2011 Bentley Continental Gtc Convertible 2-door 6.0l on 2040-cars

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The Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e Concept is the gentleman's open-air electric tourer

The ever-present pressure exerted by increasing fuel economy and emissions standards is forcing automakers worldwide to re-examine their traditional internal combustion lineups. In order to gauge customer interest, Bentley brought the all-electric EXP 12 Speed 6e to the Geneva Motor Show. The drop-top concept shows Bentley's vision of an electrified future and what it envisions a battery-powered luxury touring car will be. Bentley believes any electric vehicle that wears the flying B should be as capable as the equivalent gas-powered model. That means London to Paris or Milan to Monaco on a single charge. Filling the battery should be effortless, which is why they want inductive charging, negating the need for cables. There is one for those times inductive charging isn't available. Most of all, the electric motors should supply effortless amounts of torque, just like the current lineup of Bentley eight and 12-cylinder engines. The interior of the EXP 12 Speed 6e is both futuristic and distinctly Bentley. High-quality leather and copper trim cover most services while a large OLED display houses most of the car's controls. The half-cut steering wheel uses glass elements embedded with various buttons and controls. The cut sections feature controls a performance boost and one for a speed limiter for use in urban areas. The copper elements continue outside, highlighting various trim elements around the car. When in motion, there is a large "6" that illuminates within the grille. The design is similar to the Continental GT prototype we spied a few weeks ago, which in turn takes elements from a previous Bentley concept, the EXP 10 Speed 6. It will be interesting to see how well customers receive the concept. Rolls-Royce brought out similar vehicle awhile back. Reception was icy, but the two automakers do have a different customer base. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e Concept: Geneva 2017 View 14 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2017 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Geneva Motor Show Bentley Convertible Electric 2017 Geneva Motor Show

Bentley and Skoda capitalize on the coronation

Most likely, King Charles won’t be riding in a Czech-made Skoda this weekend when he is crowned king of England, even though the car company has introduced a Coronation Edition in a “Royal Green” color “in honor of the Coronation.” However, should they ride to the fancy investiture at Westminster Abbey in a home-grown Bentley, the royal tushes of he and Queen Camilla may be resting on bespoke, handcrafted “cabin cushions” created by BentleyÂ’s “Dream Factory” to celebrate the occasion (not likely, since the royal couple is expected to travel in the 260-year-old Gold State Coach). The upcoming, day-long event has inspired lots of tchotchkes of course — chocolate Charleses, crowns for dogs, Lego kings — as well as an outpouring of affection by the public and commercial opportunities to sell them things royalty-related. On the matter of the new KingÂ’s rear end, the Bentley cushions are described as being quite fabulous. It took craftsmen three days to embroider them with the special “Coronation Emblem,” which consists, according to the firm, "of two separate thread colours ... three different colourways of the emblem were used, to contrast the individually-selected hides for different colours of cushions to match the interiors of the Bentleys that will use them." The colors of the cushions include Cricketball and Cumbrian Green, accented by piping of Beluga, Porpoise, Newmarket Tan and Imperial Blue respectively. Should they require more modern transportation, a fleet of Bentleys will be on hand for special guests.  Regarding the Skodas, the Royal Green color will be available to order by commoners as well as by the royal couple, available on selected Superb, Kodiaq and Octavia models in the UK.

Pre-Race notes from the 2015 Nurburgring 24-Hours

Autoblog has come to the German countryside to watch the Nurburgring 24-Hour race, and just one day in, we have to say it's outstanding. Le Mans has been the highlight of our summer racing schedule for the past few years, the 'Ring 24-Hour event being the appetizer we always skipped. Earlier this year, however, while visiting Miami to check out the Cigarette Racing 50 Marauder GT S, we met Scott Preacher. He oversees digital marketing for both Cigarette and AMG during the week, then comes to Germany to compete in the VLN race series on the weekends, driving an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Team Mathol. If Le Mans is the Oscars of endurance racing, the Nurburgring 24-Hour race is the Screen Actors Guild award – the one voted on by the actors, for the actors. In this case it's the race by the teams and fans, for the teams and fans, even though the increasing manufacturer presence has altered the team equation. We were told that it wasn't so long ago that true privateers could win the overall, but that's not really the case anymore. Front-running teams have heavy factory involvement – Audi Sport Team Phoenix, for instance, which finished in first and third last year, has its own 'Ring race center and is running the 2016 R8; Aston Martin is represented by Aston Martin Racing and Aston Martin Test Center, and Bentley has a Bentley Motors team and uses HPT to run another team. The fan component hasn't changed, though, and you can't talk about the race for more than 60 seconds before someone brings up the battalions of spectators. Every driver we spoke to cited them as the most incredible part of this race after the track itself. It feels to us like a giant German Sebring, with thousands of people camped out in the ginormous, forested infield, many of whom have been here since Monday erecting their ornate camping compounds. There will be parties everywhere Saturday night, and so much bratwurst on the grill that the drivers can smell it when as they're blasting full speed through Wehrseifen. Even when we drove a Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe on a lap before the race, the fans waved like it was a competition. Scott Preacher's Australian co-driver Robert Thompson said, "You come around a corner and it's like you're driving full speed through the middle of a carnival." The race field itself could also be called a carnival, with an officially invited field of more than 170 cars. Even on a track that's 24.4-km long, that's like racing on the 405 at midday.