South Cheshire car maker Bentley Motors is opening its visitor experience centre next to the factory in Crewe.
The front-of-house area, with its changing display of modern and recent heritage Bentleys, is open in business hours for anyone to access.
And Bentley is now offering paid-for guided tours with a customer host of the centre and lineage area which includes some of the most important cars in Bentley’s Heritage Collection dating from before 1945 and rarely seen in public.
The new bookable experiences provide access for anyone to the Home of Bentley.
Guided tour continues into Lineage, Bentley’s heritage exhibition, where guests are guided through a digitally immersive journey explaining the start of Bentley’s journey from 1919.
Wayne Bruce, director of Visitor Experience and Heritage, at Bentley Motors, said: “Opening our doors to a wider audience marks an exciting new chapter for Bentley.
“CW1 House and Lineage have been created to offer a truly immersive experience of our brand, from our rich heritage to our vision for the future.
“We are delighted to now welcome members of the public to Crewe, giving them the opportunity to explore our world of craftsmanship, innovation and luxury first-hand.”
Tours will be available on selected weekdays and must be booked in advance. Pricing starts from £20 per person.
The new public offering marks a significant step in Bentley’s aim to be open up to a wider audience.
Customers have been able to visit and returning visitors will notice the range of changes including new buildings onsite like the paintshop as well as The Mews, a private customer facility located near to the factory.
Although members of the public cannot access the main site, this is planned for the next phase of opening up Bentley in Crewe.
For further information and booking details, visit bentleymotors.com
Dear Jem,
I most certainly am not intending criticism of today’s Splendid VW/Bentley Organisation but simply find ‘Destiny’ starkly ironic, incongruous even, that the Crewe Factory once manufacturing Merlin engines vital to the British War Effort against Germany is now owned lock stock and barrel by that Country!
No doubt it’s only wisely prudent and perfectly correct History should be firmly brushed under the carpet but it is not without a tinge of sadness relatives of those who gave and sacrificed so much flying Spitfires and Lancasters now see Celebrated British Marques ‘Bentley and Rolls Royce’ annexed by Germany!
Maybe some of those descendants have well-paid employment in a clean and modern factory,? Perhaps some have benefited from the £1 billion plus investment VW made in Crewe? Had those things not happened, there is little doubt the factory would not exist today. Yes, the loss of life is awful, but millions died in both sides, and I don’t think we can -or should- hold anyone at Bentley or Volkswagen responsible for the events of three generations ago.
Can’t help wondering if the German owned Bentley ‘Visitors Experience’ includes the views of descendants of the 17 folks killed and 60 injured by German bombs on the Factory back in 1940?.. It’s a Crazy World indeed?…