Tradition says that a supercar is one that goes very, very fast. And it does so because each and every component that goes into it is devised to make it attain some incredible speeds. So you get wind-tunnel designed engineering for the underbody, exotic carbon fibre bits, aerodynamic components to cheat wind, ground-hugging low-profile rubber, non-essential items binned to reduce weight plus, of course, a monstrous powerplant placed at the front or very often, amidships. So you get an automobile with a wedgy, stealthy look, which as the cliché goes, looks fast standing still.
But you know what? Bentley has made an obscene middle-fingered gesture to all the supercars of the world. And also pulled its bespoke pants down and mooned tradition. Because the two cars that you see here (in true BSM er, tradition, never seen together before) are the antithesis of everything a supercar stands for. Well, if you do want to nitpick, yes,they are powered by monstrous twin-turbo 12-cylinder engines that wouldn’t be out of place in a fighter plane, let alone mere automobiles. But the Bentleys look as if they would stop wind, rather than slip under it. And instead of exotic lightweight componentry, they feature luxurious wood veneer, the finest leather upholstery, a plethora of chrome gauges, switches and knobs, power everything, seating for four adults, plus all the fancy accoutrements that are deemed necessary in any car that wears the legendary winged-B badge.
So if you hold a traditional point of view, these are not what you’d call supercars, right? Let me give you two instances of how wrong you can be.In 2003, Georg Kacher, one of the best automotive journalists in the world, had an unforgettable drive in a Bentley. It was the then-new Continental GT – it was not just an ordinary coupé, but one that could literally fly between continents and yet treat you and your family like royalty. Kacher took the Continental GT to Ehra-lessien, a track in Germany, and did something unimaginable. He drove this luxury coupe flat-out and achieved 329 kph on the track!
To quote from Bijoy’s driving impression of the world’s fastest 2+2 production coupé in one of our earlier issues, ‘the ultra exotic and three times more expensive Porsche Carrera GT will only do the same! And this four-seater Bentley that weighs 2.4 tonnes will be only a second slower than the 1.4 tonne two-seater Porsche in the sprint up to 100 kph – and if that doesn’t speak for itself, nothing else will. I am sure that as and when Volkswagen engineers plonk this W12 into something lighter, you will be able to break the land speed record on a Sunday morning milk run.’
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