2007 Bentley Continental Gt Coupe on 2040-cars

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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.

Volkswagen decides to keep Lamborghini and Ducati, transfers Bentley to Audi

Investors in the market for a high-end Italian manufacturer that peddles performance will need to keep looking. Volkswagen announced it will hang on to Lamborghini and Ducati in the foreseeable future. Executives in Wolfsburg, Germany, are making far-reaching changes to the Volkswagen Group to reboot it with a big focus on technology. Credible rumors claimed that the people in charge of the carmaker wanted to carve out Lamborghini — which owns Ducati — and ultimately list it, or at least a chunk of it, on the stock market in order to fast-track the group's electrification strategy. Going electric is expensive, so selling Lamborghini would have helped fund the expansion, and high-octane supercars don't easily go hand-in-hand with zero-emissions cars. "Volkswagen needs to change from a collection of valuable brands and fascinating combustion-engine products that thrill customers with superb engineering to a digital company that reliably operates millions of mobility devices worldwide," summed up Herbert Diess, the group's boss, during a September 2020 meeting. His team ultimately decided not to fully divest both brands. It's too early to tell whether part of Lamborghini will be listed on the stock market, as some insiders have suggested, or if those plans are off the table, too. Changes are coming to Bentley as well. While it's not being spun off either, it will fall under the Audi umbrella starting on March 1, 2021. Volkswagen explained linking the two companies will "allow for synergies to be achieved as part of the electrification strategy of the two premium brands," a statement which suggests they will share a growing number of components during the 2020s. Unverified rumors claim that Bentley will notably get its own version of an ultra-luxurious electric SUV code-named Landjet that Audi is currently developing. We've reached out to Bentley for more details, and we'll update this story if we learn more. Bugatti's future wasn't mentioned in the release; unconfirmed reports suggest it will be traded for a stake in Croatian start-up Rimac. Volkswagen's supervisory board also reaffirmed its support for Diess, who was appointed CEO in 2018 and who has played a significant role in the company's transformation. Finally, the board approved the development of what a statement refers to a future leading electric vehicle sold by the Volkswagen brand that will be developed and manufactured in Wolfsburg.

Bentley releases new details on Continental GT3 racer

Porsche's new LMP1 Prototype isn't the only motorsports news coming out of Volkswagen AG this week. After unveiling its new Continental GT3 at the Paris Motor Show last year, Bentley has released some new images and details as this racecar continues its development. Similar to the Porsche announcement, Bentley's new GT3 marks a significant return to motorsports, only in this case, Bentley hasn't raced a car since 2003 - a winning effort at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
From street to race form, the Continental has dropped about 2,200 pounds by shedding many of the luxury and tech features that make the street-legal Continental GT the car that it is - including 50(!) electronic control units. The Continental GT3 uses the same 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8 as the road car, but we're guessing output has been tweaked a bit from the standard 500 horsepower. Except for the carbon fiber hood, decklid and doors, Bentley says that the body of the GT3 is a direct carryover from the Continental GT.
Inside, even a stripped interior and full roll cage won't stop Bentley from being Bentley as it gives this racecar the same attention to detail as its road cars - the seats, steering wheel and door pulls all receiving the hand-crafted treatment from the factory in Crewe. There is no word as to when the Continental GT3 will make its racing debut, but more details about the car can be found below in the official press release.