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The Bentley GT Mulliner Blackline

Numbers prove that about 38 percent of new orders for a Bentley Continental GT come with the option of black bright ware, instead of having bright chrome on the outside of this luxurious Gran Turismo model from Crewe, it seems that just shy of half of the customer base prefer to see black details on their new Bentley, and until now this wasn’t an option for the special GT Mulliner edition.

That has changed now, with the introduction of the GT Mulliner Blackline, a handbuilt car that comes with a myriad of changes compared to the regular GT Mulliner, and as of now this new Blackline option is offered on both the coupe and the convertible version, imagine this on a deep black metallic car, that must look so intimidating given the size of the Bentley GT, and while the press car is presented in a very dark metallic violet shade which looks great too, personally I would go all blacked out.

Having the otherwise chrome details on the outside of these Bentley GT Mulliner Blackline makes them look even more contemporary, while chrome oozes class, black trim completely transforms this high-performance four-seater GT into something completely different, more menacing, and surely appealing to a wide audience given the number of GT that are ordered this way already, now you can have it on your new GT Mulliner too.

On the special GT Mulliner Blackline, just about the only thing kept bright is the Bentley Winged B badge at the front and rear, but the radiator grille bezel goes black, the typical satin silver upper mirror caps on the regular GT Mulliner turn to Beluga Black on the Blackline version, while another Mulliner signature, the matrix wing vents go dark too with bright Mulliner branding. On the other hand, the radiator grille stays black with bright edges for a 3D look, and the grille insets in the lower bumper turn black too.

Massive 22-inch black wheels are standard on the GT Mulliner Blackline, naturally, these come with the self-leveling badge on the center cap, but as an option, you can go for a black wheel with contrast polished insets, personally, I would keep the all-black rims if I’m honest, they just suit this Blackline version perfectly, and that big B on the center is enough contrast to keep it interesting and luxurious looking, no need for more brightwork on these wheels.

If you think you’ll have a hard time selecting an exterior color from the vast palette Mulliner offers, you’ll be in for a surprise when you start looking at the endless list of possibilities for the interior. If you take the easy way out you can opt for one of eight three-color combinations, but where’s the fun in that, so you’ll have to specify something really bespoke for your new GT Mulliner Blackline.

The press release states: “As part of the standard Mulliner Driving Specification, the interior incorporates Bentley’s unique “Diamond in Diamond” quilting for the seats, doors, and rear quarter panels, featuring both contrast and accent stitching running through the diamond layout. With almost 400,000 stitches in the cabin of each car, each diamond contains exactly 712 individual stitches, all precisely aligned to point to the center of the diamond it creates. A true mark of unrivaled automotive craftsmanship.” So you’ll even have to specify the color for the stitching next to just about any panel on the dashboard and central console, the time of just walnut wood is long gone at Bentley Mulliner.

Some might state you’ll just have to go for the largest engine possible, which in this case on the Bentley GT is the iconic W12 twin-turbo 6-Liter engine that delivers 635 PS, but some state the lighter 4-Liter V8 with ‘just’ 550 PS is the better option for this car, I’ve been told it is more agile compared to the more lazy W12 engine, while the latter does offer effortless performance.

December 1, 2021 / Comments Off

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Best of the Current Bentley Model Lineup

Bentley is an indispensable member of the British luxury car quadrumvirate (alongside Jaguar, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin). Headquartered in Crewe, England, the automaker is infamous for its iconic grand tourers and sedans – respectively, the Continental and Mulsanne. Bentley has also recently entered the SUV playing-field with the introduction of its Bentayga, which has quickly become the brand’s best selling vehicle.

For the near future, Bentley has been aggressively preparing its entire roster towards a transition to plug-in hybrid drivetrains. On the more long term battlefront, we can expect fully electric models as well. It looks like Bentley is playing the long game here, as it looks to remain relevant in the years and decades to come.

The uber-luxury automaker did not add any new models to the lineup for 2021, and are in fact discontinuing one of their most iconic cars – the flagship Bentley Mulsanne. Not to worry though, as the Mulsanne is slated for a return in the near future, as part of Bentley’s hybridization initiative.

To pass the time, Mulsanne fans can look forward to a ‘send-off’ version of the car known as the “6.75 Edition” by Mulliner. Mind you, this version is limited to just 30 examples which are more than likely all spoken for by now. Bentley have also added new options and revised some features across the current range, to keep things fresh and enticing.

Here are the best brand new Bentley cars you can purchase today.

