CREWE’S BIGGEST BARGAIN
200mph for £25,000! Yes, the last Bentley Continental GT is something of a bargain. Just make sure you buy the right one…
200mph for £25,000? Yes please
Let’s kick off with some stats. By necessity they’re some big ones because the Bentley Continental GT was always a big deal: a superfast heavyweight with a huge twinturbo 12-cylinder engine that was never cheap to buy new. And it was big news when it was launched in 2003. In fact, 2003 was quite a big year for Great Britain in general, as it also saw the appearance of Aston Martin’s DB9 and Jaguar’s high-tech if conservative-looking X350-generation XJ saloon.
But the Continental GT was perhaps the biggest news of all because it marked a step-change in philosophy at Bentley, which had been under the auspices of the Volkswagen Group since 1998. So here it was, a new sporting luxury coupé, weighing just under 2.4 tonnes, costing £110,000, and capable of a top speed of 198mph. And it was a big hit, easily surpassing the projected production figures of 6000 per year. All this from a company that had been handbuilding leviathans by the hundred.
The secret? Crewe’s missile was (whisper it) really a German creation. A Volkswagen Phaeton platform, air suspension from Audi, and a twin-turbocharged version of the group’s 6.0-litre W12 engine, which made for 553bhp at 6100rpm and acceleration from rest to 60mph in only 4.7 seconds. All in total comfort and with the kind of backing track that sounded serious when you wanted it to, and only when you wanted it to.
Fancy some more numbers? How about 479lb ft of torque from just 1600rpm pretty much all the way to 6000rpm. Or that if you twitch your toe at 50mph, you’ll be doing 75mph only 3.3 seconds later. That the 405mm-diameter brake discs were the biggest ever fitted to a production car, engineered to generate the equivalent of 3500bhp in order to haul down nearly three tonnes of laden GT from 200mph. That it took six people a total of 18 hours to leather-stitch the steering wheel by hand. Or that you’ll be lucky to see more than 12mpg if you drive it like you want to.
‘Luxury has never been this stimulating,’ said Car magazine when it first drove one back in the late summer of 2003. ‘Never has such stimulating luxury been so affordable,’ said a bloke from Octane, just now. Really? Well, just refer back to our headline. This is the 200mph supercar (give or take) for just £25,000. Maybe even less, if you’re brave.
Of course, you can still (just about) buy one new. I doubt Bentley offers discounting but there are probably some good leasing deals available on the last few as the new Continental GT comes on stream. That’s why we’re here, after all. The arrival of Bentley’s latest is making us reappraise just what great value for money the outgoing car could be.
Walk into a Bentley dealer and the pricing starts at around £140,000 for a newly minted, old-gen V8 coupé and tops out at £233,000 for the fastest Supersports Convertible. You know, the one you need if you fancy a little more than 700bhp to shove you along with the roof down. Or, at the other end, you can pay less than £20,000 for a V12 coupé going back towards the ’03 launch, perhaps with a leggy-ish 100,000 miles on the clock. There’s better hunting above £25,000, from which you can demand proper service history and expect a mileage of 50,000 or so. The original go-faster GT Speed model kicks in around £40,000-45,000, the Supersports £55,000-60,000.
Then you’ve got the half-time revised version, not really a brand new car but heavily upgraded, and
‘Here it was, a new luxury coupé, costing £110,000, capable of 198mph. And it was a big hit’
recognisable by its smaller outer front lamps, the rear numberplate housed in a wedgier-looking slot in the bumper, and a modernised interior that nonetheless carried on with a dashboard that makes the passenger feel as important as the driver. And with leather still wrapping literally everything. The Mk2 arrived in 2011 and is priced from around £60,000, the subsequent, slightly more efficient (and gorgeous-sounding) V8 version from £70,000, the Speed from £75,000, the Supersports from £85,000 or so.
There was a convertible too, called GTC naturally enough, which bowed in 2006, and all the original series received upgrades from 2007, to become known as 2008-model-year cars.
So, what are they like to live with? Let me introduce you to the 2003 British Motor Show car, the early Continental GT owned by Jimmy Medcalf, chairman of the Bentley Drivers Club – it shares garage space with a trio of vintage Bentleys, and a 1920s fourcylinder engine, mounted on a rig so it can be started at any opportunity (satisfyingly, it fires instantly).
