Big, blocky, heavy, low - whatever. The one and only phrase you need to remember is "hellaciously fast." Bentley's Continental Flying Spur Speed, officially announced in June, is pretty much what it'd be like to strap an EMD powertrain from a freight locomotive into a car, without all the noise and industrial fumes.

Read

Bentley has just released a slew of new 2008 Bentley Brooklands Coupe images for us to drool over. We’re going to stop talking and just let you check out the pictures.

Refresher: Power comes from 6.75 liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine that produces 530-hp and 775 lb-ft of torque. As with the Arnage, the engine is mated to a six-speed transmission. Pricing for all this beauty starts at $340,990.

Read

ASI is a new tuning company that was established in Nagoya, Japan in December 2007, and is now developing a variety of tuning solutions for Bentley models. The pimped GT Speed featured in the images has been equipped with an aggressive full bodykit combined with a dry carbon bonnet, trunk and rear wing, and also a new set of 22-inch custom 3-piece forged alloy wheels.Towards the end of April the Japanese tuner will also unveil a special edition version of the Bentley Continental GT Speed called “Tetsu” that will be equipped with a modified 6.0L W12 engine producing 800 Hp along with an even more aggresive wide-bodykit.

Read

British racing green could take on a whole new meaning if Bentley is able to achieve its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by two-thirds to just 120 grams per kilometer by 2012. Currently, all of its vehicles emit more than 400 g/km, no doubt including the 2009 Bentley Brooklands we drove last week, so the company from Crewe has a long way to go. While we'd expect to see some sort of diesel offering, Bentley remains mum on any real details regarding its future powerplants. We do know, however, that the British manufacturer of ridiculously luxurious transportation is holding out hope for biofuels, which post high well-to-wheel CO2 measurements. When just the tailpipe emissions are taken into consideration, biofuels offer just a little benefit as compared to dino-juice, but when the entire carbon footprint of the fuel is considered, biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel can post significant CO2 improvements.

Read

Bentley Motors is pleased to announce the appointment of Callisma AB as new authorized Bentley dealer in Sweden. After a successful partnership with Volkswagen Group Sverige for 5 years, the Bentley business will be handed over on 1 April.

In the autumn of 2003, Bentley Stockholm opened its showroom on Strandvägen in Stockholm’s city centre. Since then, the Bentley brand has seen a continuous growth in the Swedish market, attracting the interest and appreciation of the press and public alike. Since its opening, more than 100 new Bentleys have been delivered by Bentley Stockholm.

Volkswagen Group Sverige, which was the authorized dealer for the British brand in Sweden, will hand over its responsibility to the new company Callisma AB which is a joint venture between the Swedish Callisma Holding AB and the Danish MLA-Gruppen A/S. Callisma is official sole dealer of Koenigsegg in Sweden, France and Monaco and MLA-Gruppen is the official sole dealer of Bentley, Lamborghini, Lotus and Lexus and also responsible for the Porsche Import in Denmark.

Read

With almost one out of every two cars sold in Europe powered by a diesel and demand steadily growing in North America, carmakers that previously would have never been associated with the oil-burners are now examining the possibility of adding the frugal powertrains to their lineups. Bentley is a carmaker rumored to be investigating the use of diesel engines but latest reports claim the ultra-luxury make has no plans for them in the near future.

Last month, Bentley market director Adrian Hallmark told AutoTelegraaf that the high-torque and low-rev nature of a diesel would be perfectly suited to the Bentley brand, however the same source is now reporting that there’s not enough demand from customers to warrant investing in the new engines. Diesel’s low market penetration in the U.S., the single biggest market for Bentley, was another reason officials have delayed the introduction.Strict fuel-economy and emissions regulations set to roll in over the next decade may eventually force Bentley to alter its stance but for now it appears that petrol will be the only option for some time to come.

Read

So there we were, 1964, down the open road on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Nat King Cole singing “I don’t Want to be Hurt Anymore”, the graphic equalizers on the two LCD monitors show the bass guitar to be a little too high on the notes. It’s all hard to notice too much though, thanks to the little rumble under the ‘hood, a 4.4-litre V8 borrowed from German automaker BMW. Cool dual air conditioning is keeping heads sane, while the leather and suede interior is built for comfort as well as speed. Huh?

Lovely dream it is, but technically possible, thanks to the Bentley Boys USA, and specifically Arturo Alonso who is an engineer and automotive visionary. These guys are working on very exclusive machinery in the guise of a 2009 Bentley S3-based concept. Although it will use the original body and chassis, some modern additions have taken place. These include the use of that 4.4-litre BMW V8 with close to 300 horsepower running inside it, a 5-speed ZF BMW automatic transmission, custom-made stainless steel exhaust pipe with two rear mufflers and double tips. The forged wheels you see measure a decent 20 X 9.5 inch and will have 275/40/20 Continental Sport tires wrapped around them.

