New Bentley Conti pictures

Spies blow the cover on Bentley’s facelifted Continental GT.

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Tom Phillips

July 2010

Cheque this out! Our undercover photographers have snapped the all new Bentley Continental GT on test in Germany. And while the car is wrapped in this striking chequered flag camouflage, the Conti’s bold new look is clear to see.

The facelifted Bentley still features a prominent grille, but gains new Mulsanne-style headlights, new front wings and a redesigned front bumper. The side retains the signature Bentley crease, while the rear is marked out by new rear lights and tweaked bumper.

More personalisation options are expected for the interior, giving customers a better choice of materials to customise their cars.

Under the bonnet, the Bentley is expected to adopt a more powerful version of the Audi A8 flagship’s 542bhp 6.3-litre W12 engine, connected to an eight-speed gearbox and driving all four wheels.

The car is due to make its public debut at the Paris Motor Show in October before going on sale later in 2011. Prices will start at around £130,000.

Tell us about your car in our Driver Power survey.

What Next

For more breaking car news and reviews, subscribe to Auto Express magazine. We'll give you 6 issues for £1 and a free gift!

< Previous Next >

4 Comments

Bentley Revision Just the Job,best car for the Money?

Being a Porsche fan for years and a lover of Aston's and Ferrari from the sixties onwards, This Bentley is a great car, my friend bought a new GT and once you get used to its size, your love affair grows,along with a great engine,its a continental cruiser par excellence and genuine sports car as well, personally I came to that conclusion a little reluctantly at first and now would have one as the car of cars, what value in this market , It has it all , The mild upgrades are welcome especially to the Body and give it a more modern desirable look and can only add to its appeal and succes and will be loved by those who own one or know just how good they are..Great Car from a Great Name.Lottery please Help !

By browser0072000 on 24 August, 2010, 7:36am

number plate?

Why blot out the number plate in the pictures when it's clearly visible in the video? And how much co-operation did you get from Bentley on the video - a lot of it looks very staged.

By JohnSFellows on 24 August, 2010, 8:08am

Great looking car but.................

Under the bonnet beats a German heart. Not exactly what I would expect from this upmarket 'British' cruiser. I understand it is also engineered, designed and built in Germany. Though aparently the interior is finished in the UK, why, to retain some Britishness? Aside the badge this car is to all extents and purposes an Audi and very expensive one at that. May as well buy and Invicta, old British brand, very exclusive, yet very up to date, similar price tag, a fantastic cruiser AND it's built here! These other cars are just badge engineering!

By Focus_your_mind on 24 August, 2010, 12:29pm

http://www.invictacars.co.uk/home.html

Powerful. Beautiful. Elegant. Exclusive.
When you buy an Invicta, you’re getting so much more than a stunning-looking, wonderfully crafted, 200mph machine.

You’re getting a hand-built masterpiece with a body made from a single piece of carbon fibre – the first of its kind in the motoring world. You’re getting a historic name synonymous with motoring quality that stretches back to the 1930s. You’re getting a superbly safe car that boasts the strongest frame ever tested by UK car safety officials.

And, with a maximum of 50 made each year, you’re getting a level of exclusivity normally reserved for £500,000-plus supercars.
So when you buy an Invicta, you’re getting entry into a unique class of road-users. Enjoy.

Engine & Performance
It was Invicta’s desire to achieve no-compromise performance in the handling and sheer speed departments. That’s why we mounted the engine and gearbox well back into the chassis and the 100-litre fuel tank between the rear wheels – getting us as close as possible to the ideal 50/50 weight distribution.

Fitted with Invicta’s own air-intake and exhaust systems, the 5.0 litre V8 engines powering the S1 range are supplied by Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT) in America. Light, smooth-revving and ultra-reliable, these hand built engines deliver stunning acceleration in the 1380 kg S1.

The completely flat floor of the S1 and the rising rear undertray give low-drag and generate downforce. Tests in the full size wind tunnel at MIRA confirm that the Invicta S1 will remain stable at speeds in excess of 200 mph where permitted.

