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Bentley Bentayga V8 Design Series embraces the darkness

It is a truism that designers love the color black, and the hue features prominently in the Bentley Bentayga V8 Design Series. Outside, the Design Series comes standard with the Bentayga's optional Blackline package, which includes black trim, black exhaust outlets, and a body-color lower front fascia. The Design Series also gets a special set of seven-spoke Paragon alloy wheels in dark gray. In a trick seen also on — ahem — Rolls-Royce, the wheels feature self-leveling center badges, which means the "B" is never at an incorrect angle. Designers hate that. While the exterior is offered in colors other than black, the interior comes exclusively in black (Bentley's "Beluga"), but with a contrasting accent color — red, orange, white, or blue — that runs across the dash and on the sides of the center console. It is also seen in the seat leather perforations and in the binding of the deep-pile floor mats. Carbon-fiber trim on the dashboard and door panels has a special diamond-weave pattern, while gloss-black center console trim provides still more blackness. A Breitling clock in the dash is not black — it has a mother-of-pearl face. Other included goodies are "Comfort" seats, door sills with an illuminated "Bentley" treadplate, and drilled-alloy pedals. The Design Series is exclusive to the eight-cylinder Bentayga, which is powered by a 542-hp V8. We'd say that buyers of the 12-cylinder model or the Bentayga Hybrid are out of luck but they can probably lean on Bentley's Mulliner in-house customizing operation to approximate something close. But then, if you're going the full Mulliner route, why not get a little more imaginative? Maybe with something like the Bentayga for falconry or this paean to fly fishing? Just be sure to spec those self-leveling wheels — after all, one's B should always be upright.

Bentley teases new Flying Spur before Geneva debut

Last time we saw the 2014 Bentley Continental Flying Spur out testing, our only questions about the new car regarded its rear-end styling, and when the car would debut. Well now we know for certain that the car will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, and we're also getting a better idea of what the car will look like thanks to Bentley releasing a brief teaser video.
The easiest-to-spot detail that we see in this Flying Spur video is the car's horizontal taillights - the first such on a Bentley since the 1990s. We can also see that this hyper-luxury sedan will get a more squared-off front end than its Continental GT counterpart. But, from what we can tell, it will receive a similarly laid out interior, including the three-spoke steering wheel.
Scroll down to watch the video, and we've also attached the single-sentence press release in which Bentley promises to reveal more details about the car on February 20.

Bentley Bentayga strips a little more at the Nurburgring

Engineering its first SUV undoubtedly poses a number of challenges for the team at Bentley. It's got to ride cushy enough to satisfy upscale customers, the performance capabilities to live up to its claims, and the off-road chops to keep up with a Range Rover. It's a heck of an occasion to rise to, but the crew from Crewe is hard at work to bring it all together, as you can see from this latest batch of spy shots. Spied entering the Volkswagen Group's test facility at the Nurburgring, this pre-production prototype for the upcoming new Bentayga is still wearing some light camouflage – particularly around the head- and taillights – but looks about ready to hit showrooms. It's even got its brightwork in place. We'll still have to hold on a while longer to see all the finished details, but it's already abundantly clear that Bentley has gone to some lengths to make sure it looks better than the EXP 9 F that first dipped the company's toes in the crossover waters.