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How'd we miss this incredible 24-hour enduro in prewar cars?

Even in today's 24 Hours of Le Mans, not all of the racecars finish the event. Factors like like mechanical failures, crashes and poor weather that can be the doom of any race team. Now, imagine going to a track today and competing around the clock in vehicles built before World War II. That was exactly what the Benjafield's 24 did at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal in October. Somehow, we missed this spectacular event, and so did most of you, judging by the lack of media coverage it received. The event was named after Dudley Benjafield, one of the famous Bentley Boy racers and a winner of the French race in 1927. According to Goodwood Road and Racing, 21 prewar cars entered, and astonishingly, 20 finished. Teams of three or four drivers did two-hour shifts, and more than just old Bentley racers competed. Robbert Alblas, who also made the awesome video above, told Autoblog via email, "The organization is not a allowed to call it a race because of insurance reasons." Therefore, there were no official rankings of where the competitors actually finished. That's a pity, but it doesn't take away from how awesome an undertaking this was. While you can see cars from this period briefly racing at events like the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, witnessing them go for 24 hours is almost an impossibility today. Check out Alblas' fantastic short film of the Benjafield's 24, above, and get a taste of the on-track action. News Source: Goodwood Road and Racing, Robbert Alblas via YouTube Motorsports Bentley Racing Vehicles Classics Videos portugal portimao

Bentley Bentayga bodies to be built in Bratislava

Volkswagen's plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, has come a long way. After getting its start in 1971 by subcontracting the production of Skoda-branded vehicles, the plant was purchased by VW in 1991, where it was quickly put to further good use as it began producing Volkswagen Passat models for export. More recently, Bratislava has become a bastion for SUVs, assembling the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, in addition to the VW Touareg. Color us unsurprised, then, to learn that the Bentley Bentayga, which will be built atop the same large SUV platform as its cousins from Audi, Porsche and VW, will also be used for at least part of the production of Bentley's first SUV. Surely, though, one of the hallmarks of the Bentley brand is that its cars are handmade in England. Won't the Bentley-buying populace feel slighted by production in Slovakia? Not to worry. As is the case with the Porsche Cayenne, all that will be produced in Slovakia is the Bentayga's body. According to a report from Automotive News, bodies for the Bentayga will be shipped from Bratislava to Crewe, England, where they will be finished into fully operational vehicles. In order to accommodate the additional work, VW will reportedly invest 500 million euros into the plant in Slovakia and hire hundreds of workers.

Ares Design Coupe for the Bentley Mulsanne is the grand tourer we dream about

Bentley exited the grand coupe business when it made the last of 550 Brooklands models in 2011. The UK carmaker said it will make 19 examples of the Mulsanne Grand Convertible, but that doesn't count as a coupe. So when a U.S. Mulsanne owner wanted his Bentley with a roof but a touch less four-door-y, he went to Italian coachbuilders Ares Design. And not only did Ares do the thing, they did it magnificently. The resulting two-door is called the Ares Design Coupe for the Bentley Mulsanne, and the first of them was just handed over in Beverly Hills in time for a Pebble Beach appearance. Modena-based Ares started with a three-dimensional scan of the sedan, then reworked that CAD file into the coupe they sought by changing just about everything behind the A-pillars. A reprofiled roof replaces the old one, and it falls into a new backlight and longer rear decklid. The engineers moved the B-pillars rearward to install longer front doors, and fabricated new side impact protection for the portals and rear quarter panels. New chrome surrounds on the windows maintain the look as if from Crewe. Yet because the roof and doors are made from carbon fiber, they contribute to the coupe's 992-pound overall weight loss compared to the donor four-door. Inside, Ares replaced the front seats with more rakish thrones, redesigned the interior trim panels to flow with the body style, and matched the wood and leather as if all were factory original. Under the unchanged hood, a tuned ECU means the 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8 produces more than 591 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, both healthy improvements on the stock 505 hp and 752 lb-ft. Completing the transformation, the coupe sits 20 millimeters lower on "a sportier suspension." One report said that a friend of the California owner likes the car so much that a second two-door has already been commissioned. Ares charges $460,000 for the service, to start, and it takes about six weeks. And no, that price doesn't include the donor Bentley. However, that's a lot less than Bentley would charge to make the swap, since the carmaker won't make the actual car. The Italian firm said it wants to keep volumes "ultra-low," yet, "As long as [Bentley] don't make one, we will continue." Although we haven't spoken much of Ares here outside of their Tesla Model S wagon, the firm led by ex- Lotus boss Dany Bahar has kept busy in its four years of operation.