2007 Bentley Continental Gtc Convertible Blue Sapphire Just Serviced Loaded Wow$ on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2019 Bentley Continental GT: High fashion at its best

The new 2019 Bentley Continental GT has been revealed, and it is a stunner. It shows a healthy influence from the brand's recent show cars, especially the EXP 10 Speed 6. This is a very positive thing. Whereas the exterior of the second-generation car looked exactly like that of the first, the new car sports fresh surfacing that is at once more elegant and more athletic, while also delighting in technical detailing that deepens upon second and third glance. The styling of a six-figure, ultra-luxury Grand Tourer must evolve slowly for a number of reasons. Their wealthy buyers – looking for a prime valet spot at the country club more than at the night club – tend to be a bit more conservative in their tastes than those in the market for a knife-edged exotic. They also prefer their recently purchased six-figure, ultra-luxury Grand Tourer not to be rendered irrelevant in the status game by the introduction of a radically differentiated new model. This is especially true for Bentley and its Continental GT. This model, launched back in 2004, though tracing its roots back much further, brought the company's design out of the anachronistically (if delightfully) baroque and into the aerodynamically imposing modern era. It was the first true 21st century Bentley, decades ahead of the neoclassic design it replaced while faithfully harkening back to cues from the marque's venerable history, especially its long flanking body line, and conspicuous rear haunches. It immediately became Bentley's best seller, a position it has maintained until this year, when it's been outsold slightly by the gauche and indistinct Bentayga SUV. We believe this error will correct once the new GT is available. Much of the success of the design comes from its transference to a platform shared with the new Porsche Panamera. The previous-generation Continentals were built on underpinnings originally created for the VW Phaeton, a configuration that was, at heart, front-drive with all-wheel-drive capabilities, packaging that required engine placement ahead of the front axle. This new stablemate has a rear-wheel-drive bias, allowing for more traditional and gracious grand touring proportions on the surface. It reflects the movement of the engine farther back on the chassis, with a long hood and more hunkered-down and planted rear. We detect luscious shades of 1960s Ferrari Superfast cues in this tapering front-to-rear, side-to-side and along the flanks.

Volkswagen Group names Paefgen head of classics program

You may remember the name Franz-Josef Paefgen. Until recently, the German engineer and executive was head of both Bentley and Bugatti. Before that he was chief executive of Audi, after working for several years at Ford. He technically "retired" earlier this year, but like the cars he helped create, an executive like Paefgen could never really retire. So it should come as little surprise that the Volkswagen Group has named Dr. Paefgen head of its Classic program.
In his new capacity, Paefgen will oversee the historic automobile activities of the entire VW Group, including those of Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda, Audi, Lamborghini, and of course Bentley and Bugatti. It strikes us as a suitable semi-retirement for the man responsible in no small part for the Bugatti Veyron and Bentley Mulsanne, to name just two, and who was decorated in 2006 by the ACO as the "Spirit of Le Mans" for his contribution to endurance racing. Read the official announcement after the break.

Bentley Mulsanne Grand Convertible due in 2017, Speed 6 still in play

Automobile outlines the near-term future of the Bentley line-up, finding a few items of gold and perhaps one that brand purists will consider a goldbrick. Dealers are taking orders for the the Bentley Grand Convertible, a ragtop Mulsanne introduced at the LA Auto Show last year, and it is expected to reveal its production form sometime late next year on its way to showroom floors by early 2017. Brand CEO Wolfgang Durheimer said "Mulsanne will get further derivatives," plural. Perhaps that means that with a convertible on its way to reality, a coupe something like a modern Brooklands will follow. A long-wheelbase Mulsanne is in the works, too. The Grand Convertible will wear the Mulsanne's new face, scheduled for reveal at next year's Geneva Motor Show. Automobile says the front will be "squarer" and the grille "more upright," which we didn't think was possible, and boast "three brick-shaped air intakes," apparently to emphasize the upright squareness. Plus, new headlights. The third-generation Continental and Flying Spur ranges would come after that, laid atop the MSB platform and rolling out of Crewe over a two-year period starting in 2017. They should still be powered by 4.0-liter V8 and 6.0-liter W12 engines, but the bodywork around those motors will be "both evolutionary and daring." This, then, should be the leap that Bentley wanted to make with the second-generation Continental but couldn't. Whither the EXP 10 Speed 6? Durheimer said the customer response has been, "Don't ask us questions, just do it." The last news we had over the summer was that Bentley was deciding whether to expand the line-up next with a small SUV or the Speed 6. It's not clear which will come first, but Durheimer said, "I'm confident that with EXP10 Speed 6 we will find a good solution," and the business case for it goes to the board a year from now. Automobile suggests it will go on sale in 2020 with a 600-horsepower, twin-turbo V8. That smaller SUV is still on the table, though, an entry-level offering that would use the re-engineered bones of the Audi Q5. Featured Gallery Bentley Grand Convertible: LA 2014 View 16 Photos News Source: AutomobileImage Credit: Live images copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Bentley Convertible Coupe Crossover Future Vehicles Luxury Performance bentley mulsanne bentley flying spur bentley exp 10 speed 6 bentley grand convertible