Bentley has unveiled the Bentayga Artenara Edition, and—predictably—it’s gone completely overboard in the way only Bentley can. This is what happens when a company decides an SUV should feel like a private members’ club that somehow learned how to climb mountains.
It’s named after Artenara, a village high up in Gran Canaria. Lovely place. Dramatic rocks, big views, thin air. Bentley looked at all that and thought.. “yes, let’s engrave the coordinates of a mountain into the dashboard – with a laser”.
So now, every time you start the car, it gently reminds you that you are not on a mountain. You’re probably outside a pharmacy.
There’s even a set of coordinates engraved into the dashboard. Actual latitude and longitude. Which means that while you’re stuck in traffic outside a shopping centre, your car is quietly reminding you of a windswept volcanic peak somewhere in the Atlantic. It’s wonderfully unnecessary. I rather like that.
Step outside and it doesn’t calm down. The front grille uses Bentley’s double diamond pattern, which looks like it belongs on a watch that costs more than your house. It’s detailed, shiny, and completely uninterested in subtlety.
If chrome feels a bit too old-school for your tastes, there’s a Blackline Specification that swaps all the shiny bits for darker trim. Gloss black skid plates, a shadowy grille, and enough menace to make it look like it’s late for something important. Probably a board meeting. Or a ski chalet.
The wheels are enormous. Twenty-two inches as standard, which already feels like you’ve strapped dinner plates to each corner. But Bentley, clearly unsatisfied, offers a 23-inch option called the Super Lux wheel. That name alone suggests someone in Crewe lost a bet and decided to double down.
And then we get to the colours. Eight of them, all carefully curated, each paired with an interior that feels like it’s been designed by someone who takes upholstery very seriously. Pale Brodgar, for instance, comes with a light, airy cabin—Portland and Beluga leather, a bit of Linen thrown in, and veneer that wouldn’t look out of place in a very expensive yacht.
Verdant goes in a completely different direction. Rich greens, Saddle and Camel leather, and a warmth that makes you think of old libraries and polished wood. You half expect to find a decanter hidden somewhere behind the dashboard.
Then there’s Sequin Blue, which sounds like it belongs on a disco shirt but actually works rather well. Especially if you pair it with the darker exterior trim. Inside, it gets playful—light blue accents, contrasting hides, and just enough flair to remind you that Bentley hasn’t entirely forgotten how to have fun.
If none of these combinations fit your mood, Bentley’s Mulliner division will sort you out. Different leathers, different finishes, different everything. At that point, you’re not choosing a spec. You’re designing a personality.
Underneath all this theatre, there are actual engines. You can have a V8, which is the traditional choice if you enjoy speed and a faint sense of mischief. Or a V6 hybrid, which suggests you care about efficiency but still want to arrive somewhere in considerable comfort. There’s also an extended wheelbase version with the V8, designed for those who prefer to be driven rather than do the driving themselves.
Because let’s be honest, this isn’t really about blasting down a country road. It can do that, of course. Effortlessly. But the Bentayga Artenara Edition feels more at home gliding through cities, pulling up outside places with doormen, or sitting quietly in a driveway that probably has gates.
Bentley has also been busy elsewhere. There’s a new paint colour called Dark Teal—deep, slightly moody, with just enough green to keep things interesting. And the giant 23-inch wheels are now available on more models, as if the world collectively decided that bigger really is better.
They’re even expanding connected car tech to more markets, which means your Bentley can now talk to your phone in more parts of the world. Useful, I suppose, though I suspect most owners are more interested in how the leather smells than how the app behaves.
Still, that’s the charm of it. The Bentayga Artenara Edition isn’t trying to be sensible. It’s trying to be memorable. And in a world full of SUVs that all look like they were designed by the same committee on the same dull Tuesday afternoon, this one at least has the decency to be a bit dramatic about it.
