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New Bentley Continental GT debuts next month with hybrid power

Bentley has a new Continental GT coming next month, but it won’t arrive with the gas-only 8- or 12-cylinder engines seen in years past. The fourth-generation car will get BentleyÂ’s new Ultra Hybrid Performance powertrain, a plug-in hybrid system that delivers big power from a V8 combined with an electric motor. The automaker claims 771 horsepower and around 738 pound-feet of torque from the electrified powertrain, saying that it will make the new GT “the most powerful and most dynamically capable Bentley road car in the companyÂ’s 105-year history.” For reference, the current GTÂ’s W12 engine produces 650 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, propelling the car to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. The current V8 makes 542 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque. Bentley didnÂ’t give acceleration numbers for the new model, but with more than 100 additional horsepower and more than 70 extra pound-feet of torque over the W12, it should be noticeably quicker. Bentley also claims the Continental GT will have 50 miles of electric-only range and carbon dioxide emissions of under 50 grams per kilometer. Power will continue to go through all four wheels along with torque vectoring and an electronic limited-slip differential. Bentley will also include more trick features such as four-wheel steering and its 48-volt electronic active anti-roll control. The automaker may continue offering a gas V8 as an entry point to the line, but hasn't confirmed it either way. The Continental GT comprises a third of BentleyÂ’s overall sales, with almost 100,000 units sold in its more than 20-year run on the market. That popularity is reflected in the number of GT variants Bentley offers, though we donÂ’t yet know how and where the hybrid will be positioned in the GT catalog. Prices will likely climb a bit to start around $250,000 and could reach the mid-$300,000 range at the top.  

How'd we miss this incredible 24-hour enduro in prewar cars?

Even in today's 24 Hours of Le Mans, not all of the racecars finish the event. Factors like like mechanical failures, crashes and poor weather that can be the doom of any race team. Now, imagine going to a track today and competing around the clock in vehicles built before World War II. That was exactly what the Benjafield's 24 did at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal in October. Somehow, we missed this spectacular event, and so did most of you, judging by the lack of media coverage it received. The event was named after Dudley Benjafield, one of the famous Bentley Boy racers and a winner of the French race in 1927. According to Goodwood Road and Racing, 21 prewar cars entered, and astonishingly, 20 finished. Teams of three or four drivers did two-hour shifts, and more than just old Bentley racers competed. Robbert Alblas, who also made the awesome video above, told Autoblog via email, "The organization is not a allowed to call it a race because of insurance reasons." Therefore, there were no official rankings of where the competitors actually finished. That's a pity, but it doesn't take away from how awesome an undertaking this was. While you can see cars from this period briefly racing at events like the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, witnessing them go for 24 hours is almost an impossibility today. Check out Alblas' fantastic short film of the Benjafield's 24, above, and get a taste of the on-track action. News Source: Goodwood Road and Racing, Robbert Alblas via YouTube Motorsports Bentley Racing Vehicles Classics Videos portugal portimao

Weekly Recap: Mercedes continues the pseudo-coupe craze with AMG-tuned CUV

But as BMW's X6 has demonstrated, sport sells in in the crossover segment, and Mercedes is giving the people what they want. BMW proved there is a market for crossover utility vehicles designed to look like coupes – as much as a vehicle with four doors and noticeable ground clearance can look like a coupe, anyway. Now comes the reply from Mercedes-Benz: the GLE Coupe. The rakish crossover is a harbinger of things to come from Mercedes, as it begins the company's transition to a new nomenclature and marks the debut of the AMG Sport line. It also continues the recent coupe craze. Designers from many automakers, like Nissan and Volkswagen, have increasingly turned to swoopy, dramatic styling to make utility vehicles and sedans seem more desirable. By revealing the GLE 450 AMG Sport model first, Mercedes is clearly hoping to cast the GLE Coupe as a sportier, lifestyle-oriented alternative in its lineup of beefy crossovers and SUVs. Mercedes used the word "sport," or a variation of it, 53 times in its press release, so uh yeah, it's sporty. It's not an empty promise: Benz means business with the AMG Sport line. This GLE Coupe gets a 3.0-liter biturbo V6 rated at 362 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque paired with Mercedes' new nine-speed automatic transmission, and it runs with 4Matic all-wheel drive. Specs on the other GLE Coupe models were not disclosed. But as BMW's X6 has demonstrated, sport sells in in the crossover segment, and Mercedes is giving the people what they want. After all, more than 260,000 people have bought X6s since 2008, and Mercedes wants a piece of that. From certain angles, the GLE Coupe even looks vaguely like an X6. "This is really a vehicle that is all about status," said Dave Sullivan, product analysis manager for research firm AutoPacific. "You can buy a SUV that doesn't have the inherent qualities of a SUV, such as cargo hauling. People will likely be drawn to the looks. Coupes are all the rage." BMW, however, isn't running from the fight, and the updated 2015 X6 is arriving in showrooms this month. It also added a smaller sibling, the X4, to its coupe-crossover stable in July. The GLE Coupe arrives next year, though Mercedes hasn't specified exactly when it will hit showrooms from the factory in Alabama, or specified details on the rest of the non-AMG Sport models. In 2008, it was surprising the X6 was a hit. In 2015, it will be even more surprising if the GLE Coupe isn't.