Read

Long gone are the days when Bentley was just a cheap Rolls Royce. These days the luxury marque owned by Volkswagen is selling thousands of cars per year, mostly in the US to you-know-who…

Not known for their frugality at the petrol pumps, Bentleys typically use only V8s and V12s to power their cars, featuring mainly superchargers as the protagonists in their quest for performance. The supercharger has been a Bentley trademark since the late 1920s. In 2012 however, things may change for Bentley as it strives to cut major emissions by then to 120 g/km of CO2 for every model in the range.

Consider that an Audi A3 1.9 TDI, BMW 118D and Fiat 500 1.2 Pop all come in at 119 g/km. Bentley says this goal is on a well-to-wheel basis, and that performance will not be affected by the new strategy. New “green” engines are the key to this, engines that will use renewable flex-fuels.

“By preparing our engines at an early stage for these fuels,” said Bentley CE Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen, “we believe we will help accelerate their adoption, as the supply and market for them develop. Taken together, the measures we are announcing will make the entire Bentley fleet capable of delivering less that 120 g/km by 2012.”

Read

Italian Carrozzeria (coachbuilder), Zagato, the most famous Automotive Atelier in the world is developing a unique, coachbuilt body for a Bentley, one of the world’s most beautiful and desirable cars.

The Bentley project follows the long-standing tradition of Zagato Atelier co-operation with premium British automotive brands over several decades. Ace, Bristol, Aston Martin, Jaguar, MG, Rolls Royce and Rover are among the UK-based brands that have worked with the Milan Atelier in the past to produce, what are now some of the most sought after collector’s cars in the world. Other notable cooperations include Ferrari and Maserati.

The concept of sports elegance, dynamically functional design, remaining free from contingent tendencies but seeking directly to drive emotion and pure pleasure, combined with the hand-shaped precious aluminium bodies, have made Zagato Atelier appreciated as one of the very best and most admired by Customers and Collectors since the 1920’s. Zagato’s strength lies in the creation and realisation of this sports-style elegance within a functional design that does not bow to momentary fashions but seeks out the sheer excitement and total pleasure of driving, an appreciating value recognised everywhere.

Read

A few months back, Italian coachbuilder Zagato announced it was working on a project with Bentley. Yet, no details ever surfaced, until now.

The Zagato-designed Bentley will be based off the Continental GT Speed – to be called the Bentley Zagato GTZ. We don’t have the details of what Zagato may have done under the hood, but the front fascia has a new design – maybe a Veyron-inspired grille.

Read

It may not seem it, but it's been 10 years since Volkswagen bought Bentley - 10 years in which the Crewe factory has been transformed from the antediluvian (it started life building Merlin aero-engines) to a truly modern manufacturing facility; and 10 years in which the all-new Continental series of cars has been designed, engineered and built, transforming Bentley's fortunes, profits and production numbers. Five years ago barely 1,000 Bentleys were being made per year: last year just over 10,000 were assembled on the site. It has also, of course, won the Le Mans 24 hour race.

But in this era when most Bentleys are built more quickly and sold more cheaply than ever before, for a small number of die-hard traditionalists it is reassuring to know that some things at Bentley never change. Leather is still stitched by rows of ladies with sewing machines, woodworking skills are still handed down from parent to child. Walk about in Crewe and you'll not just see robots, lasers and computers - you'll see chisels, lathes and hammers too. And, for just a few very monied individuals, a small number of old school Bentleys are still painstakingly constructed over a period of several months. This, the Bentley Brooklands, is the newest and best of the lot.

Read

The first Bentley Brooklands coupe made for the stateside has been auctioned off for $450,000 ($109,010 over its listed price) The Brooklands was presented to Monte and Usha Ahuja who placed the winning bid at the 2008 Naples Winter Wine Festival.

The new Bentley Brooklands gets its power from a 6.75 liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine that produces 530 horsepower and 775 lb-ft of torque. As with the latest Arnage, the V8 engine is mated to a six-speed transmission.

Read

Project Kahn’s latest custom kit is the new GTS styling package designed specifically for the Bentley Continental GT ultra-luxury coupe. When creating the new kit, designers were looking to improve on the sporting image of the GT but at the same time conserve the bespoke look of the car...

Read

Back in September, Franz-Josef Paefgen, the head of the VW luxury brand Bentley, mentioned, in a very uncommitted fashion, that the company's earlier announcement regarding diesels and hybrids was still being considered. Audi's new hybrid quattro transmission, on display in Frankfurt last month, might be the basic powertrain that sits under not only a hybrid Bentley (the greenest car that Yoko Ono would deign to ride in), but also the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7. Read the rest of this entry »

Read

Put aside the massively powerful engines and the sheer prestige of the badge, and what sets a Bentley apart from ordinary vehicles is the attention to detail: things like thick carpeting, sumptuous leather, deeply lacquered wood and machined aluminum fixtures that make the cabin feel less like a car and more like something penned by Jules Verne. Even something as simple as the dashboard clock adds to the...

Read