2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur on 2040-cars

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Bentley bringing two-seat sports car to Geneva?

Long subsided on the Continental and Mulsanne model lines, Bentley is on a mission to expand its production portfolio. And the latest reports from Great Britain suggest that it'll present a proposal for expanding it further next month with a conceptual two-seat sports car. The idea has been rumored for several months now, but Autocar claims that Bentley will showcase the two-seat GT at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. The new model is tipped to be positioned alongside (instead of substantially above or below) the existing Continental GT – much like Ferrari offers the California and 458 Italia (or new 488 GTB) at roughly the same price point – but will likely pack the British automaker's now-familiar, Audi-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. Its presentation at the Swiss expo will give Crewe the chance to gauge public opinion before deciding whether to proceed with production plans. It wouldn't be the first time that Bentley had toyed with the idea of a more compact GT. It revealed the Java concept way back in 1994 that never, strictly speaking, made production, but could be said to have paved the way for the current Continental range, and showcased the Hunaudieres mid-engined supercar prototype in 1999 that presaged its winning entry into Le Mans. The as-yet unnamed two-seat GT would be just one of several new models being touted for the British automaker. It is set to launch the new Bentayga crossover in the near future, potentially to be followed by a slant-back crossover coupe variant, a smaller crossover is also said to be under consideration, and it is also rumored to be weighing a four-door coupe to slot in between the Flying Spur and Mulsanne, the latter of which has also been showcased as a two-door convertible version as well.

Bentley Bentayga flops around on the 'Ring

Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer said the coming W12 Bentayga SUV will be the fastest SUV on the market, drawing a response from Porsche R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz that the next-generation Porsche Cayenne will outdo the Bentley on the road, and with a smaller V8 engine. We're going to assume that post and riposte is over top-speed honors, because judging by video of a prototype Bentayga lapping the Nurburgring, it won't be a Continental GT with a lift kit and it won't even be a current Cayenne GTS. In this video the Bentayga looks built for luxury, not cornering speed, as the body rolls over to the outside and the nannies shift the nose back into line when the driver pushes it through curbs. Or it could be that like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the Bentayga comes with some intense off-road chops that preclude tight-ship turning. And admittedly, we have no idea how this prototype is set up, but Porsche will probably take it as more reason to be smug anyway. Related Video: The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed

Meeting Bentley's 205-MPH Prince On The Autobahn
I'm travelling at the approximate speed of privilege. With the aluminum accelerator of the 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed buried to its neck in the high-pile carpet of the floorboard, the 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged W12 underhood is at full boast. The 616 furious British horses pumping under that long, proud prow set the German countryside to frappé with breathless ease, and with the sprawling sheetmetal of the coupe settled comfortably onto its haunches in eager anticipation of ever more thrust, it's clear this machine is content to consume endless kilometers of Autobahn in wide-mouthed gulps. There's an open lane of unrestricted tarmac unraveling before me, and I'm keen to oblige every thread of temptation singing in my chest. The speedometer has just clicked past 165 mph.
At this clip, the new crown jewel of the Bentley war chest is covering land at the rate of nearly one football field per second. The white lines on the road are beginning to fade into a solid stream, and I'm suddenly aware of the increasingly rapid heartbeat whispering the truth of my mortality in my ears. There's no looking anywhere other than as far to the horizon as possible, but even with my eyes set to long-range scan, it's clear that if something goes wrong at this velocity, they'll be burying an empty box in the hills of Tennessee. That little bit of trivia makes it all the more disconcerting when an ambling Volkswagen Jetta strays into my lane for no other reason than to take in the glorious sight of me manufacturing a stack of bricks in the quilted-leather driver's seat of someone else's $228,600 supercar.