Bentley Continental GT Speed
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This gray Bentley Continental GT Speed is spotted on a Bentley WIEN presentation in Skopje Macedonia.
Model Bentley Continental GT Speed
Engine type 5998cc, 12 cylinders
Power/torque 600bhp @ 6100rpm / 553lbft @ 1750rpm
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Fuel/CO2 17mpg (combined cycle) / 396g/km
Performance 0-60mph: 4.3sec / Top speed: 202mph
Price £137,500
There is an argument for calling the Bentley Continental range the most successful in modern automotive history. Four years ago Bentley was a company haemorrhaging cash and making barely 1,000 cars per year.
This year, thanks to the extraordinary success of the Continental, it will build 10,000 cars, all at the transformed factory in Crewe. And it will return a very healthy 10% profit on turnover to its parent company Volkswagen.
Indeed the Continental has been so successful that it’s helped create a new market sector: immediately before its introduction the range of cars costing between £100,000 and £150,000 had a population of one: the Ferrari 360 Modena. Now it includes three Bentleys, a brace of Lamborghinis, another Ferrari, two Mercedes and an Aston Martin.
But while the four-door Continental Flying Spur is a deeply satisfying and well realised luxury limousine and the drop-top GTC is an admirably engineered and conceived convertible, the car that started it all, the Continental GT coupé, never quite worked for me. It was neither quiet nor comfortable enough to cut it as a long-distance cruiser nor sufficiently sharp in response to convince me as a sports car.So what you’re looking at here is, if you like, the car the Continental GT should have been from the start. Called the Continental GT Speed to distinguish itself from the continuing standard car, it may look barely different but has been significantly upgraded in all areas, right from its engine and gearbox to its suspension and brakes. Its interior also includes the Mulliner driving pack (a £6,275 option on the standard £120,500 car).
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5* =)