Lunaz Design Unveils The World’s Rarest Upcycled Electric Vehicle

Lunaz Design has unveiled the rarest classic car ever to be transformed to fully electric power. It’s a Bentley S2 Continental which is one of only four examples built. In its original specification, it was powered by a 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine. Today, now completely restored and reimagined, it’s equipped with Lunaz’s in-house designed proprietary modular electric powertrain, which comprises high-grade Tier 1 OEM battery cells and motors.

This specific example was built in 1961. According to the build sheets, the first owner initially commissioned a four-door body from leading London coachbuilder James Young; but he evidently had a change of heart at the last minute, since research shows the car has only ever existed in its present two-door form.

The Bentley Continental was always the rarest S2 variant – the Standard and Long Wheelbase versions represented more than 80% of the total number produced – and today, this specific car is one of only a handful left in the world.

Undergoing the same upcycling process proven on a number of rare, high-value luxury cars over the past four years. The result is a Concours-standard vehicle that meets Lunaz’s three key requirements for an upcycled electric vehicle: usability, reliability and sustainability.

It starts with a detailed inspection and assessment to determine the chassis, powertrain, and suspension configurations. Lunaz Design’s engineers use 3D scanning to create detailed Computer Aided Design (CAD) models as the basis for any renovation and reconstruction work required.

The car body is then stripped down to a bare metal shell and returned to as-new condition using traditional coachbuilding and restoration techniques. Any external and internal materials are repaired and recoated: anything that can’t be reused, down to the nylon in the seatbelt cord, is recycled.

The internal combustion engine and its associated systems, lubricants and other fluids are carefully removed and reclaimed, then replaced with Lunaz’s proprietary fully-electric powertrain. The modular design, developed entirely in-house, allows engineers to adjust individual components to perfectly reflect the car’s innate character, and the owner’s personal preferences. The battery cells, inverters and motors are all original equipment made to Lunaz’s specification by European Tier 1 suppliers, as used by OEM carmakers.

Other vital systems, including brakes, steering, suspension and electrics, are all given Lunaz Design’s full modernisation treatment to bring them into line with the dynamic expectations of the customer as well as current safety standards.

As specified by the client, the fully electric Bentley S2 Continental is now equipped with a clean-air 400 bhp powertrain, 0-100 kmph is achieved in 6.9 seconds. To ensure handling capability in line with contemporary standards, suspension is uprated to a fully adjustable coil-spring suspension with a lever arm damper. This is configurable electronically from the cabin of the car. Likewise, its brakes, which also incorporate a battery regeneration system, have been upgraded to six-piston calipers in the front and four-piston variants in the rear.