Pebble Beach is fast becoming one of the best places for new car debuts. Besides seeing the McLaren MP4-12C, Fiorvanti SP1, Perana Z-One, Morgan EvaGT, Jaguar XK175, Jaguar XJ75 Platinum, Boss 302 Mustang, Veyron Super Sport, Lotus Exos T125, Lotus Evora GT4 Cup, and so on and so on, we just got to see the new Bentley Continental GTC and GTC Speed 80-11 Editions. These 80-11 models, designed exclusively for the North American market, will be limited to just 80 units each. The “11″ in the title refers to 2011, the model year of these specials.

These are basically trim packages, adding things like 20-inch, 14-spoke polished wheels, and red calipers on the Speed, but they at least look tasteful. While the 80-11 Editions will be available in any Bentley color, they’ve introduced a new color – Midnight – that will be exclusive to these models.

If the wheels or special color don’t tip you off to the special nature of these vehicles, you might be able to spot them by their little Union Jack badges on the front fenders. Check out the full press release after the jump for more details and be sure to peruse our gallery as well.

BENTLEY MOTORS ANNOUNCES DEBUT OF TWO LIMITED-EDITION DROPHEADS AT PEBBLE BEACH

Continental GTC and GTC Speed 80-11 Editions Unveiled

(Pebble Beach, CA) Bentley Motors is displaying the company’s new limited-edition Continental GTC and GTC Speed 80-11 models, designed exclusively for the North American market, on the Concept Lawn at the 60th Annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Both of these new cars combine the legendary performance, luxury and craftsmanship for which the 91-year old Bentley marque is renowned, as well as the added exclusivity of being commissioned for a single market. The 80-11 designation underlines just how limited these luxury British convertibles will be with Bentley building only 80 examples of each drophead in 2011.

Unique and Distinctive Exterior Styling

The GTC and GTC Speed 80-11 models deliver the same outstanding performance as their ’standard’ Bentley counterparts but with their own strong and original styling stories.

The luxurious GTC 80-11 features new 20-inch, 14-spoke alloy diamond wheels, polished with unique black center caps featuring Bentley’s distinctive ‘B’ emblem. The more performance-oriented GTC Speed 80-11offers the muscular Supersports’ 20-inch wheels, now finished with an eye-catching dark tint, and displaying sporty red brake calipers underneath.

Both cars give a nod to Bentley’s British heritage and incomparable craftsmanship, with Union Jack brightware badges featured on the front fenders.

Bentley’s extensive choice of colors is available for both GTC 80-11 models but for those seeking even more exclusivity, a new and unique color - Midnight - has been commissioned for these high-performance convertibles. The 80-11 GTC and GTC convertibles offer the Dark Grey Metallic soft top and the Mulliner fuel-filler cap as standard.

A Unique Interpretation of Bentley Craftsmanship and Refinement

Bentley’s styling team has created two unique interiors for these exclusive convertibles. The main leather hide choice for both vehicles is Beluga, and the contrast stitching, piping and Bentley emblems are white on the GTC and Pillar Box Red on the GTC Speed. The result is a strong, dark main hide color, accented by the contrasting hand-stitching and piping.

To complement the Piano Black veneers on both 80-11 Editions, the engine-turned aluminum dash has a bright finish in the GTC and a sportier dark finish for the GTC Speed. Race-inspired drilled alloy sport foot pedals are standard on both vehicles and to further differentiate the special editions, the vehicles’ treadplates and a badge on the console are branded with the “80-11 Edition” signature.

The 80-11 Edition GTCs and the 80-11 Edition GTC Speeds arrive at Bentley dealers in fall of 2010 as model-year 2011 vehicles.

Exhilarating Bentley Performance and FlexFuel Technology

Since its launch in 2006 the Continental GTC has enjoyed sales success in over 50 countries around the world and drawing younger buyers to the Bentley marque. Customers are attracted to its combination of sleek design, interior craftsmanship, dramatic performance and refined but agile handling. The GTC boasts a twin-turbo 6-liter W12 engine, producing 552hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. The GTC’s top speed is 195mph (190mph with the top down) and its 0-60mph sprint time is just 4.8 seconds.

