Bentley brought nearly a century of its performance history to the hills above Lake Maggiore for Tutto Bene, with cars ranging from a 1926 Super Sports and Le Mans-winning Speed 8 to the Pikes Peak Bentayga and latest Supersports.
The September gathering marked Bentley’s second appearance with Tutto Bene in as many months, following the Stazione Remota event held in California’s Carmel Valley during Monterey Car Week. This time the setting was Mottarone, the mountain overlooking Lake Maggiore and Stresa in northern Italy, where the event combines a hillclimb with an informal gathering of enthusiast cars, design and automotive culture.
Two Bentleys tackled the six-kilometer Mottarone hillclimb: the Supersports “FULL SEND” car previously driven around Bentley’s Crewe factory by Travis Pastrana and the Bentayga that competed at Pikes Peak in 2018.
Rather than operating as a conventional timed competition, the Tutto Bene Hill Climb emphasizes style and entertainment. The Bentleys carried VIP passengers up the course, providing a particularly unusual second act for the Pikes Peak Bentayga eight years after its competition appearance in Colorado.
FROM LE MANS TO A GLOW-IN-THE-DARK FLYING SPUR
Bentley assembled an equally varied collection at Bar Stazione, the central gathering point for the event. Among the cars was the Bentley Speed 8 that won the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans, representing one of the most important competition cars in the marque’s modern history.
It was joined by the Bentayga X Concept, Bentley’s more extreme off-road interpretation of its SUV first shown at the FAT Ice Race earlier this year.
A rather different Flying Spur came from Welsh artist David Gwyther, better known as Deathspray. The car received a glow-in-the-dark livery designed to become increasingly visible as daylight faded, making it as much an art installation within the Tutto Bene setting as a conventional vehicle display.
That mixture suited an event deliberately positioned somewhere between a hillclimb, car gathering and automotive culture festival. Tutto Bene is organized in collaboration with Los Angeles-based Race Service and Italian design studio BorromeodeSilva, with the Mottarone road and surrounding landscape providing the backdrop.
A 1926 BENTLEY ON ISOLA MADRE
The oldest Bentley of the weekend was “Smoky,” an original 1926 Super Sports that joined a drivers’ dinner on Isola Madre, one of the Borromean Islands in Lake Maggiore.
The car has spent much of the summer with Bentley as part of the company’s activities surrounding the latest Supersports. Loaned by owners Mike and Josh Thompson, Smoky has appeared at events including the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Monterey Car Week and has been driven rather than simply displayed.
Following Tutto Bene, the century-old Bentley is returning to its owners in northeast England.
Its presence in Italy also created an appropriate bookend for Bentley’s contribution to the weekend. From a 1926 Super Sports to the latest Supersports, with a Le Mans winner, Pikes Peak record-setting SUV, off-road concept and art car in between, the small collection covered markedly different interpretations of what a performance Bentley can be.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Event: Tutto Bene Hill Climb
Location: Mottarone / Lake Maggiore, Italy
Date: September 2026
Hillclimb: 6 km (3.7 miles)
Featured Bentleys: Supersports “FULL SEND,” 2018 Pikes Peak Bentayga, 2003 Speed 8, Bentayga X Concept, Deathspray Flying Spur and 1926 Super Sports “Smoky”
Event Partners: Tutto Bene, Race Service and BorromeodeSilva
PHOTO GALLERY
