2007 Bentley Continental Flying Spur 4 Seat Configuration  on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Number 1 Edition Bentley convertible has ties to 1929 racer

Bentley has created a limited-edition Continental GT Convertible to further commemorate its centenary. The Number 1 Edition by Mulliner is done in the style of the 1929 Bentley Blower Number 1, a legendary racing car from the days when the company was just a decade old. The original 4 1/2 -liter car set an average speed record of 137 mph at Brooklands in 1932. The Number 1 Edition is car three out of three centenary editions, the earlier models being the Mulsanne W.O. Edition and the Continental GT Number 1 Edition. As well as featuring other special touches only seen on the 100 units built, each Number 1 Edition also has a direct memento from the original 1929 car: a display piece built into the dashboard, housing a small wheel spinner that has been cast from an original piston of the Number 1, sacrificed during restoration work. The dashboard trim is done in "Engine Spin"-style turned aluminum; the engine is the 6.0-liter W12. Bentley offers the Number 1 Edition cars in either Dragon Red II or Beluga exterior paint, and the interior can be specified in either Cricket Ball or Beluga color. The cars have Bentley's Black Line specification combined with a Carbon Body Kit, and the Centenary Specification pack that comes with special badging and illumination. The front grille with its large painted-on number is specific to the Number 1, the fenders have 18 carat gold badging, and the 22-inch wheels can be had in either a Cricket Ball or Gloss Black finish.

W12 engine disappears for regular Bentley Continental GT in 2022

The non-Speed version of the Bentley Continental GT will not be available with a W12 engine in 2022. It'll be V8 only. CarBuzz noticed the change missing on Bentley's Continental Range page, and when the outlet put the question to the English automaker, the answer came back, "GT Speed and GT Speed Convertible are the only way to get a Continental with the W12 for 22MY." So ends a 13-year run of being able to choose how many horses and torques you wanted to pair with your leather and wood. We thought things were strange when Bentley priced the 2022 Continental GT Speed coupe $50,000 above the previous non-Speed Continental coupe with the W12. That's about double the premium the Speed has charged in the past despite making only 24 more horses than the non-Speed W12. Of course, that doesn't exist any more so such comparisons are academic.  At least the new Speed has received a handling makeover that includes a Bentley first: an electronic limited-slip differential. The new tools and their algorithms impart an enthusiastic liveliness at the stern end of the world's most flamboyantly capable heavyweight grand tourer. But the 2022 GT Speed can't do anything that the old standard W12 GT couldn't; the Speed is just more pliant and talkative about it. And now it exclusively has four more cylinders. The regular Continental range now includes four versions — GT V8 coupe and convertible, and GT V8 Mulliner coupe and convertible — with the Speed adding its own hardtop and droptop duo. Bentley execs have repeatedly said and hinted that they aren't finished with the W12, which got an all-new version to power the Bentayga in 2015; CEO Adrian Hallmark called it "effectively a new engine." The automaker's only got five years to spread it around, though, Bentley having said it will offer a hybrid version of all of its models by 2026, and also having said it doesn't want to add batteries to the W12 because the engine — and the car it powers — are already heavy. Our guess is that Bentley's looking up. There was a 2017 Continental GT Supersports with a W12 that made 700 hp and 750 lb-ft., which cost $60,000 more than the GT Speed. A new Supersports with those mammoth numbers (or more) and the newest Speed's dynamic tricks would make a might fine showcase. 

Coronavirus prompts VW to stop production throughout Europe

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen Group, the world's biggest carmaker, is suspending production at factories across Europe as the coronavirus pandemic hits sales and disrupts supply chains, the company said on Tuesday. The German carmaker, which owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, also said that uncertainty about the fallout from coronavirus meant it was impossible to give forecasts for its performance this year. "Given the present significant deterioration in the sales situation and the heightened uncertainty regarding parts supplies to our plants, production is to be suspended in the near future at factories operated by group brands," Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Tuesday. Volkswagen's powerful works council concluded it was not possible for workers to maintain a safe distance from each other to prevent contagion and recommended a suspension of production at its factories from Friday. Production will be halted at VW's Spanish plants, in Setubal in Portugal, Bratislava in Slovakia and at the Lamborghini and Ducati plants in Italy before the end of this week, Diess said. Most of its other German and European factories will prepare to suspend production, probably for two to three weeks, while Audi said separately it would halt output at its plants in Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Mexico. Volkswagen's vast factories in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Puebla, Mexico, and plants in Brazil were not affected, but that would depend on how the coronavirus spreads, VW said. Volkswagen has 124 production sites worldwide of which 72 are in Europe, with 28 in Germany alone. "2020 will be a very difficult year. The coronavirus pandemic presents us with unknown operational and financial challenges. At the same time, there are concerns about sustained economic impacts," Diess said.   Production in China resumes Volkswagen Group sold 10.96 million vehicles last year, putting it ahead of Toyota based on the latest figures from the Japanese carmaker. Globally, VW employs 671,000 people and it delivered 4.86 million vehicles to European customers in 2019. Only last month the car and truck maker based in Wolfsburg, Germany, predicted that vehicle deliveries this year would match 2019 sales and forecast an operating return on sales in the range of 6.5% to 7.5%. "The spread of coronavirus is currently impacting the global economy. It is uncertain how severely or for how long this will also affect the Volkswagen Group.