Redesigned Bentley gets new looks, more power, and a staggeringly detailed interior.
We knew a new Bentley Continental GT was coming and now it’s made its official global debut at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Like the previous two generations of the modern Bentley icon, the new Continental GT is a sculpted, muscular two-door. Bentley says it’s first car ever whose entire body was made through the Super Formed process, which involves heating aluminum to 932 degrees Fahrenheit and shaping it into complex designs, such as the GT’s prominent rear haunches. Crystal-like LED Matrix headlights and tail lights sparkle at both ends.
Output from the 6.0-liter W12 is up to 626 horsepower and 664 lb.ft of torque. A twin-clutch eight-speed automatic and a new Active All-Wheel-Drive System that splits torque front to rear based on the driving situation (as opposed to a fixed split of 40 percent in the front and 60 percent in the rear) help the GT get to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 207 mph.
In the above Autoline Network video, John McElroy sits in the new Continental GT at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show and discusses the details of its interior with Bentley’s head of interior design, Darren Day. The cabin may be redesigned, but it’s still unmistakably Bentley. It’s a landscape of leather, metal, and wood. The 12.3-inch center screen can be rotated out of the way, leaving a swath of wood veneer or a trio of helpful gauges in its place. New available “Diamond Knurling” surrounds the air vents, bezels, and other interior elements. Day and his crew at Crewe used watchmaking techniques to trim the cockpit with machined aluminum topped with a CĂ´tes de Genève finish. The door panels are covered with a concentric diamond design wrought in a combination of leather quilting and embroidery. Each embroidered diamond is formed out of 712 stitches. Overall, there are nearly two miles of stitching (310,000 stitches) inside the Continental GT, according to Day.
Bentley is already taking orders for the reborn Continental GT. Deliveries will start rolling out during the second quarter of 2018. A plug-in hybrid model will be available at a later date.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