Responding to customer demand for an even more potent and driver-focused convertible, the GTC Speed debuted in summer of 2009. The Speed also uses the twin-turbo 6-liter W12 powertain but Bentley’s engineers have further optimized its performance to create 600hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. With a top speed of 200mph (195mph with top down) the Speed was the world’s fastest four-seat production convertible, before the recent arrival of its Bentley stablemate the Supersports Convertible, with a 0-60mph time of only 4.5 seconds.

For model-year 2011, the GTC and GTC Speed, along with all Bentley Continentals, features FlexFuel technology, which enables the vehicle to run on gasoline, E85 biofuel or any mix of the two without any compromise in performance. As part of its environmental strategy, Bentley has pledged to reduce CO2 by 15% by offering FlexFuel powertrains across its entire vehicle lineup by the end of 2012, and it has pledged to introduce a new powertrain that reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 40%.

About Bentley Motors, Inc

Bentley Motors, Inc. is the Sales, Marketing, distribution and Aftersales channel for the Bentley brand in The Americas. Nearly one in every three Bentley products sold worldwide is delivered to a customer in the Americas, making the region the single largest for the company. Headquartered in Boston, MA, Bentley Motors, Inc. has approximately 35 employees and 48 retail locations throughout the region. The wide majority of the region’s sales and retailers are located in the United States, with the southern California, New York and southern Florida metro markets being the three largest.

[Source:Autoblog]

If you’re a Bentley dealer in the Middle East, you’ve got it easy. With mounds of disposable income littering that part of the world, it’s a prime target for high-end luxury brands. To that end, Bentley has announced a special run of 50 Continental Flying Spur sedans that will only be available in the Middle East. Called the Flying Spur Arabia and Flying Spur Speed Arabia, these two special editions feature special Arabia badges on their fenders, door sills and ash-tray lid. The non-Speed Flying Spur also gets a new unique 14-spoke wheel design while the higher performance Speed model (above) gets 20-inch, ten-spoke wheels.

Bentley says the Middle East now accounts for one-tenth of its worldwide sales and supports the region with nine dealers. No doubt we can expect more of these special editions to come from Bentley and other brands both in the Middle East and China, as both markets become increasingly important to ultra high-end automakers.

BENTLEY – EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

* Bentley Motors launches two unique special-edition Continental models for the Middle East
* A total of only 50 Continental Flying Spur Arabia and Continental Flying Spur Speed Arabia cars will be built

(Crewe, England) Bentley Motors has unveiled two unique Continental models, which have been engineered and designed exclusively for the Middle East market. These special edition cars have been created at Bentley’s Crewe headquarters with both models offering a range of striking features specially commissioned for Arabic customers.

The Middle East market now represents 10 per cent of Bentley retail sales globally and has doubled its contribution to the worldwide percentage of sales over the last five years. This trend has continued despite the recent global recession.

From Bentley’s first dealership in Dubai, the network has grown to become nine-strong in 2010, with dealers in Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jeddah, Riyadh and Al Khobar. These two new models have been launched specifically for this unique market.

The Continental Flying Spur Arabia and the Continental Flying Spur Speed Arabia retain all the potent performance of the company’s Continental Flying Spur and Spur Speed, the world’s fastest luxury four-door saloon, but with a range of additional exterior and interior features to create the ultimate in distinguished, elegant driving developed for the Arabic market.

Both cars are further distinguished by some subtle exterior and interior ‘Arabia’ motifs. These include an exterior front fender badge, tread plate and ashtray lid badge – all bearing the Arabia signature.

The class-leading performance of the W12, 6-litre engine is in no way diminished. The Flying Spur Arabia is capable of achieving a potential top speed of 312 km/h and a 0-100 km/h sprint time of just 4.9 seconds. The Flying Spur Speed Arabia offers a more powerful 600 bhp (610 ps, 449 kW) version of Bentley’s highly acclaimed W12 with 553 lb-ft (750 Nm) of torque. This is a 9 per cent increase in power and 15 per cent increase in torque over its sister model, and will drive from 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds with a top speed of 322 km/h.