Bentley Continental GT V8

Base MSRP: $206,600 USD (coupe), $227,200 USD (convertible)

With a lively V8 engine delivering irresistibly dynamic performance, accompanied by the sound of its uniquely emotive burble, the new Bentley Continental GT V8 offers a truly engaging driving experience – a grand tourer that makes every journey breathtaking. The Continental GT V8 is exceptionally responsive, delivering powerful yet smooth acceleration, accompanied by the irresistible sound of a Bentley V8 engine. The Bentley Continental GT V8 Convertible offers all of the above, with an exhilarating open-air grand-touring experience also at your beckoning.

I love that Bentley is now offering a “base” Continental GT with a V8 engine. It makes sense and it looks to be really good business on their part. For starters, this variant offers a more engaging and spirited driving experience for those owners who prefer to be the ones driving themselves around; not their chauffeurs. On the business side of things, offering the V8 variant lowers the price of entry just a tad, too. More Continentals for all!

Bentley Bentayga Speed W12

Base MSRP: $245,000 USD

It’s not often that we are picking SUVs as our favorite cars, or lavishing much praise on them. Yet here we are in 2021, with the Bentayga deserving all the plaudits, dare I say. After all, Bentley claims its top-dog Bentayga Speed is the fastest SUV in the world, able to sprint from 0-60 mph in just 3.8 seconds, on its way to a mind-boggling top speed of 190 mph. This is in large part thanks to its manufacturer-special W12 engine – a 6.0L twin-turbocharged unit which produces 626 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. Believe it or not, it isn’t just about straight line speed either, because this SUV handles better than you would ever expect from a vehicle with its dimensions and weight.

Like so many other premium and exotic automakers, Bentley has brought their A-game to the SUV segment, looking to establish its dominance in this competitive and highly lucrative market. The Bentayga is a midsize crossover SUV which has become the marque’s best seller since it was made available in the 2016 model year. There are two petrol-engine options available in the range; a more-than-capable 4.0L twin-turbocharged V8 and the 6.0L twin-turbocharged W12. Diesel and Hybrid engines are also available, making for a diverse Bentayga roster equipped to suit just about any palette.

October 18, 2021 / Comments Off

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Bentley Continental is the fastest car on sustainable fuel

Unfortunately setting a new record wasn’t an option at the latest Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the Time Attack 1 class, due to icy conditions at the summit of Pikes Peak, the course was shortened to finish at an altitude of 12,780 ft instead of the normal 14,115 ft, which rendered all ambition to set a new record impossible to realize, but the Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak still managed an incredible feat despite a let engine issue.

In the end, the Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak, jointly developed by a collaborative team of Bentley, Fastr, Roger Clark Motorsport, M-Sport, and Rhys Millen Racing, took second place in the grueling Time Attack 1 class and 4th place overall with former King of the Mountain Rhys Millen (NZ) behind the wheel, in a time of 6:36.281, a full 12 seconds faster than her closest competitor … if it wasn’t for a boost pressure issue just a few corners from the end, they would have been 16 seconds faster, which would have meant a first-place finish in her class.

It is wasn’t for the removal of the last third of the normal course, with a finish at Devil’s Playground, things might have looked considerably different for the Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak, according to Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Paul Williams: “We know we had the pace today both to win our class and to break the Time Attack 1 record. The weather sadly wasn’t with us though, with the shortened course meaning our assault on the record was never a possibility. While that’s a bitter pill to swallow, I’m proud to have entered such a strong renewably-powered racecar – the fastest at the event – and equally proud of the team that’s delivered this project. This is the first step on Bentley’s renewable fuel journey, and there will be many more opportunities to come. Perhaps we’ll even come back to Pikes Peak next year…”

This 2021 entry into the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was their third stint in recent editions, with highly successful record runs in a specially-prepared Bentayga that took the ‘Production SUV’ record), and another Continental GT that set the ‘Production Class record’, this year’s entry is the first of a long-term renewable fuels program created to develop the use of genuinely sustainable fuels to future Bentley clients.

The 750+ bhp Continental GT3 Pikes Peak is the first step from Bentley into a renewably powered racecar, this trend will continue as part of their Beyond100 strategy to evolve into the world’s leading sustainable luxury mobility company, including their future racecars.

