1997 Bentley Azure Convertible 2-door 6.7l on 2040-cars

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Bentley helped a customer outfit a yacht to match their Continental GT

Luxury automakers continue to expand into new areas and offer new services to provide their clients custom, high-end products. Sometimes that involves fancy apartments or garages. In the case of this Bentley Continental GT buyer, they wanted their new yacht to match their nautical-themed luxury coupe. So, Bentley and yacht-builder Contest Yachts obliged. The yacht is a 59-foot Contest 59 CS, and the Continental GT is the V8 variant. The car features a dark blue exterior and "Hotspur" red leather, "Linen" quilted leather and light-stained wood trim in the interior. The yacht features nearly the same specification with a slightly different paint color on the outside, but actual leather sourced from Bentley to trim the interior. The wood used for the bed, cabinetry and other parts of the yacht's cabin closely match the car's trim, too. Bentley says this is a one-off, and indeed, you're likely not going to see another pairing exactly like this. But we suspect that as long a client is willing to put forth the undisclosed amount of money, they would happily collaborate with Contest or another company to custom match a car and a yacht. We wouldn't be surprised if they'd be willing to help match more things, like a private jet and a car. Just have a big enough pocketbook and the options are just about limitless. Related video:

Bentley teases new Flying Spur's 3D diamond leather upholstery

Playing the long game before unveiling the new Flying Spur, Bentley's published the second teaser for the new "luxury grand touring sedan." The last one homed in on the retracting "Flying B hood" ornament. This one focuses on what Bentley says is "an automotive world-first," three-dimensional textured leather lining the cabin. Created by Crewe's craftsmen and demonstrated on the door panel, the leather adopts a diamond-quilted pattern, but without stitches indicative of quilting. Up close, it looks like the leather simply adheres to a complex relief form. That's trick we expect to be one of many that will supposedly "set new standards for contemporary craftsmanship." The coming third-generation Flying Spur will want to come out of the gate with just such goals. When the first generation arrived in 2005, it became the Toyota Camry for rich people. The second generation — which still rides on that original platform — blanched in the heat of competition from Bentley's own lineup, on top of competition from the Mercedes-Maybach below and cross-country rival Rolls-Royce Ghost. The new model is all new, from the MSB platform shared with the new Continental GT and Porsche Panamera, to a design that will put more separation between the two-door Continental and the four-door Flying Spur. Expect the 6.0-liter W12 with 626 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque as the marquee engine, and a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with 542 hp and 568 lb-ft as the economical choice. Eventual V8 S and Speed models will wring more grunt from those two engines. A plug-in hybrid will debut some point, based around a 2.9-liter V6. We don't know when the debut will happen, perhaps as soon as Pebble Beach in August, or as late as the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, or the Frankfurt Motor Show in between. If you're keen on keeping up in the meantime, you can "register your interest" at NewFlyingSpur.com. As others have noted, the honorifics in the dropdown list at the site include "Lord" and "Sheikh," because titles matter even more at $200,000 before options.

Bentley fires staff priest before Christmas

This sounds like a scene out of A Christmas Carol, but it appears to be real. The resident chaplain for Bentley at Crewe was removed from his post - just days before Christmas. Reverend Francis Cooke had visited Crewe once a week for the last decade, but was relieved of his duties when it was feared by management that his presence at the factory might offend a multi-faith workforce.
According to Rev. Cooke, "The reason I have been given is that there are too many people of different faiths to warrant a Christian chaplain." Cooke pointed out that no complaint had ever been brought against him, and that he helps all faiths at the factory - not just Christians.
Bentley issued a statement, addressing its decision, "We have a wide range of faiths and want to take a multi-faith outlook. It would be very difficult to have somebody from each faith."