Unique wheels are also offered on both models. The Continental Flying Spur Arabia is designed with an elegant 14-spoke diamond alloy wheel, which has incredible strength through a small surface area and allows the best possible flow of air to the brake discs.

For the Continental Flying Spur Speed Arabia, vibrant and sporty, bright silver, 10-spoke, 20-inch wheels are included, and are also compatible with optional carbon ceramic brakes.

Bentley’s ability to add extra, well-executed touches of luxury can be found in the ventilated fluted seats that effectively cool and warm the body, helping driver and passengers always to stay comfortable. The craftsmanship features which are synonymous with the Bentley name also include veneered picnic tables to the rear of front seats inset with vanity mirrors, chrome inlay strips to the door waistrails and deep-pile carpet mats with hide trimming. To surprise and delight the customer, even the fuel cap has been designed with jewellery in mind and is engineered in bright chrome with the famous ‘B’ badge.

For convenience, an additional valet key is offered with limited functionality that allows the car to be driven without giving access to the boot or glove box. This provides secure storage of personal belongings when using valet parking services.

Further options that offer the luxury and refinement to the customer include Adaptive Cruise Control with ‘follow to stop feature’, a rear-view camera, the iPod interface linked to the infotainment system and privacy phone handsets in the front and rear of the car.

Geoff Dowding, Regional Director, Asia and Middle East, comments:

“We have created these exclusive new models for our Arabic customers in recognition of the growing importance of these influential customers. Bentley has a long and proud tradition of being able to design, engineer and personalise our cars to the individual styling and driving tastes of our customers and these special-edition Bentleys showcase these skills for the Middle East Market”.

[Source:Autoblog]

Skeptics, naysayers and pessimists, you can go ahead and skip this post. It’s not for you. The rest of you out there, let’s take a moment to imagine a world in which Bentley had remained as dedicated to its quest for speed as it was in the late ’20s. What would have happened if the company now known more for how many hides it can cram into a cabin than its Le Mans-besting racers had stuck to creating truly innovative automobiles? What if Bentley suddenly decided its heritage was worth more than a badge on the hood and some fancy luggage?

Chances are, the luxury coupe world would be a much more interesting place, populated by the likes of the Bentley Dynamo Concept. Marc Senger decided to sketch out what a modern interpretation of the automaker’s infamous 1929 4 1/2-liter racer would look like. We’ve got to say, we’re completely smitten. The car hits plenty of the right notes – open wheel, massive 4.3-liter blown four-cylinder engine and Continental GT haunches just for good measure. What’s not to love? The concept even uses a double-hinged hood. You can check out the rest of Senger’s work on his Flickr page.

[Source:Autoblog]

The Porsche 918 Spyder might’ve been our pick of the Geneva Motor Show, but the consensus on which vehicle we’d drive home was unanimous: The Bentley Continental-based Flying Star.

As many of you have pointed out, we’ve got a undying love of all things shooting brake, so the Flying Star lit up all the right nerve endings. And apparently, we aren’t alone.

Car and Driver spoke with Stuart McCullough during the launch of the Mulsanne and when asked about the possibility of a Bentley-built hatch, the Volkswagen board member said, “We have an idea in the back of our minds that we may yet bring to market.”

That’s far from a confirmation and it’s doubtful that a Continental-derived shooting brake is coming, particularly when you consider that the GT is due for a refresh. However, something based on the Mulsanne’s underpinnings could replace the aging Continental, and Bentley is sure to be considering other body styles when that model arrives within the next few years.

[Source:Autoblog]

Five-hundred-fifty horsepower is an awful lot of muscle. But when it’s being produced by six liters of displacement, 12 cylinders and two turbochargers, you have to figure even more is possible. Bentley themselves knew this to be true, so they squeezed an extra 50 or so out of the Continental’s enormous engine for the Speed version. But there was still more to be extracted, so they developed the Supersports model with over 620 horsepower.

Determined that there’s still more to coax out of those colossal specs, German tuning house Wheelsandmore has just released its own tuning package for the Supersports that brings output up to 702 horsepower, with a commensurate bump to 650 lb-ft of torque (up from the standard 480, the Speed’s 550 and the Supersports’ 590) to create the Continental Ultrasports 702.