Let’s enjoy some more photos of this amazing Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak during her Hill Climb at Pikes Peak 2021:

June 29, 2021 / Comments Off

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Bentley inspired yacht interior

We’ve published our article on the multi-million dollar Rolls Royce Boattail a while ago, a one-off bespoke build by Rolls Royce Coachbuild department with a clear inspiration taken from yachting, in the end, we’ll be seeing three of these very bespoke, unique cars being built, if the two next ones will also be Boat Tail isn’t officially released yet, but they will be well over $20,000,000 each, so their owners will probably be superyacht owners too.

This brings us to Bentley, now we all know Bentley has their own in-house Mulliner service that allows clients to go beyond the already very impressive list of options offered by Bentley in terms of colors and hides, and let’s not forget the Bentley Bacalar W12, based on the Continental GT, but taking the concept to the next level with over 750 bespoke parts made just for the Bacalar, only 12 of these stunning convertibles will be built, and all of them are sold out a long time ago.

So where are we going with this you might ask … Bentley goes the other way round compared to Rolls Royce, instead of building a car inspired by yachting, they had the Bentley Design Services work together with a yacht builder in the Netherlands to create a bespoke interior for an 18-meters long Contest 59 CS sailing to match the stunning blue metallic Bentley Continental GT V8 Coupe owned by the same person.

It seems this will be a one-off project between Bentley Motors in the United Kingdom and Contest Yachts in the Netherlands, the trim for the 18-meter yacht was in fact made by craftsmen in Crewe to match the Hostpur red leather with Linen Beige interior found inside the owner’s Continental GT, so this Contest 59 CS yacht has the exact same leather on her interior.

Down to the very special diamond-in-diamond quilting pattern found on the seats of the Bentley Continental GT Coupe, a pattern unique to Bentley that is made from exactly 712 stitches per diamond and a skilled artisan using a custom-built machine to get the perfect finish on the interior of both this amazing Grand Tourer for the road and this premium class sailing yacht from Contest.

In fact, the owner went as far as requesting the hull of his 18-meters sailing yacht to match the body of his Bentley Continental GT Coupe finished in Light Sapphire, a dark blue metallic shade that looks absolutely gorgeous, the red from the leather inside is taken to the exterior on the large brake calipers behind the black diamond-cut wheels.

June 13, 2021 / Comments Off

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Bentley’s Continental GT3 Pikes Peak specifications

Bentley already managed to obtain two Pikes Peak records, in 2018 the Bentley Bentayga W12 took the Production SUV record, and in 2019 a Bentley Continental achieved the outright Production Car record, for the 2021 edition of the Pikes Peak mountain time attack, Bentley is bringing a Continental GT3 that’s been prepared specifically for this record attempt, on June 27 none other than three-time Pikes Peak champion and former “King of the Mountain” Rhys Millen (NZ) will be behind the wheel of this special Bentley.

To break the current record for the Pike Peak Time Attack 1 the Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak edition will have to start at 9,300 ft and climb a total of almost 5,000 ft to reach the finish line at an altitude of 14,100 ft, where the air is a third less dense than at sea level, it will take Rhys into a total of 156 corners, during which he’ll have to reach an average speed of more than 78 mph to reach the top in less than 9 minutes and 36 seconds.

To achieve such a feat, this Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak special has been heavily modified to make it competitive on those altitudes, and that started with the engine, a 4.0-Liter twin-turbo race-proven version of the normal road car unit has been completely reworked to reach a power output of more than 750 bhp and 1,000 Nm of torque … at sea level testing. But to make even more power at the race itself they will install different pistons and conrods to achieve a higher boost pressure in excess of 2.2 bar.

None other than famous exhaust company Akrapovic 3D-printed bespoke, one-off titanium manifolds that get a pair of larger turbos complete with external wastegates … the exhaust itself is very short and comes with dedicated ‘screamer’ pipes that come out of the bodywork inches behind the front wheels.

During the Pikes Peak Time Attack this Bentley Continental GT3 will be running on Fuel, a dedicated blend of advanced biofuels designed for racing called 98RON Renewable Racing Fuel with a greenhouse gas reduction of up to 85%, as part of the strategy to maximize the pace of Bentley’s progress towards outright carbon neutrality, as part of its Beyond100 journey.

Because at the altitudes the Pikes Peak mountain track is located the air being a lot less dense, the Bentley Continental GT3 needs additional cooling for the high-performance engine, so there is a secondary cooling system installed, complete with a dedicated second water pump and air scoops that completely replace the rear side windows and draw air onto an additional radiator that has air vents integrated into the rear boot lid.

