■ FROM pen-and-ink sketches and water– colours

to the latest immersive virtual reality technology, Bentley is celebrating 70 years of its design department — as it prepares to relocate to a new site to create luxury electric limousines.

The first Crewe-designed Bentley was the R-Type Continental in 1951. The company’s design department has already grown tenfold to 50 in less than three decades.

Bentley’s director of design Andreas Mindt said: ‘Iconic Bentleys were created here — beautiful cars that have stood the test of time, and which inspire our styling cues to this day.

‘Our team of designers is now engaged with their next opportunity — creating our first battery electric vehicle (BEV), which must translate and reshape those classic forms and details to a truly future-facing design.’