Bentley’s elegant, muscular beast

published 18 October 2011

The Continental GTC may seem more of a "Californian sun-drenched wafter" than the "British upper-class bruiser" you'd expect from Bentley, says Steve Moody in Car. "But slide behind the wheel of this new model and it is still very much everything a Bentley should be, and that means lashings of power, a pretty useful chassis and luxury slathered exquisitely about the place." It's an "elegantly muscular beast", "sharper and less blobby than its predecessor", and inside it is "a very special place", swathed in hand-stitched leather.

And to drive? It's "epic", says Moody. The car is powered by a W12, 6.0-litre, twin turbocharged engine, and produces 567bhp and 516lb ft of torque. This propels the two-and-a-half-tonne Bentley to 60mph in 4.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 195mph. It's "bloody quick", in short, with "wonderful" ride quality and astonishingly accurate steering. As a "dashing, handsome, very fast and extremely capable four-seat luxury convertible, it is extremely hard to beat".

The car will makes its owner very happy, agrees Erin Baker in The Daily Telegraph. The interior is "beautiful" and "exquisitely crafted", making the driver feel "looked after"; yet, when the driver wants to get involved, the steering is sharp and the drive "defines power", accelerating like a Boeing 747 down the runway. The Continental is "unique" a four-seat luxury supercar, a thing no one except Rolls-Royce bothers to make anymore. Price: £149,350.