Both the gearbox and the engine run on Mobil1 supplied oil, the purpose race-built gearbox is a standard track unit from Bentley but comes with bigger rear driveshafts to handle the massive torque. The chassis on the other hand has been meticulously finetuned specifically for the Pikes Peak event, running a reduced camber both on the front and on the rear axle compared to a regular Continental GT3, which helps with low-speed corners on this special mountain track.

Aerodynamic balance is very important in a car with this kind of performance, but for the Pikes Peak race Bentley had to heavily modify the standard aero kit, they managed a 30% increase in downforce at sea level, this Pikes Peak version comes with the largest rear wing Bentley ever fitted to a car that hovers above a modified rear diffuser … but to keep the overall balance a substantially modified front aerodynamic setup had to be created, we now see a two-plane front splitter with separate dive planes, mostly made from carbon nylon filament in their rapid prototype department.

The Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak boasts the race livery from Roger Clark Motorsport, they will run the car in the UK) in a stunning black-and-gold theme, but for this occasion, Bentley had to add their instantly-recognizable Pikes Peak mountain graphic that was also featured on the earlier Pikes Peak variants of the Bentayga in 2018 and the Continental GT in 2019.

The Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak is already located in the United States as you read this, going through some extensive chassis tests at Willow Springs and later also high-altitude testing in Aspen, Colorado to make sure they can finetune the engine and calibrate everything for maximum performance at Pikes Peak later this month. At the same time, they had an engine running through extremely high-load tests at the base of M-Sport in Cumbria back in the UK.

I for one can’t wait to see how this black-and-gold Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak will perform on June 27 on the mountain track … let’s hope they can break, or at least come close to the standing record …

June 6, 2021 / Comments Off

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The Continental GT Speed Chassis Tech

We’ve published the story on the impressive Bentley Continental GT Speed a while ago, a little after that we even put the story on the Continental GT Speed Convertible online, and as far as we know there hasn’t been a customer car delivered at the time of writing, but Bentley is track testing their GT Speed ferociously it seems, and part of those tests are meant to be able to fine-tune the amazing chassis Bentley is using on the GT Speed version, they call it ‘The most advanced Bentley chassis yet’.

A Bentley is known for being luxurious and comfortable to drive, but their Continental GT Speed is also fast, very fast … and making a car that’s in the supercar league also a GT, Gran Turismo, isn’t as easy as it sounds, so Bentley had to develop a new chassis for this top of the line two-door luxury GT, in comes the Bentley Dynamic Ride and their three-chamber active air suspension with adaptive damping, add the 440mm carbon-ceramic brakes (an option that shaves 33 kg from the overall weight) and you end up with a very impressive car made in Crewe.

The Bentley Continental GT Speed comes with a four-wheel drive, but depending on the mode set by the driver the emphasis can shift more to the rear wheels, for added fun while driving. Both ‘Bentley’ and ‘Comfort’ driving modes come with a nicely balanced setting to the front and the rear wheel, but the ‘Sport’ mode sends more power to the rear wheels only, which happen to steer too on this model, the Bentley Continental GT Speed comes with all-wheel steering.

The All-Wheel Steering on the Bentley Continental GT Speed can move the rear wheels by up to 4 degrees, the steering combined with Bentley’s Dynamic Ride and the electronic limited-slip differential offers a level of agility never seen before on a Bentley road car, when you opt to turn off the ESC, the mechanical grip and inherent balance of the GT Speed becomes apparent, allowing a driver-focused experience previously only found in the famous Bentley race cars.

The eLDS, or Electronic Limited Slip Differential is a first for Bentley on their Continental GT Speed, can shift up to 36% of the 900 Nm of torque to the front wheels in either ‘Bentley’ or ‘Comfort’ mode, if the driver switches to ‘Sport’ mode this figure is limited to 28% to have more Torque on the rear wheels for a more dynamic driving experience.

It seems Bentley really wants to offer the owner of the new Continental GT Speed an innovative experience when it comes to earlier Bentley cars, more driver-focussed, while still offering the trendsetting level of comfort and luxury owners have come to expect from their Bentley.

May 7, 2021 / Comments Off

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The Continental GT V8 Equinox Edition

Before you get your hopes up about adding this stunning white Bentley Continental GT V8 Equinox Edition to your garage, there is one catch with this latest Mulliner Collections Portfolio addition … it’s only available on the Japanese market, and there will only be 10 units ever made for those lucky customers in the Far East.

