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Bentley Continental has come a long way in 63 years

Ever wonder why Bentley calls its coupe the Continental? We'll give you a hint: it's not because it comes with orange juice and a breakfast roll. It's because the coupe was designed to traverse entire continents in speed and comfort. And it has been doing that for 63 years now. The fastest four-passenger vehicle of its day, the original Bentley R-Type Continental is considered to be the world's first grand tourer. The Continental was based on the R-Type saloon, retaining its 4.6-liter inline-six but replacing the four-door bodywork with an altogether more elegant, dynamic form. The two-door bodywork was crafted by H.J. Mulliner & Co, whose name still adorns Bentley's customization department, and whom parent Rolls-Royce favored over its usual Park Ward for its pioneering skills in lightweight construction. The result was a vehicle that could sweep along the highways constructed in post-war Europe with ease and grace at speeds up to 120 miles per hour. Of the 2,000+ R-Types that Bentley made in the early 1950s, only 208 were Continentals, making it one of the most sought-after Bentleys of all time – and one of the most beautiful. It's that spirit which the company aims to carry forth with its namesake, the latest Continental GT Speed, which stands as the fastest production model Bentley has ever offered. Of course it's not just on the road where Bentley forged its reputation, but on the racetrack as well. That history stretches back to the famous Birkin Blower that won at Le Mans in 1930 straight through to the Continental GT3 that scored podium finishes at Paul Ricard and the Nurburgring this year. Watch the video above and scroll through the galleries below to see Bentleys old and new come together and demonstrate the heritage that they're always crowing about in Crewe. BENTLEY CONTINENTAL: EVOLUTION OF AN ICON - New film features 16MY Continental GT Speed and R-Type Continental - Traces the DNA and design of the Continental from 1952 to present - 16MY GT Speed is the fastest production car ever made by Bentley (Crewe, 16 December 2015) The Bentley Continental GT is one of the most iconic cars on the road today. The Continental name first entered the company's lexicon in 1952 with the R-Type Continental – arguably the world's first Grand Tourer. With a top speed of 120 mph it was the fastest four-seater in the world at the time of its launch.

Watch a Bentley Continental GT Speed hit 206 mph in Australia

The top speed listed on most cars is usually a rather theoretical affair. After all, where can you actually drive a car to its v-max, anyway? Well there are a few highways in the world – and really only a few – that will let you drive as fast as you can. One of them is in the Australian outback, so that's where Bentley took its new Continental GT Speed. The road in question is called the Stuart Highway. It's a 1,761-mile road which runs across the continent from Darwin in the north to Port Augusta in the south. That's about the same distance as driving from New York to Denver. Only unlike any of the highways you'd take to drive across America, the Stuart Highway has one long stretch of 120 miles between Alice Springs and Barrow Creek that is completely derestricted, and has been for the past two years since local authorities set about trying out removing the speed limit. To see how fast the new GT Speed could actually go in the real world, Bentley put Aussie touring car champion John Bowe behind the wheel and let 'er rip. The result is a top speed clocked at 206 miles per hour. That's pretty darn fast for any car, let alone one that weighs a massive 5,000 pounds. Its 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 engine contributes significantly to that curb weight, but with 626 horsepower and 607 pound-feet of torque on tap, it also has the muscle to keep the Conti pulling like a freight train all the way up past the double-century mark. Watch it unfold in the video above. BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT SPEED: VMAX IN THE OUTBACK - Continental GT Speed hits 206 mph (331 km/h) top speed on Stuart Highway, Australia - Northern Territory route one of only three derestricted roads in the world - Australian racing legend, John Bowe, takes Grand Tourer on extraordinary high-speed run - Continental GT Speed combines supercar performance with supreme luxury (Crewe, 04 November 2015) The 16MY Bentley Continental GT Speed has been taken to its top speed of 206 mph (331 km/h)* by Australian racing legend, John Bowe, on the derestricted Stuart Highway** deep in the Northern territory. The 635 PS (626 bhp), 820 Nm (607 lb.ft) W12-powered GT Speed Grand Tourer reached Vmax in just 76 seconds, covering a distance of 9.4 kilometres in the process. At top speed, the 6.0-litre twin-turbo Grand Tourer was covering a staggering 92 metres (or one football pitch) per second. John Bowe said: "This isn't a modified racecar; it's a luxurious grand touring road car fresh off the production line.

Bentley reserves 99 Continental GT3-Rs for North America at $337k apiece

Whether they're powered by V8 or W12 engines, the Bentley Continental GT just keeps getting faster and faster. The new Continental GT Speed, for example, is the fastest road-going Bentley ever made, capable of reaching 206 miles per hour. And the Continental GT3-R is the quickest-accelerating Bentley yet, capable of hitting 60 in just 3.6 seconds.
In other words, if you want to get your hands on one, you'll need to act fast. Bentley is only making 300 examples of the GT3-R, but while it is said to have already sold out the entire production run, it has been kind enough to keep 99 examples on the side just for the North American market.
The road-going embodiment of the Continental GT3 racer, the GT3-R packs a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 tuned up to 572 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. That makes it 72 hp and 29 lb-ft stronger than the base Continental GT V8, or 43 hp and 14 lb-ft more muscular than the GT V8 S, about on par with the W12 model but 54 hp and 89 lb-ft shy of the latest GT Speed. But thanks to its lighter weight (inherent in the eight-cylinder model and stripped of a further 220 pounds in the GT3-R), it trounces them all in the sprint to 60.