All Entries in the "BENTLEY" Category
Plum Choice on Hemmings: 1958 Bentley S1
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via Hemmings ::: 1958 Bentley S1 for sale
HAVING undergone a thorough restoration to the tune of $100,000, this Bentley S1 – the driver’s Rolls-Royce – represents a plum find for the seller’s asking price ($57K o.b.o.). That having been said wouldn’t you just rather have a Cloud and be done with it?
eBay Watch: 1998 Bentley Brooklands R
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via eBay ::: 1998 Bentley Brooklands R for sale
BEFORE there was that magnificent mastodon of pillarless two door grand tourers – the Brooklands coupé – there was the Bentley Brooklands sedan.
eBay Watch: I See Fields of Brooklands
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via eBay ::: 2009 Bentley Brooklands for sale
BENTLEY ST LOUIS wanted to catch your eye with this lovely ’09 limited edition Brooklands coupé. And there was clear thought in just how to showcase this big beauty apart from the rest of the chafe that’s listed on eBay. The solution? How about driving the Brooklands onto a patch of green grass as if it were at concours or a picnic hosted by the regional RROC? Fine idea…yet… the cynic in me hates to see any car parked on grass for any reason. Let alone a limited edition Bentley. OCD? Perhaps. Then again grass stains on a beluga over beluga Bentley would really bite.
[eBay]
Video: Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud In Elegant Snow Drift
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud snow drifting
THIS flick showing a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud (video mislabeled Bentley S2) engaged in playful snow maneuvers is about as amusing/rare as leaked reports that Ahmadinejad got slapped by his most senior general. Random? Sure. And now to borrow a query from Jezza, ever wonder what Blenheim Palace would look like going sideways?
Well, you need wonder no longer.
Wintry Conditions Handled. Bentley Style
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Bentley Motors ::: Bentley Winter Accessories
DEUCE difficult to consider driving a Bentley Mulsanne in wintry conditions. One might hazard the slippery exercise in lesser, all-wheel drive models like the Continental GT, for instance. But a front engine/rear drive, land-of-hope-and-glory Mulsanne, Brooklands, or Azure? Perish the thought. Not so, insists Bentley. They have your winter tyres and chains and new AutoSock™ in stock.
eBay Watch! 2010 Bentley Azure T
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via eBay ::: 2010 Bentley Azure T
TRIMMED in “Ghost White Pearlescent,” no less. We have a firm belief that in the realm of contemporary autos, the only chariot more deliciously decadent than the original Bentley Azure convertible is the latest – and it would seem greatest – generation Bentley Azure convertible. And it seems serendipitous that the Naples Bentley dealer elected to post pics of the Bentley Azure T squarely in front of an imposing Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé to compare like rivals.
In a beauty contest entre les deux, there simply isn’t any. [eBay]
How Do You Like Me Now? Bentley Mulsanne
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Bentley Motors ::: 2011 Bentley Mulsanne
IT’S been a full trip around the sun since the “Grand Bentley’s” red-carpet début at Pebble Beach. Ample time to absorb the 2011 Mulsanne’s battleship proportions, rounded contours, and new design hallmarks that have already trickled down to the new Continental GT.
Has time and familiarity treated this bold new flagship kindly? Or does the 2011 Mulsanne have us longing for the Arnage? Have your say in comments. For a better look, hit the jump for more Mulsanne & Arnage pictures.
ADLX’s Big Bentley Price Index
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Bentley Motors ::: 2011 Bentley Continental GT Prices
BENTLEY has released its global price list for the 2011 Continental GT. As you might expect, the new coupé is offered at a similar pricepoint to the original Continental GT, which is to say a starting price just south of $200,000 for the US market.
That said, it’s always interesting to note the variance in automotive pricing from market to market and while Bentley’s price list isn’t comprehensive of all taxes and delivery fees, it is a good barometer of where the Continental GT can be acquired for the least amount of money, in real dollar terms.
So in an homage to the Economist’s Big Mac Index and as we’ve demonstrated previously in our Phantom Index, below is ADLX’s Big Bentley Index that translates global prices into USD courtesy Google.
M.Y. 2011 BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT GLOBAL PRICE LIST
US: $189,000 (excl. tax)
UK: £135,000 (incl. VAT) / $213,000
EU: €154,000 (excl. tax) / $210,000
JAP: ¥24,150,000 ( excl. tax) / $288,000
PRC: ¥3,500,000 (excl. tax) / $523,000
For example: were you to purchase your Continental GT in the Constitution State, you’d be looking at a 6% sales tax that would amount to a little more than $11,000. This would lift the Bentley’s price just over $200K. Obviously, Uncle Sam and the dealer would both weigh in with an extra few thousand in taxes and fees, too, to say nothing of your own, bespoke predilections.
All negligible amounts to most Bentley buyers, true, but everyone likes a bargain. It’s good to be in the USA.
On Bentley’s New Continental GT
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Bentley Motors ::: 2011 Bentley Continental GT
DEUCE difficult, as they say, to improve upon an icon. Our expectations and admiration for the original amount to harrowing obstacles to any car company’s design team. Lucky then for Bentley’s talented crew – they’ve seemed to have nailed it with the fresh, evolutionary design represented in the artful 2011 Continental GT.
The new Continental GT’s exterior pops where it should. Bright LED lamps front and rear coupled with the chrome matrix grille and double horseshoe boot lid make for a grand entrance and departure.
The new staggered headlight arrangement works as does the softer fender lines.
Everywhere else, sublime and tasteful discretion whisper soft elegance by the subtle curves of character lines perfectly sculpted into a stout aluminum body – the new Continental GT is even sexier to behold than the classic M.Y. 2002 original (below).
Inside, the familiar hide bound bunker is tastefully appointed with the right amount of veneers and polished metals. It all seems to have been refined that little bit further.
Regrettably, VW/Audi family switchgear remain, giving a generic element that’s somewhat downmarket of the new Bentley’s six figure pricepoint.
Still, good show, Bentley.
2011 Bentley Continental GT: Evolution Not Revolution
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Bentley Motors + Autoblog ::: 2011 Bentley Continental GT Début
WATCHING the teaser on Bentley’s posh new reveal site – ContinentalGT.com – and finding no tasty clues what-so-ever (c’mon a fender? a signal? anything?) I headed over to Autoblog which has already posted shots of the 2011 Bentley Continental GT. The industrious John Neff at work, no doubt.
If what we see is the reality that will present itself next model year, Bentley’s taken a relatively cautious, evolutionary step with its bread and butter coupe.
The most important changes to what’s billed as an all-new Continental GT – are headlights and front airdam that echo the Mulsanne saloon. The GT’s front fenders, too, have been softened to give the profile a better sense of length and less heft.
Is it prettier than the first Continental GT, released all the way back in 2003? Not so sure. More on this next week when the Continental’s officially unveiled on September 7th.
