1996 Bentley Azure Convertible Stunning 2 Owner Rare Special Order Color on 2040-cars

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Driving the 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 'home' to Brooklands

BROOKLANDS, England – ‘Continental GTÂ’ embodies an idealized dream of carefree, trans-continental drives to the French Riviera or glamorous Swiss ski resorts. In reality and spirit, a long, long way from a gray January day in what is now a grocery store parking lot in a nondescript London suburb. But this place, or specifically the moss-covered concrete banking surrounding it, is as important to BentleyÂ’s identity as 1930s playboys racing express trains across France, amateur heroes triumphing at Le Mans or the image of luxurious sedans crunching the gravel driveways of stately English homes. In the modern age of Bentley, the racing history at Brooklands, and its expression through hardware supplied by its Volkswagen owners, is what underpins the brand. IÂ’ve got 1,000 miles at the wheel of the latest V8 Continental GT to find out if that Brooklands tradition has been carried forth; to see if this Bentley is still a Bentley. ItÂ’s an interesting moment to be driving a Continental GT, too. For all the British heritage this car embodies, it's dependent on the centralized resources and manufacturing muscle of parent Volkswagen. The same goes for the Group's other brands defined by tradition and local price: Lamborghini, Porsche and even Audi. Yet, IÂ’m enjoying this car just days before Britain formally quits the European Union. The implications are still to be fully understood but it puts Bentley in an especially perilous position, given it depends on overseas production and the free movement of parts from the continent to keep its factory running. Sure, Bentleys are meant to be expensive. But if that margin is suddenly consumed by tariffs on bodies from Volkswagen, engines from Porsche and gearboxes from ZF, the business case looks even shakier than it has been  in the recent past. Nobody knows how itÂ’ll shake out but one answer for VW would be to relocate the whole business to Germany rather than keep building them here. YouÂ’d still have cars branded as Bentleys if that happened. But would they still be Bentleys? We talk about intellectual property. Arguably here weÂ’re talking about emotional property. And the Englishness that makes the cars what they are.   Because more than anything, a Bentley is a feelgood car, even when your reality is grimy winter roads and a coating of salt on your fancy paint.

Ultra-luxury automakers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce need to hurry up with EVs

In the five years that I've worked at Autoblog, I've read a lot of press releases. They're all pretty flowery and self-serving, but the ones that go the extra distance with lavish words and pompous phrasing tend to come from the most luxurious brands, Bentley and Rolls-Royce. And something that they both love talking about is sustainably sourced materials for their vehicles. The descriptions read like they've seen the light about using resources responsibly. That would be great, except for one thing: There's nothing sustainable about multi-ton land yachts with eight or more cylinders. Only one of Bentley's models can be had with fuel economy better than 20 mpg combined when running on gasoline, and guess what, it's not one of the brand's two plug-in hybrids (which are to be commended, but still seem half-hearted when we're talking serious sustainability). And Rolls-Royce is even worse without a single model even hitting 15 mpg combined. These automakers should have at least one EV model apiece. Apparently, there are some coming, but they're still years away, and that frankly shocks and frustrates me for a number of reasons. One of the big ones is that these brands couldn't be better suited to electric propulsion. What makes these cars impressive is their refinement and performance. You can't get much better in either of those categories than with beefy electric motors, which provide nearly silent operation with no gear changes and enormous power and torque ratings. And it's all achievable with a lot less effort than making an 8- or 12-cylinder internal combustion engine quiet and smooth. Sure, battery technology is complicated, and it's expensive and heavy, but all of that is covered by these brand's typical products. They can command prices that would easily absorb the cost of batteries. And the size and weight of current cars mean that loading them up with batteries to achieve range comparable to their gas models wouldn't be a problem, either. Heck, that's the exact strategy being used by GM and Ford to get huge range in their electric trucks. 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S View 41 Photos And the cost of the EV technology shouldn't even be that great for Bentley or Rolls-Royce, since they're both owned by companies that are leaders in electric car development with existing technology and the ability to spread costs out over various brands.

Bentley Mulsanne EWB China Edition ironically celebrates London

Bentley's versed in special editions for China, although it's been a while since we last saw one. In 2010, the English automaker released the Continental GT Design Series China and Flying Spur Speed China, following that up a year later with the Linley Continental Flying Spur that was limited to a mere 10 units. This time around, 15 Chinese buyers get the chance to order the Bentley Mulsanne Extended Wheelbase China Edition in any color they want so long as it's black. This being a product of Bentley's Mulliner bespoke division, though, buyers do get a choice of two special blacks. Onyx black imbues the abyssal shade with "a hint of dark blue" as well as darker tones, resulting in the "deepest black finish offered by Bentley." Mulsanne shoppers who like their blacks a bit more uplifting should opt for Black Velvet, said to be "a richer black-based finish" shot through with red pigments, creating a color recalling black cherries. Both hues are hand-applied, as is the gold fine line running along the Mulsanne's shoulder. Further exterior highlights comprise the chrome Serenity grille with a double-diamond quilt pattern, a Union Jack on the C-pillar, 21-inch and 14-spoke polished Radiance wheels, exclusive welcome lamps, and polished, stainless steel Mulliner sill plates.  Three vogue, two-tone interiors will be available, in either Fireglow with Imperial Blue, Newmarket Tan with Burnt Oak, or Shortbread with Redwood. Crewe artists embroidered the hide covering each seat with "an expressive interpretation" of London's skyline that includes widely recognizable sights: Tower Bridge, the London Eye Ferris wheel, the Shard and Gherkin towers, and The O2 arena. The same design is inlaid into the chosen veneer on the passenger's side.   The 6.75-liter turbocharged V8 with 506 hp and 752 pound-feet of torque goes untouched. Bentley will share pricing only with the 15 souls ready to purchase, but the standard sedan starts at more than 5 million yuan, or almost $750,000 American. Buyers would be advised to have a Bentayga on hand to convey the funds to the dealership.