Bentley’s entry-level V8 Continental GT, on sale in 2012, is planned to lift GT production back to its peak of 5000 units, a number not seen since the recession halved output.
The V8 is set to appeal to a new group of buyers, especially in the US, where V8s are valued.
Read more about the new Bentley Continental GT
Bentley unveiled the Continental GT at the Paris motor show at the beginning of this month.
It will cost from £135,760, an increase of almost £10,000 on the current car's £126,500 sticker price.
See pictures of the new Bentley Continental GT at the Paris motor show
The new model is charged with continuing the magnificent success of the 2003 original.
It might not look too different, but the Conti' has gained a raft of major updates, including a new engine and a still-secret 4.0-litre direct injection V8.
The 2011 version of Bentley’s familiar twin-turbo 6.0-litre W12 gets handy tweaks to its engine management electronics and some new low-friction measures that together boost both power and torque, from 552bhp to 567bhp and from 479lb ft to 516lb ft.
Bentley isn’t saying much about its all-new V8 except that the capacity is 4.0 litres. It is highly likely to be turbocharged and it’ll come a year after the new Conti’s launch next March. The V8 version will still have four-wheel drive, engineers say.
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Re: Bentley Conti' to improve sales
Call me cynical, but isn't the most fundamental principle behind the W12 that your mates down at the golf club have only eight cylinders, or maybe 10 or perhaps 12 but they're arranged in a boring old vee, and so the Emperor's New Bentley must have at least that number and be configured entirely differently in order to overwhelm? Not that the car's appearance wasn't welcome after all those sad rebadged Rollers (at least until soccer players started buying them) but isn't that about the sum of it?
Re: Bentley Conti' to improve sales
I can't imagine. They wouldn't do that, would they?
Re: Bentley Conti' to improve sales
"The new model is charged with continuing the magnificent success of the 2003 original"
Why do I get the feeling that someone is cutting and pasting from the press release?