The New Bentley Continental GT Design Concept Comes To Birmingham

Bentley Motors is delighted to bring its new Continental GT Design Concept to the British International Motor Show in Birmingham, following its world debut in Paris last month. Conceived to be a sporting coupé without rival, the Continental GT is not just the fastest Bentley in the 83-year history of the company; it is also the fastest four seat coupé ever produced. It combines all elements of the finest Grand Touring traditions and Bentley craftsmanship with some of the most advanced technologies ever brought to the automotive market.

Featuring a 6-litre, 12 cylinder, twin-turbocharged, engine with more than 500bhp driving all four wheels through a paddle-operated, six speed automatic gearbox, the Continental GT offers true supercar performance combined with the interior space, versatility and ease of ownership to make it not merely viable as an everyday car, but a natural for the role. In this respect as well as many others, Bentley believes the Continental GT to be unique.

The Continental GT is being designed and engineered by Bentley at Crewe and will be manufactured there in all-new facilities that combine state of the art technologies with the unique hand finishing and attention to detail that have been the hallmark of all cars to wear the winged ‘B’. It goes on sale in the second half of 2003 and will bring the prospect of Bentley ownership to a wider audience of discerning enthusiasts than ever before. And while the Continental GT is a Bentley from bumper to bumper, the role of the company’s Volkswagen parent can scarcely be ignored.

The dream of building a new Bentley coupé is not new – indeed it has been alive at Crewe for over 20 years. But it was only the £500 million vote of confidence placed in the marque by VW that brought the dream to reality. And VW has more than merely made funds available to design an all-new car. It has also enabled Bentley to transform the Crewe factory into a thoroughly modern centre of manufacturing excellence, ensuring not only that Bentley is in better shape today than ever, but also guaranteeing its design, engineering and manufacturing sovereignty as far into the future as it is possible to see.