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2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible

Loses its Head, Keeps its Bespoke Cool
This is the 10th anniversary of the Bentley Continental GT, the 5,500-pound shim that pried open the market for bespoke luxury at $150K. We're into the second generation of the supercoupe that is still - and we think unfairly - derided as a grossly exaggerated Volkswagen, which to us is like saying the Hulk is just Bruce Banner in a tizzy. There are credible grounds for both statements, but in neither case do they accurately convey the chasm between the alpha and the omega.
Nevertheless, checking off the list of updated models brings us to the Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible, the moderately augmented version of the non-Speed GTC. Back to the notion of unfairness, it's probably just that to say the GT Speed Convertible is only "moderately" changed. It did, after all, take Bentley three years to engineer the changes that separate your 'basic' Bentley from the Speed variant, and although they might be imperceptible, they are numerous.

2014 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible runs topless through Motown

Looking cool in blue (better than the Grimace-purple we saw a few weeks ago), with strong, tailored bodywork and a one-percenter-approved face, the 2013 Bentley GT Speed Convertible is right at home with all the exotic metal on the floor of Cobo Center here at the Detroit Auto Show.
You've already read about (or should have) the 616-horsepower, 590-pound-feet-of-torque 6.0-liter W12 engine that hides under the hood of the GT Speed droptop, and you've no doubt remembered the ludicrous top speed of 202 miles per hour. Impressive stats, all.
All that's left, then, unless you've got a wild hair to reexamine the full-fat Bentley press release (available below), is to direct you to the oven-fresh gallery of live images that we've compiled, just for you.

Bentley designer hints at even faster Continental GT3-R

Does Bentley have room in its Continental GT lineup for an even more extreme version than the new GT3-R? Luc Donckerwolke seems to think so. Speaking with Autocar, the Bentley design chief suggested that an even more performance-focused Continental GT could be in the works, potentially ditching the heavy all-wheel drive system in an effort to further reduce weight, improve handling and drop even more ticks off the 0-60 time that's already down to a best-yet 3.6 seconds in the GT3-R.
To borrow a page from the same playbook used not only by sister-companies Audi and Porsche but also by Renault and Jaguar (to name just a few), we'll tentatively call it the Continental GT3-RS. Whatever the name, though, power would likely come from an even more potent version of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 co-developed with sister-company Audi. Considering that engine already produces 500 horsepower in the Continental GT V8, 521 hp in the V8 S and 572 hp in the GT3-R, we could be looking at as much as 600 horses to make it the most powerful V8 model to date. With that much juice, it would even eclipse some of the W12 models that start at 567 hp in the core Continental GT and range up to the 616 hp in the Speed, which currently ranks not only as the most powerful Conti yet, but also the fastest road car Bentley has ever made.
Donckerwolke says that Bentley has already sold the entire production run for the Continental GT3-R and that customers are already clamoring for something more focused. Younger buyers are likely to be even further drawn to the brand by the ne-plus-ultra Conti, especially if the racing team advanced from its current fifth place in the Blancpain Endurance Series standings.