Technical Specification
Engine 5000cc V8
Top Speed 200+ mph
Max Power 600bhp
Max Torque 575 lbft
0-60 3.8 sec
Dry Weight 1441 kg
Length 4400 mm
Width 2500 mm
Height

Safety and Styling
The Invicta S1 spaceframe chassis is believed to be the strongest ever tested by UK car safety officials. The carbon composite semi-monocoque construction of the S1 bonds carbon fibre floor panels above and beneath the steel tube frame and also incorporates many safety features including: side-impact bars, rear-impact beam, seats positioned within the steel frame chassis, a full roll-over safety cage and Kevlar reinforcement of the doors, front and rear bumpers and windscreen surround.

Invicta wanted the S1’s appearance to reflect its commitment to building a no-compromise sportscar in which performance and handling take priority, but practicality and comfort are not forgotten. Engineering decisions about dimensions, engine location and weight distribution came first and body styling followed. Designer Leigh Adams and his Automotive Design & Prototyping (ADP) studio say they regard the Invicta S1 as “an excellent opportunity to use the ‘timeless classic’ bold proportions of a high body-side and a sleek glass area”.

Heritage
When you buy an Invicta, you are buying a name associated with the early days of motoring, a name synonymous with quality and engineering genius from the pre-war era. The Invicta Car Company was the creation of Captain Albert Noel (later Sir Noel) Campbell Macklin, a highly respected English motoring enthusiast and former racing driver. Taking what he learned from earlier attempts at manufacturing motor cars (the Eric-Campbell and the Silver Hawk) he became inspired by the desire to offer motorists ‘effortless performance’.

Macklin was backed by Oliver and Philip Lyle, of Tate and Lyle sugar fame, and with their backing he set about creating a car with enormous pulling power, great roadholding and handling and impressive strength of construction and engine power.

In 1925, working in the three-car garage of his country house, Macklin converted the original 2-litre Coventry Climax-engined Invicta prototype to house a 2.5-litre six-cylinder, long-stroke, high-torque Meadows engine. In this form, the Invicta began to fulfill many of its founder’s dreams and the 2.5-litre model went on sale priced at £595 – body extra, as was the custom at that time.

Although supplied with a four-speed gearbox, most Invicta owners were expected to use just first and top – such was the flexibility of the engine. Later models were fitted with 3-litre and 4.5-litre engines. This 4.5 engine had such enormous reserves of torque that drivers could select top gear (fourth) at just 6mph and accelerate cleanly and rapidly all the way to its 90mph-plus, top speed.

Disregarding vehicle cost, Macklin insisted that the quality of Invicta cars should match Rolls-Royce and their performance should challenge Bentley. He was confident he achieved this early on in the car’s life, offering a Rolls-Royce-style three-year chassis guarantee, and a series of endurance runs was organised to highlight its performance and durability.

There followed a string of success in both endurance runs and later track and rallying events, but Invicta’s days were numbered by the early 1930s thanks to world-wide Depression and shrinking demand for his cars. Macklin cut prices dramatically but refused to compromise the Invicta’s much-admired engineering standards, build quality or workmanship. Commercially this was unwise and the company produced its last car on Friday 13 October 1933

Timeline of Invicta’s impressive endurance, track and rallying record:
1927
Violet Cordery, Macklin’s sister-in-law, makes a round the world trip at an average speed of 25mph. She had already piloted the car to record-breaking performances in Britain, France and Italy, including averaging 70.7mph during a 5,000 mile endurance run in Paris. In Italy, she broke four world and 33 Italian records at Monza.

1928
Violet, along with her sister Evelyn, covered 30,000 miles in 30,000 minutes, averaging 61.57mph for almost 21 days. She was driving a 4.5-litre tourer.
1930
Donald Healy piloted Violet’s 3-litre record-breaker to victory in the Alpine Trial.
1931
Despite a crash in Norway, Healy and his Invicta completed the Monte Carlo rally – the first time a British car had achieved such a feat.
1931
Motoring writer Tommy Wisdom, standing in for the scheduled driver, completed 30 laps of the 13.75 mile road-racing circuit at Ards, Northern Ireland, to win the famous Tourist Trophy race, averaging 70.04mph.
1931
Raymond Mays wins a string of class wins on circuits and hillclimbs after tuning his Invicta S-Type to 158bhp

Ok the engine is based on a engine supplied by Ford's Special Vehicles Team but carries a lot of Invicta's own parts and engineering. This is the closest car you can buy to a luxury cruiser with 30's race winning heritage that is actually designed here. Of course their are two other alternatives; The Morgan or the Aston. But I still feel the invicta has the edge on exclusivity...and I want one!