it only on the exterior. A dashboard photograph can show how the route graphic sits within the surrounding trim and how the edition name appears elsewhere in the cabin. For the reader, that is more informative than an isolated badge image. The road car remains a grand tourer with a complete passenger interior. Its event references commemorate the achievement while working within a different environment from the car used to establish the record.

W12 road-car performance and the record time

The manufacturer’s customer-edition reference gives the W12 626 bhp and 900 Nm. Bentley’s engine-history account separately records the hill-climb result as 10 minutes 18.488 seconds. These facts answer different questions: one describes the edition’s mechanical reference, the other the historic event. The article keeps them labelled rather than implying the customer car was timed in the same run. This makes comparisons with the Bathurst Continental GT S more meaningful. Pikes Peak celebrates a production-car record, while Bathurst celebrates a GT3 racing victory through a different road derivative. Similar motorsport imagery can therefore express very different relationships between event and customer model.

The first customer car is an authenticated photographic subject

The factory photograph accompanies Bentley’s August 2020 first-build account. The customer edition stands in the foreground, with the record car behind it. Its source context is retained in the caption so the two vehicles are not silently exchanged. This is especially valuable for an archive trying to avoid misleading stand-in photographs. Readers can examine the actual edition while following the image back to the manufacturer’s production milestone. Together, the source, programme limit and labelled photograph give the profile a clear identity. The Pikes Peak Continental’s significance lies in that specific record-inspired customer programme, with a documented introduction and a real first-production example.

Frequently asked questions

Was the edition announced in 2019 or 2020?

It was announced in December 2019. Bentley reported the first customer build in August 2020.

What is the programme limit?

Fifteen Continental GT customer-edition cars, separate from the Pikes Peak Bentayga programme.

Must every car have the mountain decal and 100 grille?

No. Bentley’s production account describes those treatments as optional.

Is the foreground car the record car?

No. Bentley’s photograph shows the first customer edition in front, with the record car behind it.

Explore related vehicle profiles

• Bentley Continental GT Number 9 Edition by Mulliner
• Bentley Continental GT S Bathurst Collection
• Bentley Bentayga Speed Space Edition

Sources

• Bentley — first customer Pikes Peak Continental GT completed, August 2020
• Bentley — Pikes Peak Continental GT edition announcement, December 2019
• Bentley — W12 history and the 2019 Pikes Peak record

Facts are sourced to the linked manufacturer, institutional and specialist records. Design comparisons and documentation suggestions are editorial analysis. Announced limits and completed production populations are labelled separately.

Photography and credit

The first customer Pikes Peak Continental GT by Mulliner at Crewe in August 2020; the record car appears behind it. Photo: Bentley Motors / Bentley Newsroom · Editorial reproduction only. Resized and JPEG encoded without cropping or content changes. Bentley permits editorial reproduction only, excluding advertising, marketing and sales-related use. Copyright Bentley Motors; individual photographer not identified.