Recently, a number of high-end carmakers have been bigging-up their in-house restoration departments and bespoke new car services.
Among the hundreds of press releases that land in my inbox on a daily basis, one growing trend has started sticking out to me recently when it comes to what some high-end manufacturers have been up to.
The most recent case in point was when Bentley revealed the latest vehicle curated as part of the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of its Crewe production facility. The first model produced there was the Mark VI from 1946-51, which gave Bentley and its bespoke division, Mulliner, an idea.
Using the stunning 1950 Mark VI from its Heritage Collection as the inspiration, its team created a new Continental GT Azure which was finished in an identical specification, teaming a solid Barnato Green finish with a black roof, and finishing the inside in Cricket Ball red leather paired with Beluga secondary accents and dark stained burr walnut trim.
This isn’t the first time Bentley has done this. In 2025, the company matched a trio of new Flying Spur saloons to some of its heritage fleet models – a 1965 T Series, 1985 Turbo R, and 2005 Continental Flying Spur.
Don’t think this kind of customisation is merely limited to Bentley, either. What made its most recent effort stand out to me was a pair of Range Rovers – a restored 1993 Range Rover Classic and customised 2027 Range Rover SV Ultra LWB – created in a matching Titan Silver finish.
That pair of luxurious 4x4s was auctioned during Monterey Car Week as part of the RM Sotheby’s sale, fetching a US$967,500 (A$1.35 million) hammer price. It was this that got me wondering whether we’re likely to see more of this at collector car sales in the future.
Porsche is known for its customisation ability as well. If I had a dollar for every time I’d heard someone talk about a ‘Paint To Sample’ (or PTS) Porsche, I might be able to afford one.
Of course, such levels of customisation – from matching your new Porsche to your classic, or even creating your own colour – are available through its Sonderwunsch (“special request”) and Exclusive Manufaktur programmes. In Porsche’s own words, “virtually nothing is off limits”, so digging a heritage colour out of the archives is a relative doddle.
We’ve likely all encountered some vehicle collectors who are particular not just about the cars they collect, but the specification of them. A friend of mine has always been particular about ‘Championship White’ Type R Honda models – of course, with red carpets.
On the upper end of the same convo, British radio presenter and one-time Top Gear host Chris Evans is known for collecting white Ferraris in particular.
So, is matching your new car to your classic the next collector car trend? Perhaps that healthy double Range Rover sale will convince some that the answer is, indeed, yes – or certainly a maybe.
What will matter most, of course, is that it’s the right pair of cars. A perfectly matched pair of Bentleys, Range Rovers, or Porsches in a unique colour will work as a true collector’s piece. With mass-produced enthusiast vehicles, don’t expect quite the same effect.
