For twenty years, we’ve known what to expect from the Bentley Continental GT: luxury, power, attitude, heft. Don’t expect any of that to change next month when its maker reveals the fourth generation model - except, of course, that it will now be assembled around the new Ultra Performance Hybrid powertrain. Bentley has today confirmed that the combination of 4.0-litre V8 and (as yet) unspecified electric motor will output 782hp and 738lb ft of torque. Which is punchy by any measure.
Of course, the result will weigh roughly the same as an armoured personnel carrier, but that hasn’t stopped Crewe from claiming it as ‘the most powerful and most dynamically capable Bentley road car in the company’s 105-year history’ - a statement underwritten by the inclusion of active all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, an electronic limited-slip diff, 48-volt anti-roll control and new dual-valve dampers. So it’s fair to say the technological kitchen sink that Bentley invested in the outgoing model has transitioned to the new one.
While hybrid-only status marks the fourth-generation GT as fundamentally different to its predecessor, clearly we’re not going to have any trouble recognising the newcomer. The latest images reveal a number of subtle tweaks - particularly in the air intakes and headlights - but plainly this is about smoothing out the previous design rather than beginning again. Which ought to suit the majority of repeat buyers given the current GT still looks the business after six years at the showroom coalface.
Whether or not said buyers have also bought into the concept of a petrol-electric Bentley obviously remains to be seen. Since 2002 the GT has been notable not just for a distinctive sort of driving pleasure, but for the ten-fold increase in sales it originally stimulated, helping redefine what the brand meant for a modern audience. And while Bentley could hardly expect that kind of game-changing response, it is no doubt hoping that access to a 50-mile all-electric range (and yet more horsepower pomp) will convince its customers that it has built a GT sufficiently forward looking to see out the decade. We look forward to discovering whether or not that's true next month.
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