Bentley crafts mechanical artwork for Prince's Trust charity auction

Most of us will never own an ultraluxury car such as a Bentley, but for a slightly lesser price you can still have something built in Crewe.

Bentley Motors and its employees from the tooling, woodshop and styling departments have created a range of collector items the will cross the auction block to raise funds for the Prince's Trust charity. The items include Bentley artwork, a chess set and Bentley camshaft lamps.

"The design brief for the auction," said Bentley board member Michael Straughan, "was to create unique and desirable items based upon the core materials, parts and processes that are used to build cars such as the Mulsanne and Continental GT."

The Prince's Trust is a youth charity that provides practical and financial support for 14-to-30-year-olds who have struggled at school, are long-term unemployed or who have been in trouble with the law. The charity claims to have helped more than 600,000 young people gain workplace skills since 1976.

About 20 Bentley pieces have been commissioned; all of them except the cutlery set were designed in and built at the Bentley factory. The auction will be hosted online at www.bentleybespokeauction.com, with bidding opening on Sept. 1.

By Jake Lingeman