The Bentley EXP 15 Is Designed For The World’s Poshest Tailgate Parties

Remember last week when Bentley unveiled its redesigned logo? Really, that was just to whet our appetites for a big concept car reveal, and here it is. It’s called the Bentley EXP 15, and much like a certain other concept recently unveiled by a British luxury marque, there’s a good chance you have Strong Opinions on it.

Whatever those opinions, though, you don’t have to worry too much/get too excited about seeing one of these on the road, because it’s not designed to preview any actual production cars. Instead, it’s intended to give us a hint at some of the design principles Bentley will include on its future models, which it separates into five key pillars: ‘Upright Elegance’, ‘Iconic Grille’, ‘Endless Bonnet Line’, ‘Resting Beast’ and ‘Prestigious Shield’.

Those are certainly some words, but dive into them a bit and you can see where they’re in play on the EXP 15. ‘Upright Elegance’, for instance, refers to the way the front end of the car begins vertically before curving upwards into the bonnet.

As for the ‘Iconic Grille’, that’s pretty self-explanatory. The big, bold front grille with a central vertical dividing line has long been a Bentley hallmark, but since the EXP 15 is theoretically electric, there’s less need for it to be used for gulping up air. Instead, it’s used as a giant light installation, with a pattern inspired by quilted leather backlit by LEDs.

The bonnet line isn’t literally ‘Endless’ – that would be impossible – but view the car side on, and the line drawn by its surface continues on along the bottom of the windows and right through to the tail. ‘Resting Beast’, meanwhile, refers to the big, bulging rear haunches. And ‘Prestigious Shield’? That’s the big, uncluttered surface surrounded by the rear lights, which in the early days of Bentley, would have been where a separate luggage compartment would have gone.

In fact, a lot of the EXP 15 draws from the marque’s early models – specifically, the 1930 Speed Six Gurney Nutting Sportsman Coupe (yes, that’s its real name). This is better known as the car built for ‘Bentley Boy’ Woolf Barnato to race France’s ‘Blue Train’ from Cannes to Calais that year, although the car wasn’t actually finished in time, and ended up using a different one. The Gurney Nutting’s distinctive curved fastback profile is referenced by the EXP 15’s roofline.

That shape isn’t the only nod to aero. There are also twin active spoilers that pop out of the end of the roofline, and a deployable diffuser at the rear. Or there would be, if this wasn’t a concept.

It’s on the inside where things get really concepty, though. For a start, it’s a three-seater, but not McLaren F1-style. The driver gets a single seat of their own, with two big private jet-spec seats in the rear. There’s only three doors, too, with two of them dedicated to giving the grandest possible entry/exit to the seat on the left – the two doors, plus part of the roof, open up while the seat swivels out by 45 degrees. It’s like an influencer’s fever dream.

That left hand seat can also slide forward to be up front in case the driver wants some company, as well as recline for maximum relaxation, and there's even space to strap in luggage or a dog basket. Other interior party tricks include the boot that’s designed for the world’s poshest tailgate parties: the hatch opens up to reveal ambient lighting, two flip down seats and a drinks cooler. You can just picture the owner of this thing parking up next to a beat-up Chevy Silverado outside an NFL stadium, and getting a grille and multiple cold Budweisers on the go.

All the infotainment is handled by virtual reality – it can be switched off entirely to leave you with a massive wood surface if a bit of digital detox is in order. There’s nothing as old-fashioned and environmentally damaging as leather to be found in here, either – the seats are trimmed in a 100 per cent wool blend, like on a Toyota Century (we mean this in a wholly flattering way).

You’ll notice we’ve got this far with barely a mention of the powertrain, and that’s because beyond it being theoretically electric and all-wheel drive, Bentley hasn't given any details. Which is fair enough, because this is nothing more than a display of design intent.

We still probably won’t see anything remotely like it as a production car any time soon, though – just little elements of it working their way onto cars like Bentley’s first electric car, a sub-Bentayga SUV that we’ll see next year. In the meantime, would you want to see something like the EXP 15 hit the road for real?