‘I rang Bentley shortly after the launch,’ he says. ‘There was quite a waiting list. Then I was suddenly offered the show car, and got in quick. It was the first to be painted this colour.’
You can imagine how this metallic blue hue would stand out at a motor show, and it’s teamed with a soothingly creamy interior. Lots of wood and those bullseye vents and organ-stops are evidence of trad Bentley (really Rolls-Royce) style being brought into the 21st Century alongside a large touchscreen, Tiptronic transmission and full climate control. The highback seats (electrically adjusted, with heating and a massage function) feel cosseting yet supportive, and you sit high up in comparison to mere ordinary cars, yet lower and more laidback than you might in any older Bentley.
The V12 announces itself with an assertive yet discreet woofle and we move off along the road, noticing that any lumps or bumps are largely smothered by the Bentley’s mass. Any problems while you’ve owned it, Jimmy?
‘None whatsoever. It’s done just over 60,000 miles and we’ve driven it everywhere: Monte-Carlo a few times, and to the top of Scotland. We’ve just come back from a trip around North Yorkshire in it. It’s fast and relaxing. Very easy to drive quickly and it doesn’t tire you out on a long trip. And it’s had only routine maintenance. Just keeping it regularly serviced means it always runs perfectly. True, it can be thirsty, yet it will do more than 20mpg on a long cruise. Go on, put it in Sport and put your foot down.’
I’m happy to oblige, dropping the Tiptronic shifter and adjusting the four-phase dampers one notch up
‘The V12 is sonorous rather than loud, yet clear-voiced, more Ferrarikeen than Mercedes-muffled’
from Comfort. Then I let loose a tidal wave of torque. The Bentley seems to gather itself and make one massive move along the road. The V12 can be heard, sonorous rather than loud, yet surprisingly clearvoiced, more Ferrari-keen than Mercedes-muffled. There isn’t much feedback from the steering but what does surprise is how the Bentley maintains its poise through corners. Sure, it rolls a bit, but the four-wheel drive apportions torque where it helps most, allowing the car to bluster through at unlikely pace.
Any quirks to report? ‘Not really,’ says Medcalf. ‘The only funny thing was that I heard you need to remove a wing to change a front headlamp bulb. But I was also told that the bulbs last forever…’
Of course, it pays to know what you’re letting yourself in for, buying a car as fast and complex as a Continental GT – even when the asking price is a relatively modest one. ‘They’re bulletproof if they’re looked after,’ says specialist Nigel Sandell. ‘Even better if you can go for one of the cars built after 2007. Bentley made a few changes and those cars seem better-built and less prone to glitches. Of course, many of the more affordable cars have been around for a while now. With any car, you need to work out its past. And that means looking beyond stamps in the service book. You need a trail of bills to prove what’s been done.’
What you’re looking out for is a car that has been maintained regardless of what it’s actually worth; you might buy a Bentley Continental GT for £25,000, but it has the running costs of a car that cost at least £110,000 new – and items such as starter motors and alternators are an engine-out job to replace. Similarly, this is a quad-cam W12 whose timing chain runs at the back of the block…
‘There are many out there with the wrong tyres,’ adds Sandell. ‘Pirelli developed tyres to cope with a 2½-tonne car that can do 200mph. If they’re missing, it’s a sign that the car hasn’t been cared for properly. And make sure any car you see has been properly garaged, especially early ones. Water ingress can be a problem and these cars have around 40 processors. Water and processors don’t mix. You can’t run one on a shoestring. Even new tail-lights are £900 each.’
Not surprisingly, they’re heavy on bushes and brakes, so beware any judders or wobbles on a test drive, and check that the car sits right. Air springs can collapse and cost £1600 per corner to replace, for parts alone. ‘And they eat batteries,’ says Sandell. ‘If it goes flat they cost a lot to get going again as you have to reset so much. Cars that aren’t used regularly aren’t good.’
Importantly, major engine and transmission work is still kept within the official dealer network, as Bentley hasn’t released the specifications to independents. ‘It’s not a DIY prospect! Possibly the best investment you could make is to take any potential purchase along to a specialist for a thorough check.’
Or you could even go the ‘approved used’ route. Bentley’s Pre-Owned Programme is open to cars of all ages, and a new-car-style warranty is available on those up to 11 years old. Just try saying that of any other 200mph supercar.