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Bentley Continental GT S Bathurst editions celebrate 12-hour race

Bentley's Mulliner custom and coachbuilt department has been busy with 500 customer cars in the past year. Its two latest creations, though, are for Bentley Sydney in Australia, and they're themed around Bentley's GT3 race cars and the Bathurst 12 Hours endurance race. The pair aren't any faster, as the only powertrain upgrade is the addition of the Bentley sport exhaust, but they sure are greener. Literally. Each car started as a regular Bentley Continental GT S with the twin-turbo V8. The choice of the V8 model is fitting as the GT3 car uses a V8, as per class regulations. The first of the two is the most striking in Apple Green to match the GT3 racer that won the 2020 Bathurst 12 Hours. It also picks up black stripes and a black roof and tail section to further connect the two cars. At the front, the number seven is painted in the grille, another tribute to the race car. The second car has basically the same color scheme, but it's painted in Silver Tempest to match the first GT3 cars for this generation of Continental GT. Inside, the Bathurst cars have black leather and faux suede, and the Apple Green accents around the gauges, in the stitching and on the shifter look like they glow. There are also depictions of the Bathurst track layout, the GT3 race car, and commemorative plates numbering the cars. Plus, Bentley will include 1:18 scale models of the 2020 winning race car. No pricing was given. But obviously they'll likely cost more than a standard Continental GT. And the two cars are being sold in Australia where the Bathurst track, Mount Panorama, is located. Related video:

Bentley GT3-R is the most hardcore road-going Continental yet

A factory-entered Bentley hadn't won a top tier race in the UK for 84 years when the Continental GT3 recently took victory in the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Silverstone. It was an early success for a racer that only hit the track competitively for the first time late last year at the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi. To capitalize on the potent platform, Bentley is bringing it to the street with the limited-edition Continental GT3-R.
Limited to just 300 units worldwide, this bruiser starts as any other Continental GT on the assembly line in Crewe, England, but then Bentley Motorsport get ahold of it to painstakingly improve its performance. Like the racer, GT3-R uses the 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8, and here, power is cranked up to 572 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, 51 hp and 14 lb-ft better than the GT V8 S. The muscle is routed through an eight-speed automatic gearbox from ZF with shortened gearing and a rear-biased all-wheel-drive system with torque vectoring for the rear wheels. The weight also comes down over 200 pounds from the V8 S to 4,839 pounds. Bentley claims all the tweaks are enough to hustle the GT3-R to 60 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds, on to an estimated top speed of 170 mph.
To handle all that power, an air suspension holds up all four corners, and the brakes use carbon silicon carbide discs for plentiful stopping power. A titanium exhaust saves an additional 15 pounds of weight, and Bentley promises that it gives the car a baritone growl.

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.