The special GT will feature a monochrome color theme combining black, silver, and white, the Equinox theme brings power and grace through simplicity, the 10 units of the Equinox Edition are destined for homes across Japan including the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, and Yokohama.

For the body of the Bentley Continental GT V8 Equinox Edition, the Japanee customer can choose from black Onyx or icy cool Glacier White, the aerodynamics of the base Continental GT will receive the Styling Specification for these Equinox Edition versions, created from bespoke, high gloss, black carbon-fiber, the Styling Specification option adds a front splitter, a rear diffuser, a boot lip spoiler, and side sills, showing amazing looking, metal Bentley wings.

To set the Equinox Edition even more apart from the base V8 model, Mulliner adds a pinstripe to the edge of the carbon fiber pieces, finished in ‘Moonbeam’, which is a rich silver shade, this pinstripe is painted by hand onto each of these 10 limited edition cars, it takes a specialist at Mulliner a total of five days to apply this little, but important detail, that looks even better with the 22” Mulliner Driving Specification wheels, which on this special edition are finished in a dark metallic Tungsten paint, only available on the Equinox Edition.

The interior in the Equinox Edition is finished in stunning Beluga black leather, but it is complemented with silver parts on the headrest and the edges of the seats while the stitching is done in silver too to work in perfect harmony with the dual finish veneers done in Piano Moonbeam over Grand Black.

Sadly this car will not be available in the United States nor in Europe, it is a Japan-only special edition after all.

April 16, 2021 / Comments Off

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Bentley’s 2021 Pikes Peak racer unveiled

Bentley wants to add a third consecutive victory to their Pikes Peak performance, they already managed the Production SUV record and the Production Car record in 2018 and 2019, and now want to tackle the Time Attack 1 record with a very special, bespoke built race car driven by former ‘King of the Mountain’, Rhys Millen.

The new Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak has been specifically designed to compete for the Time Attack 1 record at this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb taking place on June 27 this year, the 12.42-mile course will be run on a biofuel based gasoline, a first for a competition Bentley, as a goal to offer sustainable fuels to Bentley’s customers around the world.

This specific car is a heavily modified Continental GT3 racer, run in conjunction with British Continental GT3 customer team Fastr, who have successfully campaigned their Bentley race car in time attack competitions in the UK. Teams from both Bentley and Fastr are working together with specialists from M-Sport in Cumbria to achieve the maximum possible performance from the Continental GT3 package, before taking the car to Colorado where it will be driven by Fastr with assistance from K-PAX Racing.

Taking the Time Attack 1 record will have this Continental GT3 Pikes Peak cover the climb in less than 9 minutes and 36 seconds while reaching an average speed of 78 mph over the 156 corners during a nearly 5,000 ft climb, but as the start is already at a 9,300 ft elevation, the finish at 14,100 ft high comes with a 1/3 less density for the air compared to sea level, which requires very specific settings for both the car’s aerodynamics and the engine tuning.

This 2021 Bentley Continental GT3 Pikes Peak boasts the largest rear wing ever seen on a Bentley, a massive rear diffuser helps even further while the front has a two-plane splitter fitted together with massive ‘dive planes’ on either side for optimum stability in those grueling 156 corners that have to be taken at the highest possible speed to reach that record-setting time at the finish.

At this time the Continental GT3 Pikes Peak is undergoing final testing and fine-tuning in the UK, but the car will soon be transported to the USA for high-altitude testing to make sure the car is as ready as possible for the ultimate test on June 27 at the 99th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

April 13, 2021 / Comments Off

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The new Continental GT Speed

Bentley just released their most performance-focused luxury Grand Tourer ever in their 101-year history, inspired by the 3-Liter Speed models from the 1920s, the first generation Continental GT Speed from 2007 was already a very impressive interpretation of a two-door, four-seat luxury car, but today’s third-generation continues this bloodline as the most powerful expression of Continental GT values, exciting and dynamic, with unique Speed detailing to enhance the ownership experience and offering customers more control over the character of the car.

“The world’s most luxurious Grand Tourer is now truly more capable than ever before, with a new sportier edge which will appeal to performance-focused drivers. The Speed is the latest chapter in the Continental GT story, helping Bentley customers to create their own extraordinary journeys.” Dr. Matthias Rabe, Member of the Board for Engineering at Bentley Motors

The new Bentley Continental GT Speed comes with Electronic All-Wheel steering, meaning not only the front wheels turn, but also the rear wheels steer in a direction depending on speed, at low speed they turn in the opposite direction for a shorter turn radius, while at higher speeds the rear wheels steer in the same direction as the front wheels for more stability, combined with the Active All-Wheel drive this offers an unparalleled driving character for such a large GT.

