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Bentley Bentayga Speed honors Russian ballet with creative colors

Bentley has become the first major automaker to release a series of cars dedicated to Russian ballet — sorry, Lada. It's planning to build a series of six Bentayga Speed models inspired by a different motion performed by ballet dancers in Russia. Each SUV in the series wears a specific livery; three feature a single-tone paint job while the rest get a two-tone look. As of writing, only one of the limited-edition SUVs has been revealed. It's painted in Silver Storm over Damson, which is Bentley-speak for purple, and it receives a brown and purple leather interior with contrasting Koa wood trim. Some of the other color combinations planned will be more subtle. One will be painted in Windsor Blue over Light Windsor Blue, for example. At the other end of the spectrum, another will be fully finished in purple. Edition-specific contrast stitching and ballet silhouettes added to the seats and to the trim on the dashboard further set the members of this few-off series apart from the regular-production Bentayga Speed. And, each car is named after a unique ballet move; the name appears on the sill plates. Before you get in, keep an eye out for the unique Russian Heritage LED welcome lighting that's exclusive to these six cars. Don't look for ballet-inspired modifications under the hood. Power comes from the regular-production Speed's mighty 6.0-liter W12 engine, which is twin-turbocharged to develop 626 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. The latter figure is available over a broad range that stretches from 1,500 to 5,000 rpm. The firm quotes an impressive 3.9-second sprint from zero to 62 mph and a top speed of 190 mph. Pricing information hasn't been announced but it's of little interest: all six cars have already been spoken for. They'll be delivered by Bentley dealerships in the Moscow area before the end of 2021. Bentley explained that this is the first chapter in a series of Russian Heritage Edition models developed specifically for the Russian market. It plans to release new Russia-themed limited-edition models annually. Fear not if you're into big, powerful SUVs and head-turning paint colors but aren't on the list to receive a ballet-themed Bentayga. Mulliner (the division that handles Bentley's in-house customization) takes requests; its 1,000th project was a sweet potato-colored Bentayga. Related video: 2019 Bentley Bentayga Exterior Walkaround, Drive Modes, V8 Engine, Front Seats and Rear Seats

Bentley builds a Continental GT as tribute to the car that inspired the model

Bentley is staying quite busy with its tribute models. It's built yet another 2023 Continental GT, in Azure trim, that's based on a notable past model. But unlike the Bathurst cars, this one appears to be just for Bentley, and it's based on a much older car: a 1953 R-Type Continental. More specifically, it's based on the 1953 R-Type Continental Bentley keeps in its historic fleet. It's a car that was purchased by the company in 2001 and has been maintained and preserved. The R-Type Continental is an important model for Bentley for a couple of reasons. It's a neat model on its own as a coupe version of the R-Type sedan that got a relatively light aluminum body, and its 4.6-liter straight-six could propel the Continental to nearly 120 mph. But it also was the inspiration for the first-generation Continental GT launched in 2003. So this special Continental GT Azure brings everything full circle. It's painted Old English White with a Cricket Ball leather interior to match the white-over-red of the '53 example. Bentley says the Burr Walnut wood trim with boxwood inlays was given a natural finish lacquer to match the aged wood on the old car. And as an Azure, this Continental GT comes with a variety of comfort-oriented features such as the active anti-roll bars and ultra-adjustable seats with massage. Under the hood is the standard twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 making 542 hp. Related video:

2018 Bentley Continental Supersports | More exciting than space travel

For the final song on their delightfully buoyant and mordant 1996 album This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, Pacific Northwest indie rock band Modest Mouse penned an even more cynical response to David Bowie's already nihilistic ode to interstellar flight, "Space Oddity" The song imagines the life of a lonely female passenger on a flight to some distant lunar satellite, lost in post-gravitational anomie ("She's the only rocketeer in the whole damn place/They gave her a mirror so she could talk to her face.") Dreading the endless blankness of her voyage as much as the senseless achievement of reaching its destination, the unnamed woman wishes she could just read a dime-store novel and return home. It is titled, poignantly, " Space Travel is Boring." We recently visited the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA's literal launch pad for the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttle. Since there are currently no rockets going up, Space Florida's Shuttle Landing Facility did us the favor and allowed us to use the 3.5-mile-long runway built for the Shuttle — literally, the longest stretch of underutilized, perfectly straight, perfectly paved roadway in the world — for a series of automotive maneuvers. Our vehicle of choice was the $293,300 2018 Bentley Continental Supersports. This was decidedly not boring. The Supersports is an enhanced version of an already extremely potent vehicle. Featuring an upgraded crankshaft, torque converter, and turbochargers for more power and improved power delivery, the Supersports' 6.0-liter W12 engine produces an even 700 horsepower, and 750 lb-ft of torque. That makes this the most powerful and fastest Bentley ever made. Sixty miles per hour is dispatched in 3.4 seconds on the way to a maximum velocity of 209 mph. The largest carbon ceramic brakes of any production car come as standard equipment, as do carbon fiber hood vents, front splitter and rear air diffuser, side trim, and a planed long-board of a rear wing. Handsome 21-inch lightweight forged wheels are also part of the package, though, really, weight savings is almost irrelevant in this vehicle. The Supersports weighs over 2.5 tons, or about as much as one of the tread belt shoes on the diesel/electric crawler used to tug the 70-million-pound Space Shuttle and its boosters out onto Canaveral's runway. We were tugged out onto the runway as well, though in a slightly different fashion.