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Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible photos hit web early

It was Indiana Jones and that whole ark episode that gave us the best example of what happens after leaks: once you break the seal, all hell breaks loose and there's no way you're putting it back. We aren't sure who lifted the lid, but official photos of the 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible showed up on Flickr last week, and so here we are presenting them to you.
If it follows the Bentley playbook as the last GT Speed - and we have no reason to believe it won't - beyond the lack of a top there won't be much difference between it and the coupe than a few minor numerals. There will be a W12 in front with 616 horsepower and 590 foot-pounds of torque running through an eight-speed transmission, and the dash from standstill to 60 miles per hour will clock in somewhere around four seconds. That's some 21-inch rolling stock setting up the stance, and unless it's gotten slower than the last GT Speed, ultimate velocity with the top up should be at least 200 mph.
It will be undeniably fast. As for the paint, you can make up your own minds about that while you peep its angles in the high-res gallery. We'll find out the rest when the world's purplest droptop is revealed at the Detroit Auto Show.

Bentley unveils the Grand Convertible, a droptop Mulsanne Speed

Five years ago, when Bentley was preparing its farewell shindig for the Arnage, reports were that the Arnage's coupe and convertible siblings, the Brooklands and Azure, would get replacements on the Mulsanne platform. Obviously, that hasn't happened, although we were teased with the Mulsanne Vision Concept in 2012. Then, just this summer, we were again teased with rumors of a Brooklands and Azure one-two punch. While it still hasn't happened yet, Bentley's unveiling of the Grand Convertible seems to have put things in gear.
Not 'merely' a roofless Mulsanne, the Grand Convertible appears to be a droptop Mulsanne Speed, powered by a 6.75-liter engine with 530 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, and fitted with the directional wheels only available on the Mulsanne Speed. Finished outside in Sequin Blue with a "liquid metal" hood and windshield frame and a burl walnut veneer on the tonneau cover - a similar combo used to introduce the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé eight years ago - the cabin is covered in Beluga leather with blue cross-stitching.
Company CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer says Bentley is watching customer reaction to the car, yet the press release says it's been "Developed to signify Bentley's intentions for the future." That sounds like better than even odds we'll be seeing this on the roads. For now, though, you can see it in the high-res gallery above, at the LA Auto Show starting this week, and at Art Basel in Miami after that, and you'll find a bit more info on it in the press release below.

This is what a street-legal 3,000-hp Bentley Continental GT drag racer sounds like

When it comes to street-legal cars there's "power," there's "Power" and then there's "PAHRRRRRR!" This Bentley Continental GT dragster built by Webster Engineering in Bedford, England owns that third category, with its 3,082-horsepower heartbeat erupting from a twin-turbo, 10.2-liter Chevrolet V8 crate motor built by Steve Morris Engines. An entrant in the Street Eliminator Class of last weekend's European Drag Racing Championship, it is fully road legal.
As you might expect, it's not exactly a factory-fresh Continental GT, more like an authentic Bentley bodyshell placed over a tube-frame chassis and a carbon-fiber-heavy interior that took eight months and 250,000 pounds ($420,763 US) to finish. It will be driven by its owner, Yorkshire watch repairer Steve Neimantas. Builder Jon Webster told Autoblog that they're hoping for times in the "mid to low sevens on street tires and 6's on slicks."
You can watch a couple videos of the engine running and the car on the go below.