The Bentley Continental GT Speed offers different driving modes to be selected by the driver, while for the BENTLEY mode and the COMFORT mode, power is balanced between the front and the rear wheels, for the SPORT mode there is a more rear-biased torque–split offered.

This is also the first Bentley to come with an electronic rear differential (eLSD), which together with the traction control and active chassis offers better lateral capacity, more longitudinal stability, enhanced on-throttle adjustability, and boasts improved traction in less-than-ideal road conditions.

The impressive Bentley three-chamber active air suspension with adaptive damping and Dynamic Ride greatly contributes to the level of precision and confidence behind the steering wheel of this new Speed version, this 48V active anti-roll control system features powerful electric motors within each anti-roll bar to resist body roll. In their firmest setting, the motors can deliver 1300 Nm in 0.3 secs to counteract cornering forces and keep the body level.

Optionally you can have new Carbon Ceramic brakes on the Bentley Continental GT Speed, massive braking power comes from ten-piston front calipers and four-piston rear calipers, adding this option to your order will cut 33kg of weight, and help you to keep those stunning 22-inch wheels clean.

The new Continental GT Speed comes with the famous W12 TSI engine, 6.0-Liter delivers 650 bhp and an impressive 900 Nm of torque, a top speed of 208 mph (335 km/h) is reached almost effortless, while acceleration figures come in at 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds (0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds).

Even the 8-speed transmission has been modified for the new Continental GT Speed, which offers twice as fast shifting in SPORT model on the Speed compared to the regular W12 powered Continental GT.

There is no denying a Bentley Continental GT looks decent enough as is, but for the Speed version, things got developed even further, with a darker treatment of both the front grille and the lower intakes. But also the side sills are bespoke to the Speed model, as are those stunning Speed scripts on the side.

Also bespoke for the GT Speed model are stunning 22-inch wheels finished in silver, optionally available in dark tint or glossy black, while the fuel and oil filler caps come in a ‘Jewel’ finish, and the doorsills show an illuminated Bentley script with the Speed addition.

For the interior of this Continental GT Speed, Bentley went with a special, two-tone combination of smooth leather and Alcantara on the seats, the door panels, and even on the steering wheel. Bentley offers you the option of 15 main colors and 11 secondary hides for the interior, not a fan of Alcantara? No problem, you can opt for a full leather-covered interior too, and the renowned Bentley ‘Diamond in Diamond’ quilting just looks amazing inside the GT Speed.

Why not pay your local Bentley dealership a visit to admire this amazing new GT Speed and possibly put in an order for one?

Our extensive image gallery on the new Bentley Continental GT Speed:

March 24, 2021 / Comments Off

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Bentley Continental GT Speed

Designed, engineered, developed, and handcrafted in Bentley’s carbon-neutral luxury automotive factory, the new third-generation Continental GT Speed is the ultimate performance-focused interpretation of the world’s benchmark luxury Grand Tourer.

With highly advanced chassis technology, and styling cues specific to Continental GT Speed, the extraordinary journey continues at 16:00 GMT, 23rd March 2021

March 16, 2021 / Comments Off

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Bentley Wants the Pike’s Peak Production Car Record

It’s Going to Use the Continental GT

In an attempt to set the world production car record at Pike’s Peak, Bentley will bring the Continental GT and let Rhys Millen pilot the car along the route, according to Carscoops. Bentley previously set the SUV record with its Bentayga, and now it wants the car record as well.

The Continental GT wouldn’t be our first choice to make the run. Sure, it’s an amazing car, but it’s also heavy. It weighs somewhere around 4,800 pounds. However, the car comes with a W12 engine that produces 626 hp and 663 lb-ft of torque, so that weight is moved easily. Also, the car has all-wheel drive, which it’s going to need because Pike’s Peak is one of the most challenging courses out there. It’s no straight shot up a hill.

The record for the fastest production vehicle was once held by a Land Rover Range Rover Sport. A 2014 model, to be exact. The Bentayga blew that vehicle away. It made the run roughly two minutes faster with a time of 10:49.9. The Continental GT should be able to crack the 10-minute mark.

There are many production cars more extreme than the Continental GT, but many manufacturers don’t bring their production cars to Pikes Peak. That means the Continental GT has fewer competitors and a better chance of claiming the title the company seeks. We wish them well in their efforts. There’s nothing like watching a Bentley racing along at high speed.