All they had to do to get the bonus 80 horses was tweak the ECU and fit a new exhaust. But true to their name, Wheelsandmore didn’t stop there, fitting a set of 21-inch, 3-piece modular rims on Dunlop Sport Maxx tires, and an electronically adjustable suspension that drops the ride height to less than 8 inches off the ground at speed. Check it out in the high-res image gallery below.

[Source:Autoblog]

Seems like everybody and their cousin wants to design cars. But even with the right training, it can still be tough for an aspiring auto stylist to break into the field. Bentley, however, is giving a handful of transportation design students a crack at working in its design department.

The program is being held in conjunction with the graduate Vehicle Design Course at the Royal College of Art in London. Eighteen students spent the last few months under the tutelage of Crewe’s lead exterior designer Raul Pires, with the four top candidates – Marten Wallgren (Sweden), Mikka Heikkinen (Finland), David Seesing (Germany) and Bora Kim (South Korea) – shortlisted for further collaboration.

Each has penned a novel, futuristic take on the Bentley design ethos, and from among them one will be selected for a job in Bentley’s design studio. Click on the thumbnails below to view their designs, and follow the jump for details in the press release.

PRESS RELEASE

FUTURE INTERNATIONAL DESIGN STARS SHORTLISTED FOR BENTLEY EXPERIENCE

Royal College of Art students create exciting new concepts for iconic British manufacturer with state-of-the-art software

(Crewe, England. 1 February, 2010) Some of the world’s best young designers from London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) have created a series of remarkable ‘Bentleys of the Future’ designs in a unique partnership with the famous British company.

Eighteen Vehicle Design Course Masters students have spent the last few months studying the work of Bentley’s leading designers, including Head of Exterior Design Raul Pires who played a key role designing the company’s new Mulsanne flagship. Drawing on Bentley’s proud design heritage. they have sought to develop a range of striking and futuristic car designs.

Now four of the RCA students have been shortlisted to refine their designs with Pires and his colleagues with a winner and runner-up both being invited to join the Crewe-based company for a six month secondment in the Bentley design studio. Professor Dale Harrow, Head of Vehicle Design at the RCA explained:

“Working with Bentley has inspired these young designers to create a coupe for the 21st Century that embraces the latest aerodynamics technology. The Vehicle Design Course attracts postgraduate students from across the world and it has been fascinating to see them make a connection with a British marque that has such a distinguished heritage.”

A key part of the project has been the ability to combine strong visual design with the latest automotive software. Each car design has undergone extensive testing in a virtual wind tunnel to assess and enhance its aerodynamic capabilities. Professor Harrow added:

“We’ve had invaluable support from Exa and their PowerFLOW software which was used to create cars like the Bentley Continental Supersports. The students realise the importance of optimising the aerodynamic qualities of their designs and Exa’s technology allows each car to evolve constantly. Crucially, our young team has been working with top designers like Raul, learning how to combine great creativity with sound engineering solutions.”

Raul Pires said the overall standard was extremely high and this convinced Bentley to add an extra place to the shortlist. Pires said:

“The RCA has an eviable reputation for attracting some of the best young design talent, with many of their graduates going on to work for the world’s leading car manufacturers. The outstanding quality of work meant we have offered an extra place.

“These four finalists have captured the essence of our brand, recognising what makes a Bentley instantly recognisable on the road. Just as importantly, they’ve embraced Exa’s leading-edge technology and grasped that excellent design should always seek to enhance a car’s handling and performance, as well as optimising its environmental credentials.”

During the next few days the four designers will be working flat-out with their course tutors and EXA’s analysts to refine their work before meeting with Raul Pires and Bentley’s design chief Dirk van Braeckel for the final review.

The four Bentley/Exa finalists are Bora Kim, David Seesing, Marten Wallgren and Mikka Heikkinen. Bora (26) from South Korea has created a Bentley which enables the owner to easily select their preferred engine for any given journey whilst Sweden’s Marten (27) has created a futuristic version of the Bentley Continental GT.

David Seesing (26) from Cologne in Germany hopes to be the third generation of his family to work in the motor industry and has impressed Bentley with his ability to combine radical design with impressive aerodynamics.

