The guy in charge of Bentley is a hardcore car enthusiast. In his previous job at Porsche, Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser led development of the 918 Spyder, ran the Motorsport department, and took over as chief of the 718 and 911 lines. Walliser took over the CEO job at Bentley last year, and he’s already making his mark.
Autocar reports that Bentley will soon unveil a new Continental Supersports, which deletes the regular Continental GT’s hybrid powertrain and all-wheel drive system. Yes, Bentley is apparently working on a Continental with a 640-horsepower V-8 sending power to just the rear wheels. Autocar says this is the first of more “hardcore” Bentley models to come, with Walliser eager to play on the brand’s racing heritage.
Bentley used the Continental Supersports name twice for the old Continental GT. Both versions were top-of-the-line models that used higher-power versions of Bentley’s old twin-turbocharged W-12 engine. That engine is dead, so the Continental is an all-V-8 affair now. All versions of the current Conti GT use the V-8 paired with a hybrid system, with the Continental GT Speed getting more power.
The idea of a “hardcore” Bentley will probably always seem silly, but there is some precedent. The GT3-R of 2014-2015 featured a number of weight-saving measures like a rear-seat delete, while it eschewed the W-12 for a V-8. It also had a carbon-fiber wing. This model was a tie-in with Bentley’s Continental GT3 race car, which sadly no longer competes.
The original Bentley Continental Supersports
Photo by: Bentley
In the 21st century, Bentley has really embraced its sporting heritage. The automaker won the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times between 1924 and 1930, and again in 2003. While it spent much of the 20th century under Rolls-Royce ownership, turning out little more than rebadged Rollers with the Turbo R in the 1980s, Bentley regained some sporting credentials.
With the Volkswagen Group takeover of Bentley in 1998, it leaned even harder into performance. But, this new Supersports would be the first rear-wheel drive Continental GT ever. It’ll also be the most powerful rear-wheel drive car on its platform, which the Continental shares with the Porsche Panamera, which is rear-drive only in its 348-hp base model.
The current Continental GT is an excellent-driving car, so given that plus Dr. Walliser’s resume, you can expect great things from this new Supersports. Autocar reports that it’ll debut before the end of the year.