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Driving the 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 'home' to Brooklands

BROOKLANDS, England – ‘Continental GTÂ’ embodies an idealized dream of carefree, trans-continental drives to the French Riviera or glamorous Swiss ski resorts. In reality and spirit, a long, long way from a gray January day in what is now a grocery store parking lot in a nondescript London suburb. But this place, or specifically the moss-covered concrete banking surrounding it, is as important to BentleyÂ’s identity as 1930s playboys racing express trains across France, amateur heroes triumphing at Le Mans or the image of luxurious sedans crunching the gravel driveways of stately English homes. In the modern age of Bentley, the racing history at Brooklands, and its expression through hardware supplied by its Volkswagen owners, is what underpins the brand. IÂ’ve got 1,000 miles at the wheel of the latest V8 Continental GT to find out if that Brooklands tradition has been carried forth; to see if this Bentley is still a Bentley. ItÂ’s an interesting moment to be driving a Continental GT, too. For all the British heritage this car embodies, it's dependent on the centralized resources and manufacturing muscle of parent Volkswagen. The same goes for the Group's other brands defined by tradition and local price: Lamborghini, Porsche and even Audi. Yet, IÂ’m enjoying this car just days before Britain formally quits the European Union. The implications are still to be fully understood but it puts Bentley in an especially perilous position, given it depends on overseas production and the free movement of parts from the continent to keep its factory running. Sure, Bentleys are meant to be expensive. But if that margin is suddenly consumed by tariffs on bodies from Volkswagen, engines from Porsche and gearboxes from ZF, the business case looks even shakier than it has been  in the recent past. Nobody knows how itÂ’ll shake out but one answer for VW would be to relocate the whole business to Germany rather than keep building them here. YouÂ’d still have cars branded as Bentleys if that happened. But would they still be Bentleys? We talk about intellectual property. Arguably here weÂ’re talking about emotional property. And the Englishness that makes the cars what they are.   Because more than anything, a Bentley is a feelgood car, even when your reality is grimy winter roads and a coating of salt on your fancy paint.

Prototype Bentley Continental GT bears EXP10-style taillights

The latest Bentley Continental GT our spy photographer has caught happens to be in an unusual blue hue, breaking with the convention of black painted prototypes. It still features clever camouflage, including faux light covers. We already knew that the traditional quad lamps were hidden underneath, but it turns out that the true shape of the taillights were also obscured. Rather than an evolution of the current units, the new taillights seem to be slim, partial oval units similar to those on the EXP10 Speed 6 concept. We can finally see this shape since the lights are illuminated in two of the photos. Aside from the taillights, there are a couple other details that have been revealed. The car's retractable rear spoiler is seen in action. There also seem to be faux body panels covering the front and rear fenders. Upon very close inspection, you can see some odd lumpy portions in these areas that don't follow the lines of the car, and nearby are some faint seams. We can infer that the actual height of the front and rear fenders will be a bit lower and more understated than they appear in these photos. Previous spy photos have shown that there is a convertible version in the works that will likely be released around the same time as, or soon after, the coupe. The car will use the Panamera platform, and it will likely be offered with 8- and 12-cylinder engines, as it is now. Related Video:

Bentley Speed Six Continuation Series revealed at Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Bentley Continuation series of cars is … continuing. Today, Bentley unveiled the Speed Six Continuation Series at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. This follows the series of 12 Bentley Blower Continuation models, but apologies youÂ’re only hearing about the new series now, as the 12 Speed Six units are already spoken for. Bentley says it regards the Speed Six as its most successful race car ever because it dominated Le Mans both in 1929 and again in 1930. Just like the Blower, the Speed Six will be built using the same processes as the original car by BentleyÂ’s bespoke and coachbuilding division, Mulliner. Bentley has 80% of the carÂ’s original drawings and is supplementing this knowledge with original mechanicÂ’s notes and data taken from an original 1930 Le Mans racer and a 1930 Speed Six currently residing in BentleyÂ’s Heritage Collection. The “6 1/2 liter” (as Bentley likes to term it) six-cylinder engine required the creation of over 600 new parts to build, and Bentley says initial dyno testing shows itÂ’s making 205 horsepower, which is 5 horses more than the original race engines were documented to produce. Bentley originally put this engine together as a successor to the Blower motor, as the thinking at the time from W.O. Bentley was that increasing displacement would produce better results than supercharging. Every last detail of the Speed Six Continuation Series is scrutinized to be as authentic as possible to the original. The one youÂ’re looking at in photos here is finished in Parsons Napier Green and features a tan leather interior. A total of five authentic colors will be available for the buyers to choose from, too. The craftspeople building the cars will be working alongside younger folks on purpose in an effort to pass down the skills and techniques used to create such vehicles. Before a single screw is turned, though, Bentley says it will be putting “Car Zero” through a real-world durability program with a goal of over 21,000 miles on the road and nearly 5,000 miles on the racetrack. Will any of the 12 customers ever get close to those figures? It sure would be cool if they did. As for those 12 lucky people who will own one of these Speed Six Continuation Series cars, theyÂ’ll all have custom sessions with the Mulliner team to get their cars customized and built to their specific wants. Each Speed Six will then take 10 months from start to finish to complete, and Bentley thinks production will be completed by the end of 2025.