Bentley Continental GTC Speed Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Bentley Continental GTC Speed
Prices: £150,000 – on the road [est]
Insurance Group: 20
Performance: [roof up] Max Speed 195mph / 0-60mph 4.5s
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 16mpg [est]
Safety: Twin front, curtain & side airbags / ABS / stability control / advanced rollover protection system
Dimensions: Length/Width/ Height 4804/ 1916/ 1390 mm

THE NEED FOR SPEED

Our Rating: 7.9 / 10

The Continental GTC Speed is part of a long tradition of barnstorming Bentleys. Steve Walker reports.

Heritage is hugely important to everything that Bentley does. The famous British marque might currently reside under German ownership as part of the sprawling Volkswagen Group but its custodians have shown themselves to be intently aware of the important role that the brand’s past has to play in its present and future. The Continental GTC Speed is fiercely modern motorcar, the most powerful convertible Bentley has produced, but its name echoes the legendary Bentley models of the 1920s, cars that sowed the seeds of the rich history that helps make Bentley what it is today.

The Bentley Speed Six was introduced in 1928 and by 1930 had a pair of victories at the Le Mans 24hr race under its belt. At the wheel were the famous Bentley Boys, a group of gentleman racers headed by Joel ‘Woolf’ Barnato but also including Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin, and Lieutenant Commander Glen Kidston. Their exploits would become part of Bentley folklore, particularly a wager Woolf Barnato made one night over dinner in Cannes. The millionaire son of a South African mining magnate insisted that his Bentley Speed Six, could outrun the Le Train Bleu express train on a drive through France, adding that he could be relaxing in his London club before it even reached Calais.

The next day Woolf and the train set off. Through teeming rain and fog on the rough road surfaces of the day and even coping with a puncture just north of Paris, Woolf made it across the Channel. His Speed Six was parked outside his club in central London four minutes before the Blue Train express pulled into Calais. The £100 Woolf won in his bet, and quite a bit more besides, was subsequently paid to the French authorities to cover the fines he had accrued en route for racing on public roads.

It’s certain that the driving experience of 1928 Bentley Speed Six would be about as far removed as you can get from that of the latest Continental GTC Speed. Little more than a 6.6-litre engine with wheels, the Speed Six nevertheless demonstrated its ability to cover great distances with exhilarating pace. In that respect at least, the two cars will have something in common. The GTC Speed uses a six-litre W12 engine with dual turbochargers to achieve its continent crushing 600bhp output. The engine is tuned to deliver massive torque for the effortless cruising ability that defines modern Bentley products and with 750Nm available from 1,750rpm all the way to 5,600rpm it promises huge in-gear flexibility.

From a standing start, the GTC Speed can pass 60mph in 4.5s and 100mph in 10.6s. That’s getting into thoroughbred supercar territory and owners with access to an airfield or who happen to have a particularly extravagant driveway on the front of their stately home will be able to see the magic 200mph figure register on the speedometer. Marshalling all that power is a 6-speed automatic gearbox that can operate in fully automatic mode or as a sequential manual. It sends drive to all four wheels where an advanced traction control system is set to work in deploying it. On the GTC Speed, the electronics feature a Dynamic Mode which allows a greater degree of wheel slip when owners feel like indulging in some more spirited driving and the air-suspension has CDC Continuous Damping Control built in which reacts to the driver’s inputs, stiffening the ride when the car is driven more aggressively.

The conventional GTC is hardly what you would call anaemic in terms of its performance, styling or specification but the Speed version does manage to overshadow its junior sibling in all these respects. The car rides 10mm lower at the front and 15mm lower at the rear, accentuating the wide, road-hugging looks. The wheels are huge 20" efforts with a neat multi-spoke design and bespoke Pirelli PZero tyres. The Speed’s sporting character is further underlined by its widened exhaust pipes and small boot lid spoiler at the rear. The front end, meanwhile, gets larger, lower air intakes in its bumper and a dark tint to its grilles. The interior is an exercise in unrestrained luxury that’s typical Bentley but again, the Speed model makes a few nods to its sporting prowess. A three-spoke sports steering wheel, drilled alloy pedals, ‘Speed’ branded tread plates on the door sills, aluminium dash inserts and a leather and chrome gearlever all feature. The seating and door inserts are all finished in luxurious quilted leather.

The hood itself deserves a mention. Although it’s not the quickest f