German Car Zone

It has taken Bentley a while to get around to adding a Speed edition to the open-topped Continental GTC, but it's been worth waiting for. Small but effective enhancements over the standard GTC increase the pace, the poise and the price, transforming the car from a fast, capable open GT, to a faster and far more capable machine. It'll do 200mph too, which is reason enough for us to like it.

In the Metal

Bentley's GTC is a handsome car - roof up or down. It's arguably better proportioned than its beetle-backed coupé relative, the edgier, lower lines of the folding fabric roof looking better - to our eyes at least. Eschewing the trend for folding hardtops, the Continental GTC's fabric roof is something of a multi-layered masterpiece and it's the only folding roofed car to feature a proper interior light in the headlining. Being fabric, it can fold flatter than metal roofs, so the GTC looks even more sensational roof down.

Changes over the standard GTC include aerodynamic tweaks to the front and rear, a mesh front grille and larger 20-inch alloys. That's about it, but then Bentleys are all about being understated - even when they're packing 600bhp.

What you get for your Money

The Speed tweaks to the GTC are identical to that of its coupé relative. That means a bigger output version of the 6.0-litre W12, 600bhp and 553lb.ft making light work of the GTC's healthy bulk. At a few quid short of £150,000 you get pretty much everything you'd want, but being a Bentley you can figure on spending a good deal more on those personal touches. The Crewe factory's craftsmen and women can accommodate pretty much anything you'd like into your GTC; special leathers or wood veneers are just the starting point. We'd probably drop the extra £12,000 or so Bentley asks for its carbon ceramic brakes, not merely for their additional stopping power, but for the pub bragging fact that they're the biggest brakes available on a production car.



Full Story: The Car Enthusiast - Bentley Continental GTC Speed



Its really grand car, just not a pretty one.


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