Bentley

Ahead of its official debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Bentley has unleashed the goods on its latest creation. The 2011 Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible now reigns supreme as the world's fastest four-seater drop-top. Basically, this is a cloth-top version of Bentley's powerful sports coupe and uses the same twin-turbo 6.0-liter W12 engine making 621 horsepower with 590 lb-ft of twist.

Like its brethren, the Convertible is a flex-fuel vehicle and can sprint from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.9 seconds, hitting a top speed of 202 mph using any combo of E85 or gasoline. In fact, all of the 2011 Bentley Continental models will offer FlexFuel, which in the case of the Convertible, helps reduce CO2 emissions by up to 70%.

For the last couple of years, CAR magazine has challenged designers from major auto manufacturers to come up with designs that upgrade Santa's sleigh to the toy-delivery vehicle of tomorrow. In 2008, the likes of Bentley, Ford, Nissan and Rolls-Royce all delivered spectacular creations. This year Vauxhall, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Audi and Land Rover came through with some crazy cool concepts. 

Land Rover has created transportation for Kris Kringle that follows their brand aesthetic remarkably well. The particle accelerator propulsion system is a nice touch and we dig the optional CRS (Chimney Recognition Software) technology. But we're not sure how Santa is supposed to see over the big dome of the reindeer in front of him and it looks like every time the animal swivels its head, it would skewer ole Saint Nicholas, but these are just minor quibbles.

There is no real story here other than the fact we came across this "murdered out" Bentley Continental GT at SEMA 2009 and were in awe standing in its presence. Bentley coupes signify plush, comfortable high-snobiety motoring in an uber-luxury package. This, however, looks like it just killed something and is proud of it. Sporting a matte black satin finish, monster Nutek wheels with black insets and lips along with blacked out grills and air inlets, this GT just looks wicked. The addition of a Premier4509 widebody kit is just icing on the cake. This thing is ready to dominate the streets of any city in America. Even the Batmobile would have to take pause.

It just seems like the young, hip multi-millionaire has life so tough these days. After all, it's no longer enough to simply own an exotic car that 99.9% of the population will never be able to afford, let alone purchase. You have to add some style and flare and keep up with all of the other ballers out there. And after flipping through the traditional supercar color palette of metallic reds, blues and yellows, you may be looking for a little more edge. Well, someone first came up with the idea, and then someone else decided it was cool, and then everyone and their mother jumped on board. And now we have a bunch of fatigued-out sport cars spotted all over the globe.

Let's start with our first offender. Above we have a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano spotted on Croisette boulevard in the French seaside town of Cannes. This beauty almost blended right into the landscape in its ultra low-key camouflage wrap. It'd been a shame if someone didn't see it sitting there and tried to parallel park in its side. Surely I jest, but with the beige wheels, the execution is pretty flawless...

We've become very accustomed to the teasers that have been released lately by high-end auto manufacturers like Aston Martin and BMW. Bentley is following suit with the delivery of a super dark image and spectral, murky video of the "New Grand Bentley. This vehicle will replace the Bentley Arnage at the top of their line-up and is designed to be 'exceptional in all respects on the road.' The All New Grand Bentley will be designed and built in Crewe, England and is billed as "the purest expression of the Bentley spirit." The Company has released a microsite for their newest vehicle launch at www.NewGrandBentley.com. The New Grand Bentley is scheduled to be released this summer. Please check out the teaser video after the jump.

Back in December, Paris Hilton bought herself what any upper crust social debutant might self gift for Christmas - a custom pink Bentley Continental GT. First she nabbed the stock model (MSRP $155,990) and headed over to the folks at West Coast Customs and said "Pink My Ride!" There are many shades of pink and so those guys asked for more specifics for color matching purposes. And what pray tell do you match your six figure new ride to? A cheapo pink clock from The Disney Store!

And so, using this for point of reference, a custom pink paint job, pink rims, pink grill and pink air intakes ensued. The Bentley badge was swapped out with her initials. And a serious anti-paparazzi tint was applied. The interior also was "pinked out" with black accents. Paris said that she had lusted after the pink Barbie Corvette since she was a little kid. I don't know why she didn't just buy the original when she was like 7 but now she is happy. Or so we thought...

Bentley has just released specs and images on its fastest and most powerful vehicle ever ahead of the Geneva Motor Show. The Bentley Continental Supersports has a twin-turbocharged 6-liter 621 bhp engine that will push the 4,939 pound car to 60 mph from a stop in 3.7 seconds. Top speed is rated at 204 mph. A new Quickshift transmission halves shift times. It's the first Bentley to use FlexFuel technology and the first luxury vehicle to do so. The car can run on either gas or E85 biofuel. This goes along with Bentley's push to get their entire fleet running on renewable fuels by 2012.

HAMANN recently posted some new photos on their website of their upcoming tuned Bentley Continental GT and GT Speed. The company currently offers modified versions of vehicles from Aston Mastin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Porsche, and Rolls-Royce.

From the look of the Bentley photos, there are following their SOP - more aggresive body kit and styling, white and black color scheme and 4 pipe exhaust. Inside, carbon fiber is used extensively, replacing Bentley's hand-built wood trimming on the dash, all consoles, accents, vents and most likely side doors. More information on the HAMANN Bentley Continental GT and GT Speed should be forthcoming.