Bentley’s new interior trim option really rocks

With wood and metal interior trim rendered rather pedestrian by their availability in many mass-produced cars, Bentley has moved on to something more exotic, at least from an automotive point of view: the British prestige automaker’s latest addition to its option list is stone veneer.

Available through the brand’s Mulliner coachbuilding team, the folks responsible for Bentley’s “bespoke” vehicles will lovingly apply stone veneer (in one of four colour-ways: ‘galaxy,’ ‘autumn white,’ ‘terra red,’ and ‘copper’) to the dashboard of your new Continental or Flying Spur.

Using slate and quartzite Bentley says are sustainably sourced from India, the Mulliner folks create stone surfaces just 0.1 mm (0.004 in., a conversion barely worth contemplating) thick, which renders the stone translucent and (obviously) light, and reveals the “elegant grain and pattern in the stone” to those fortunate enough to get seat time in the car. Cut from larger slabs, the stone used for the veneers is “cured” using glass fibre and resin, which we assume protects the delicate material from fracturing if the dash panel takes an impact from something.

Naturally, Bentley doesn’t mention a dollar figure for its latest trim option, but if you have to ask…