March 26, 2019 / Comments Off

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Bentley 3rd-Gen Continental GT V8

What better car to give a V8 engine to than a grand tourer? Thankfully, Bentley knows full well that’s true, so its latest Continental GT coupe and convertible boast twin-turbocharged 4.0L V8s. At 542 ponies and 568 lb-ft of torque, they’re two of the highest-performing GTs Bentley has ever assembled. That and the fact that these rides feature improved fuel efficiency is sure to impress any coupe head out there, Bentley fan or not.

The Continental GT V8 coupe and convertible will zoom from zero to 60 in just 3.9 seconds. The convertible, meanwhile, does it a hair longer at four seconds. Both can hit a stop speed of 198mph. An all-wheel-drive system comes standard, although the car defaults to a rear-wheel-drive in normal driving situations. No need fret, though. That’s a deliberate failsafe from Bentley to ensure sportiness and efficiency.

Customers will get to pick from a number of selections. There’s a variant with wheels that include 20-inch, 10-spoke alloys, for starters. Some options go all the way up to 22-inch wheels.

You get a handful of extras, as well, like an improved neckwarmer in the convertible, LED Matrix headlight technology, and twenty-way adjustable leather seats. Onboard is a stunning roster of technology and interior options, from Bentley’s 007-esque Rotating Display to a 650-watt, 10-speaker Bentley Audio system, which comes standard.

Both the V8 GT coupe and convertible will start rolling out in the United States once the third quarter hits, then hightail toward the rest of the world starting in 2020.

CHECK IT OUT

Photos courtesy of Bentley

March 21, 2019 / Comments Off

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Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark explains carmaker’s situation and plan for recovery

In August, we posted on some of the issues plaguing Bentley at the moment, namely the large loss the carmaker’s posted this year. The same Autocar piece we referenced, carmaker CEO Adrian Hallmark said Bentley would not be making more sports cars. Bentley wrote to us to clarify that a single year’s loss isn’t a calamity, that “it is a mistake to suggest that sports cars are the same as GTs,” and that the brand “will continue to design, engineer, and craft” GT cars. We must note, though, that at the time, Hallmark himself said, “The sports car sector – like our own….” More recently, Hallmark expounded on some of the factors slowing the company down this year, from delayed launches to exchange rates.

Through the first nine months of the year, Bentley sold 6,654 units, an 11 percent decline from the 7,498 units sold through the first nine months of 2017. In addition to other matters like huge investments in new technologies, that helped the Crewe carmaker to a $44.7-million year-over-year drop in revenue, and a $156-million overall loss, compared to a $35 million profit over the same period last year.

On top of declining sales overall, the nine-month delay in launching the Continental GT, the brand’s second-best seller, was the first of two big issues causing red finances. Hallmark said the Continental GT “just wasn’t ready for launch. But we’d paid for it – we’d paid all the money out, but not got any money back in.”

Bentley dévoile la nouvelle Continental GTC

Having got that sorted, the second issue arose: WLTP certification. Unlike the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) before it, the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure requires every model variant get tested for certification. Hallmark told Automotive News Europe, “We were not quick enough unfortunately to book capacity or prioritize our derivatives within some of the group processes to get them certified on time.” Bentley wasn’t alone in this; Volkswagen had only managed to get seven of its 14 models approved by September 1 when the WLTP rules took effect.

Bentley’s much smaller scale exacerbated the problem, turning the situation “close to catastrophic.” Hallmark said the snafu robbed the Bentayga of 300 to 400 sales – a gigantic number with respect to a $200,000 vehicle – and pushed the Bentayga plug-in hybrid launch back to March 2019 so Bentley could get volume models certified.

Furthermore, preparing for Brexit hasn’t been easy on any of the UK’s manufacturers. For Bentley, which sources many components from The Continent, uncertainty around a Brexit deal has weakened the pound sterling against the euro. That makes parts more expensive.

The carmaker’s already on the road back, led by the uncorked Bentayga V12, V8, and Continental GT, and just-revealed GTC. The CEO said Bentley be back in black in Q4 of this year, but 2019 is the real measure. “This year is a conversion year to a better business model,” he said, “and next year you will start to see significant growth and a return to normality in terms of profit.”

