Bentley Catches The Charity Bus

Classic Routemaster gets Bentley makeover; Crewe design team auction artwork

By Chris-R / Friday, 27 November 2009 / Loading comments

The staff at Bentley Motors in Crewe have handed over a former London Routemaster bus to the St Luke's Hospice, after lovingly restoring it in true bespoke Bentley style.

The Routemaster took 2000 hours to complete, and 59 staffmembers volunteered their time. As the pictures show, many original features have been saved (including the used ticket box which has become a collection box) while the bus has been adapted to meet the needs of St Luke's.

This has meant using the leather for which Bentley cars are synonymous throughout, all hand stitched with the St Luke’s and Bentley logos. Other skilled craftsmen from Bentley’s woodshop, toolroom and maintenance departments developed bespoke work surfaces, rails, kitchen unit and shelves to help St Luke’s staff in their public awareness and fundraising activities.

Bentley production manager in charge of the project, Gary Lazenby, said: "This has been a real labour of love for all those involved. Bentley staff are incredibly proud of the cars we produce but applying those skills to a bus was a totally new experience for all. We are very grateful to the many local suppliers who provided materials free of charge to help make this iconic vehicle fit for a new lease of life."

The bus, named Luke, will be used as a travelling shop for colleges and universities as well as an education and awareness base to visit schools and other events. There will also be an on-board charity shop to help the hospice raise funds while on the road.

Meanwhile, the Bentley design team have also been turning the hands to charity work, creating some stunning Bentley-themed works of art that will be auctioned at Bonhams in London on Tuesday next week. (Dec 1st)

We've posted some examples below to give you a flavour of the fabulous works up for grabs (along with some more piccies of the bus), but if you want to find out more, you can see all the images and artworks at the Bentley Passion website here.