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2019 Bentley Continental GT First Drive Review | A grand tourer learns to dance

The Austrian Alps are a curious venue to show off that great hunter of the highways, the Bentley Continental GT. With deep green forests and soaring thrusts of exposed rock, the Alps are one of those few places where the natural world still reigns supreme. Humanity isn't going to change this place much. You can forget about six-lane freeways blasted through rock — the only way to get around is on narrow, twin lanes. True to its name, the coupe is perhaps the truest grand touring car on the market — comfort happily married to speed. I once logged a personal best time between New York City and Boston in a base GT, despite a pounding nighttime rain. Even that miserable East Coast route felt easy in the GT, which eats through highway miles in a peculiarly relentless fashion. It was born for distance. This is our first drive of the new, third-generation car, which won't be sold in North America for another year, at a starting price of $214,600. We've been told it is a changed machine — a GT still, but with more nimbleness. And now we're about to find out, having left behind quaint Austrian villages for a steep mountain road that switchbacks up toward the clouds. It's everything you hope and dream when you fantasize about the Alps. Before me is a straightaway interrupted by a quick left-right bend and an uphill switchback. A small twist of hands on the nicely weighted steering wheel and the Bentley jukes through the left-right fluidly; no need to brush the brakes until we're right up to the hairpin. Then a firm push on the stoppers and a full lock of the steering wheel and — listen to that! — tire noise from the 21-inch Pirellis as we get back on the gas early. The car stays remarkably flat despite the camber of the turn. I snap open my hands and flat-foot the accelerator. Another hairpin beckons just beyond. And so it goes, the Conti welcoming a full-throated uphill attack. We get to the top and begin the fall back down the mountain, which is even more illuminating. This is the model with the W12 — the only one available at launch, notorious for carrying too much weight in its nose. Take a previous generation on a tight downhill route and you wrestle the grille through the turns, giving up entry speed to mitigate inevitable front-end push. It was a point-and-shoot car, relying on good brakes and ample power to make up lost time through the turns. This new generation is a momentum machine. There is a newfound rhythm and flow. It is deft and it is nimble.

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.

Queen Elizabeth needs a new chauffeur - could it be you?

We don't often post job listings here on Autoblog – and especially not ones based overseas. But then it's not every day that a sovereign monarch is in the market for a new chauffeur. Yet that's precisely what we came across, and not just for any monarch, either: this listing is for a chauffeur to drive around the Queen of England. The listing on the official website of the British Monarchy specifies that the job in question – based at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace – entails working "as part of a busy and supportive team tasked with driving members of the Royal Family, Household officials, guests and official visitors." That means being around some highly distinguished individuals, for what it's worth, but also getting access to some very rare machinery, the likes of which most people will never get close to: namely, the Bentley State Limousine, a vehicle designed and crafted in Crewe, based on the Arnage, specifically for use by Her Majesty and members of the royal household. Don't think that the proximity to one of the wealthiest families and heads of state in the world means the job would be what you might call "lucrative," though: it pays around $35k per year, which includes meals but not the mandatory lodging, the cost of which is deducted from the salary. Of course it is a government job, of sorts, so it comes with full benefits. And then Queen Elizabeth II has been known to drive herself around from time to time, when the mood strikes (and with impunity), so there could be a lot of downtime, too. News Source: The Royal HouseholdImage Credit: Bentley Government/Legal Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Bentley queen elizabeth ii chauffeur queen elizabeth