Bentley dévoile la nouvelle Continental GTC

The phrase “significant growth” doesn’t just apply to sales figures of the current lineup. Hallmark intends to grow the range, and Bentley’s interests beyond cars. Plug-in hybrid versions of current models will help build the bridge to a battery-electric offering by 2025. Engineers are aiming for substantial EV range in the hybrids, eventually around 60 to 70 miles. It seems Bentley turned down the chance to build its own car on Porsche’s Taycan platform, because a GT car isn’t a sports car, and it won’t be until the mid 2020s that “the [battery] technology will meet the needs of the bigger cars we need to build.”

The other bridge-builder will be a new nameplate “that will probably be… the transition between conventional products and battery electrical products.”

On the subject of conventional products, the Bentayga will evolve with a facelift and a coupe-ish sub-model, but Hallmark wouldn’t be drawn on that latter point. With an eye on launching something new every year, Mulliner will be drafted into creating more “limited or special editions, slightly different body styles or limited-run cars.” Next year being the centenary, we already know there’ll be something special for every current nameplate.

Once the traditional sheetmetal business is back on track, Hallmark wants more involvement in brick-and-mortar businesses. The firm designed 26 apartments in Miami’s Porsche Tower and will provide on-demand Bentleys for residents, there’s a Bentley furniture collection, a re-upped agreement with watchmaker Breitling, and plans for more jewelry. We’ll see how it turns out, but this could be the road map to that makes The Flying B soar.

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November 29, 2018 / Comments Off

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New Bentley boss nixes any new sports cars in its money-losing lineup

Adrian Hallmark took over the helm at Bentley on February 1 this year. Volkswagen poached him from Jaguar, where he headed the brand’s global strategy. Or perhaps we should say re-poached him, since Hallmark served as Bentley’s board member in charge of sales and marketing from 1999 to 2005, and helped guide the original Continental GT to market. He’s now responsible getting Bentley in better shape financially and sales-wise, and positioning it for growth. Among the products necessary to do that, Hallmark recently told Autocar that flashy coupes won’t cut it. “I’ll tell you what we won’t be building,” he said, “and that’s sports cars.”

That means we can forget about the gorgeous EXP 10 Speed 6 coupe that had a rumored place in the lineup after a sub-Bentayga CUV, and the EXP 12 Speed 6e battery-electric convertible. Hallmark cited a few issues with the segment, the first being that the segment hasn’t yet recovered from the recession, and the buyer demographic that’s left goes up in age every year, clearly a losing game. The kinds of younger buyers who would buy Bentleys, athletes and entertainers, are deterred from the purchase by contractual limitations like injury clauses or aversion to paparazzi photos. As well, in China, wealthy buyers get SUVs or limousines, but Hallmark believes Bentley hasn’t adopted the the proper strategy there to take advantage.

This is far more than about sports cars for Bentley, though; a recent article in German newspaper Handelsblatt outlined a number of situations the carmaker needs to rectify, including the finding that Bentley’s “losing money hand over fist instead of racking up the hefty margins more typical of the class.” A German study claimed that whereas Ferrari makes around $80,000 on every car it sells, and Porsche makes a little more than $19,000 on each car (last year it was a little more than $17,000) Bentley loses a little more than $19,000 on each unit. The English manufacturer has posted an operating loss of roughly $92 million through the first six months of 2018, the latest figures in a decline that began in 2014. That financial timeline, however, coincides with Bentley’s $1.1B investment in new technologies, which the carmaker cites as the reason for profitability woes.

Beyond that, Handelsblatt claimed VW insiders said the recent Continental GT launch was the “worst production ramp-up of all time.” Bentayga sales are down a little in Europe, quite a bit in the U.S., and overall brand sales are down nearly ten percent globally this year. Bentley needs to invest its electrification plans — it wants electrified versions of all its models by 2025 — and that’s going to be expensive. The report said those insiders want Porsche to have a bigger hand in helping Bentley get on track and move forward.

That would tie in well with Hallmark’s experience, too, since he did a stint in charge of Porsche UK. He told Autocar that in addition to V8 models throughout the lineup, he’d like to crib from Porsche’s proficiency in creating special editions with more luxury or performance, and Stuttgart’s success in making its hybrid models the most desirable. Bentley wants to crack 15,000 to 20,000 units globally. The most it has achieved in the past five years is around 11,300.

Somehow, though, while tiny, independent Aston Martin gets stronger than its ever been with a growing lineup of incredible sports cars, Bentley has to walk away from the segment that made it what it is today.

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August 21, 2018 / Comments Off

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