Completing the line-up is Finland’s Mikka Heikkinen (26) who has created a high-performance Bentley and used his industrial design training to create a powerful, visually impactful concept vehicle.

Christine Gaskell, Member of the Board for Personnel at Bentley Motors, who has been following the project closely said:

“Bentley Motors has long-established apprentice and graduate schemes and we are always seeking to find new ways to encourage and support people who want to work in the motor industry. We look forward to welcoming some of the Royal College’s brightest and best to our design team later this year.”

[Source:Autoblog]

While the environmental merits of any 621 horsepower, twelve-cylinder behemoth that’s capable of traveling at speeds of up to 204 miles per hour are, at the very least, debatable, Bentley hasn’t exactly been shy about touting the green angle of its upcoming 2010 Continental Supersports.

Further straining the gorgeous coupe’s eco credibility is word from Green Car Advisor that U.S. laws and “engineering challenges” – including the fitment of hardened valve seats in Bentley’s W12 engine – mean that the first 200 Supersports imported to the United States won’t actually be flex-fuel capable.

Ah well, somehow we doubt that buyers willing to plonk down the $267,000 it takes to park a twin-turbocharged Continental Supersports in their driveway will be all that concerned with pumping ethanol in the tank.

[Souce:Autoblog]

No stranger to tuning supercars like the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, Hamann’s most recent addition to its parts catalog is the Bentley Continental GT and and GT Speed. There’s no word on what will exactly be available for the brawny two-seater, but judging from the photos it looks like pretty standard Hamann fare. A new body kit consists of a more aggressive front fascia, side skirts, rear wing, and a lower rear fascia that makes room for a new exhaust system with quad tips. Inside, carbon fiber replaces the carefully crafted wood trim. We’ll be sure to bring you more details and plenty of photos as soon as Hamann releases them.

[Source:Hamann]

Long known amongst car people around southern California for its fine dining, upscale boutiques and most importantly its twice-monthly collector car breakfast cruises, the Enderle Center in Tustin, California decided to do something a little different to celebrate its 30th Anniversary: host a Classic European Concours. For this inaugural event they even flew in Pininfarina designer Maurizio Corbi who answered questions and sketched dream cars for the crowd. When someone groaned after hearing Corbi was partly responsible for the new Ferrari California’s form, he quickly pointed out he did the front, which brought relieved laughter. Local collector Dick Marconi brought several cars from his nearby Marconi Automotive Museum, which supports the Marconi Foundation for Kids. Several of Dick’s artworks were also displayed in the center’s Chemers Gallery, but the cars were really all the art we needed to see.

Classics from the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s, along with sportscars from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s were arranged by country of origin and parked through the central parking lot alongside a pedestrian-friendly red carpet. Ferraris were featured and there was an incredible assortment on hand, everything from Cher’s Daytona Spyder to an extremely rare 195S, one of two in existence. The F50 wasn’t too bad either. Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and even Pegaso were also well-represented. It was a great first effort and a fun show, small and manageable with some breathtaking classics, all with great stories behind them.

When our camera started acting up we spotted our pals from Speed and Motion, who graciously agreed to let us use their images for our gallery. Click and enjoy, and be sure to check out the Speed and Motion site for a greater selection of photos and videos from this show, as well as dozens of HD clips from other local events.

[Source:Autoblog]

If you’ve got it, flaunt it. The super high-end automotive market has been counting on that attitude for years, and it may now be coming back to bite them. It seems that sales of luxury marques such as Bentley, Maybach and Aston Martin have been on a downward trajectory over the last year. Despite the fact that there are a number of people who still have plenty of dough to purchase these expensive toys, public perception is causing some of them to hold back and keep those fat wallets in their pockets.

To combat the problem, some high-end brands are choosing to aim even higher. If ex-customers with a net-worth of less than $5 million find it socially unacceptable to make a purchase, Bentley has said it will begin marketing to those with at least a net worth of $25 million. Let us add that we’ve driven a few Bentleys and Rollers and can say with certainty that they are definitely conspicuous in a sea of CamCords and Mustangs.

[Source:Autoblog]