2006 Bentley Continental GT Test Drive

The Younger, Hipper Bentley

Drive one and you'll be everybody's new best friend.

Did You Know ...

• In total, it takes 150 hours of labor to build a Continental GT — that’s one-third the time it takes to produce a Bentley Arnage. One set of wood inserts for the interior of a Continental GT takes 18 hours to complete.

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• The retractable rear spoiler (shown above) on U.S.-market Continental GTs automatically deploys at 50 mph, versus 80 mph to 90 mph for European-spec models.

• The Continental GT’s W12 engine is essentially two narrow-angle V6 engines, mounted side by side and powering a common crankshaft. The compact and innovative six-cylinder engine design — initially dubbed the VR6 by Volkswagen — dates back to the loved but short lived Volkswagen Corrado VR6, sold in the U.S. from 1992 to 1995. Its 2.8-liter VR6 engine made 178 hp.

• Bentley Motors was founded in 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley, known as W.O. (pictured at right), and his brother Horace (H.M.). W.O. started out as an engineer working on locomotive steam engines. He raced motorcycles in his youth.

• W.O. Bentley used auto racing as a test bed for his production cars, as well as a very effective marketing tool. The mostly well-heeled, fun-loving drivers who raced early Bentleys in the 1920s and early ‘30s were dashing, larger-than-life characters who often partied as hard as they raced. They became known as the “Bentley Boys".

• The first Bentley prototype was completed in October of 1919 (pictured at left in front of the workshop where it was built, near Baker Street, London). It was called the 3-litre and featured a 65-hp four-cylinder 16-valve engine. This car was the first to carry Bentley's hallmark radiator casing and flying “B” insignia.

• The first production Bentley, a 3-litre saloon (British vernacular for “sedan”), bowed in September 1921 purchased by one Nole van Raalte for £1,050.