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New Bentley Continental GT3 race car looks beautiful and brutal

Bentley has been building and racing GT3-class versions of the Continental GT since about 2013. As such, it's really no surprise that Bentley would create one based on the newest Continental GT, as seen above. Still, we're glad to see it, especially because it looks really mean, and better than the outgoing racer. Part of the design improvements are due simply to the new road car's looks. The lower, wider grille, and tidier, less bulbous tail do a lot to make the race car look much lower and more aggressive than the old car. But the racing-specific bodywork is cleaner and more aggressive, too. Large overfenders are fitted both front and rear, and they each have integrated intake vents at the leading and trailing edges. The openings at the front of the front fenders are curved such that they look a bit like angry eyebrows. The rear diffuser looks better integrated with the body now, rather than simply lurking behind a cut-down rear bumper. The big wing with outboard supports is also impressive. Performance-wise, there likely won't be a major difference between this and the outgoing car. It seems power is down a bit to over 550 horsepower rather than over 600 horsepower. Curb weight is estimated to be under 1,300 kg, which is about 2,866 pounds. That's also similar to the old car. Power also continues to come from a twin-turbocharged V8 sending power to the rear wheels. This is a sharp contrast to the road car's twin-turbocharged W12 sending power to all four wheels. For any enterprising racers looking to trade to a new car or get into a GT3, Bentley will begin selling the new Continental GT3 next June. Pricing has not been announced. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Bentley Continental GT3 race car Image Credit: Bentley Motorsports Bentley Coupe Racing Vehicles bentley continental gt3

Bentley celebrates its founder with the Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner

July 10, 2018, marked the beginning of Bentley's centenary celebration. We can look forward to a year of commemorations, starting with the Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner, limited to 100 units. The sedan, available in standard, long-wheelbase, and Speed versions, celebrates founder Walter Owen Bentley and his 1930 8 Litre. The founder's personal car, the last vehicle he designed for his company and the second example off the production line, wore a coachbuilt body from Henry Jervis Mulliner & Co. That's the same Mulliner firm that personalizes Bentleys to this day. Walter Owen didn't get to enjoy his "ultimate expression of automotive engineering" for long; financial troubles forced him to sell it in 1931. Bentley bought the 8-Litre in 2006, and part of the "sympathetic" restoration meant replacing the crankshaft. That crank is the central feature of the W.O. Edition Mulsanne: Bentley cut the crankshaft into 100 pieces, and will place each piece inside a custom, illuminated cocktail cabinet in the rear quarters of the 100 special Mulsannes. Four different woods and aluminum create a marquetry scene that frames a glass display with the emblematic crankshaft. Around that, the show vehicle gets Heritage Hides in Fireglow, with Beluga details and stitching, Dark Stain Burr Walnute veneers, and Fireglow lambswool carpets. The exterior's drenched in Onyx, with Beluga Black wheels, accessorized by a chrome hood strip, optional chrome grille and surround, and discrete special edition badging. Customers can, naturally, option their own W.O. Edition Mulsannes any way they wish. Bentley's chosen to skip Goodwood as the reveal of this particular treat. The public unveiling comes on our shores, at next month's Monterey Car Week, on Aug. 24. Related Video:

Bentley preps 'Centennary Specification' for all models built in 2019

For the entirety of Bentley's 100th year in business, the English carmaker will adorn its products with a Centenary Specification. The package consists of unique badging with specially developed Centenary Gold badge highlights, available Centenary Gold thread for the headrest logos, contrast stitching and cross stitching, and a "centenary welcome light" outside the vehicle. The in-house craftsmen have also developed unique embroidery. Bentley says the gold hue was inspired by metalwork on vintage models like the 1919 EXP 2 (pictured, red and silver) and 1929 Birkin Blower (pictured, green), the latter one of the company's Le Mans winners driven by Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin. The hue possesses an "elegant warm tone and a deep fluid shadow." The steering wheel badge, key fob, shift knob, and wheel center caps feature the tinted ring. The "B" badge on the radiator surround also features "1919-2019" script, and that script is found on the tread plates, too. For those who don't know, eponymous founder Walter Owen Bentley's engineering career began with locomotives — which he loved more than cars at one point — and motorcycles, before settling on automobiles. He bought his first car in 1910, a French DFP, and after improving it himself, set a 10-lap record at the Brooklands circuit. In 1912 he opened a DFP franchise with his brother Horace Milner as Bentley & Bentley, and further upgraded the car with a new piston design that was 88 percent aluminum and 12 percent copper. The Royal Naval Air Service adopted Bentley's piston design and Bentley's re-designed Clerget airplane engines, dubbed the Bentley Rotary. After the war, Bentley refocused on cars, and in 1919 released the 3-Litre, which boasted features like a cross-flow head, overhead cams working four valves per cylinder, and twin plugs in each cylinder. The company delivered the first production model in 1921, then went racing and won the second edition of Le Mans in 1924. That is how Bentley began to become "Bentley, ahem ...", and here we are. Next year, on July 10, the company plans to celebrate the feat appropriately. Related Video: