Category: Bentley

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2015 Bathurst 12hr: Final corner scrap

2015 Bathurst 12 hour last corner fight

We all know the #35 Nissan GT-R won the 2015 Bathurst 12 hour and we know that the #15 Audi came second and the #97 Aston Martin was third.

However, the manner in which the minor placings were decided has remained a mystery. Going into Conrod Straight for the last time the #10 Bentley was in P2 from the Audi, with the Aston close behind.

The Aston Martin got ahead of the Audi before the Chase to claim the final podium step. Thanks to the arsery from Channel 7 we never got to see the final corner stoush that sorted out this three-way battle and saw the Audi go from fourth to second. Thanks to “Rusty Blackmore” and his trackside YouTube clip we can now see what happened next.

Entering Murray’s Corner the Bentley had the inside line, with the Audi trying to find its way past on the outside. The Aston was tucked in behind the Bentley looking for an early apex to make a move on the final left hand corner of the race and then…

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Volkswagen Group cracks 10 million annual sales

Volkswagen's Autostadt, Wolfsburg, Germany

In 2014, for the first time, the Volkswagen Group has achieved 10 million sales in a calendar year.

Across the group of companies a 4.2% increase in sales for the year resulted in 10.14 million vehicles being sold. Just 10 years ago the Group was shifting around 5 million units per year.

Volkswagen passenger vehicles make up the bulk of the sales, with the brand passing six million annual sales for the first time last year.

Audi sales across the globe increased by more than 10% and numbered 1.74 million.

Porsche managed 189,000 sales, up by a very healthy 17%, thanks in part to the launch of the Macan SUV.

Skoda reached a new high sales mark, passing 1 million sales for the first time. An increase of almost 13% on the previous year’s sales.

All this means that the Group’s Strategy 2018 is well underway to being achieved.

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Bathurst 12 Hour Bentley

David Brabham to join Bentley at Bathurst

Flying B Bentley Continental GT3

David Brabham will join Flying B Racing at next year’s Bathurst 12 Hour. The three times Le Mans winner will drive a Bentley Continental GT3 alongside John Bowe and Peter Edwards.

“When the team rang to ask if I wanted to join them to race at the Bathurst 12 hour next year, I thought a Christmas present had come early,” Brabham said.

“I have wanted to do this race for the last few years, but just couldn’t manage it, now I can and I am so excited to be racing in a Bentley with Flying B Racing. I was second for Bentley at Le Mans in 2003 so I have a great relationship with them and to race for last year’s winning team gives me an excellent chance to win what has now become a truly international event.

“It has been pleasing to see this race grow in stature over the years and the competition there will be a fantastic challenge to overcome. I can’t wait.

Flying B Racing is an offshoot of Maranello Motorsport, the team who prepped this year’s winning Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. The Flying B Bentley Continental GT3 made its race debut last weekend at the Highlands 101 race in New Zealand, completing 55 laps of the 101 lap event before retiring with mechanical issues.

[Source: Brabham | Pic: Facebook]

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Australian new car pricing – July 1977

Leyland Moke
Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II

If you were after a little runabout in 1977 the cheapest new car on the market was the Leyland Moke ($2,995). On the other hand, if you were well to do, the most expensive car money could buy was the Bentley T or the near matching Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (both $58,950).

The Moke was also the least powerful car on the market with just 37kW (50hp) on tap from its 1.0 litre four-cylinder engine. The leadfoots among you would have been more likely to have had your eye on the svelte 239kW (320hp) Maserati Khamsin, which would have set you back $44,000.

At least that’s the deal according to the July 1977 issue of Wheels magazine. You can check out the price list after the break and make sure you click on each image for larger images.

Turns out the Moke was the better buy, though. These days if you wanted to get your hands on a 37-year-old Moke you’ll likely need a lot more than the original three grand asking price. Whereas picking up a similarly aged Roller or Bentley should come in well under its original sticker price.

[Pics: Shannons | Thanks to Stu for the tip]

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Volkswagen Group tipped to rebrand as Auto Union

Auto Union badge

Here’s a rumour from GoAuto that has grabbed our interest, according to its report Volkswagen Group is considering a name change to Auto Union.

A possible theory for the change would be to establish a greater sense of independence for each of the brands under Volkswagen’s control, by removing the Volkswagen name from the umbrella company.

Volkswagen Group controls or owns outright the following marques: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, MAN, Porsche, Scania, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. In addition, the group is also the largest shareholder in Suzuki, with a 20% share.

Auto Union is not a new name in the motoring world and was the precursor to what we now know as Audi. Originally formed in 1932 and consisting of four companies—Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer—Auto Union was essentially dissolved by the Soviets after WWII.

However, soon after, in 1949, Auto Union came back to life building two-stroke DKWs. Daimler-Benz took a majority shareholding in 1958 and saw a return of the Auto Union brand and investment in the company’s Ingolstadt factory.

In 1964 Daimler-Benz began to offload its shares and later that year Volkswagen assumed control after it bought the rights to the Auto Union name and the Ingolstadt site. The Audi brand was revived in 1965 and remains as the sole survivor from those Auto Union days.

[Source: GoAuto | Pic: CarType/John Lloyd]

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2013 Goodwood FoS in pictures – gallery 1

2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed

It’s taken us a while to prepare, but here’s your first instalment in our 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed image gallery. We’ve got more than 260 images in all which will be spread out over three galleries.

Presented in alphabetical order, this selection of photos starts with Alfa Romeo and ends with Lotus. And doesn’t that Alfa Romeo 4C just look sensational!

Stay tuned over the next two days for the remaining galleries to be posted.

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Audi Bentley Video

Bentley v Audi

Chris Harris on Cars, Bentley v Audi

For his weekly installment Chris Harris takes a look at the Bentley Continental GT Speed. Fair enough, too, it’s got over 600 horsepower and 800Nm of torque on tap from its 6.0 litre W12 engine. But at 2300kg the Speed represents a bit of a quandary. Does all that power go to waste?

Extending the reach of his investigations Harris brings the Audi S4 Avant into the equation. Aside from a steering wheel and four tyres there’s not a lot else in common between these two. On the figures mentioned in the clip the Bentley is £180,000 and the S4 a comparatively paltry £40,000. And yet there are, according to Harris, some very similar traits between the two cars. The overarching link, of course, being the shared ownership of the two manufacturers by Volkswagen.

So, as Harris puts it in his YouTube intro: “Not a natural pairing, but a quick drive in both got me thinking about how VW manages its various brands in terms of character and driving behaviour. All very grown up, I know—but we can’t skid the shizzle out of stuff every week.”

It’s this slightly left of centre style of review that Harris does well at, so if you’re into your cars you should enjoy the thinking behind this comparison.

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2013 Geneva Motor Show in pictures – part 1

2013 Geneva Motor Show

The Geneva Motor Show is still underway over in Europe and while we’re sure almost all of our readers would love to be there we’re doing the best we can to bring you a little closer to the action. Here is the first installment of over 250 pictures from the show, from Alfa Romeo to Lamborghini, which includes some of the great and not so great models on display.

That Lamborghini’s not getting any prettier is it.

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Bentley Motorsports

Bentley seeks rally inspiration for GT3 racer

Bentley Continental GT3 concept

Bentley’s return to competitive GT3 racing has taken another positive step with the signing of a technical partnership with Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport.

We’ll be seeing Bentley on track late next year with a fully developed version of the Continental GT3 concept first shown at the Paris Motor Show in September.

Malcolm Wilson says he is honoured to be chosen by the iconic British marque: “Joining forces with Bentley to help create the new Continental GT3 is a rare privilege.

“Bentley’s design and analysis work to-date has shown that the Continental GT road car can become an extremely competitive race car, and we are looking forward to capitalising on our extensive competition car development experience and success to help Bentley realise its goals.”

While Brian Gush, Director of Motorsport, says Bentley is keen to see its new racer develop: “Not only do we now have a world-beating operation in M-Sport as our new Technical Partner, but we have the honour of showing our Continental GT3 concept at Autosport International.

“The car continues to attract interest from around the globe, which is very encouraging as we progress the detail design. The whole team is looking forward to the exciting months ahead.”

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Infographic: James Bond’s car history

James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 as featured in Skyfall

As we near the global premiere of the latest James Bond flick, Skyfall, it’s quite timely that clever clogs Evans Halshaw has come up trumps with this infographic capturing the history of Bond’s garage in one easy to see location.

Thanks must go to Evans as well for encouraging the embedding of the graphic, which you can see in long form after the break. We also recommend checking out Halshaw’s website for the interactive version.

As you can see, it’s not all been expensive Aston Martins for 007.

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Bentley

Production Bentley Continental GT3 planned

Bentley Continental GT3 concept

Word from the Paris Motor Show suggests Bentley has plans to adapt their Continental GT3 racecar into a road-going production model, Car magazine reports.

It’s believed up to 300 models could be built with the engine to be either a 6.0 litre W12 engine or 4.0 litre twin-turbo V8, with the magic number expected to be around 700hp.

In race trim the Continental GT3 will use a mandated rear-wheel drive configuration, but all-wheel drive will likely be reinstated as per usual production-spec for current Continental GT models.

The GT3 for the road will be stripped of some regular Continental GT luxuries, but don’t expect this to be an interior with race seats and six-point harness and not much else. It’s highly unlikely to feature a factory fitted roll cage, for example.

We reckon a road-going Bentley Continental GT3 will be one of the world’s best GT cruisers. Probably not befitting of true GT3 status, as per the stablemate from Porsche, but still a damn fine car.

[Source: Car]

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2012 Paris Motor Show in pictures – part 1

2012 Paris Motor Show

The 2012 Paris Motor Show is well underway and for those of us who can’t make it we’ve assembled a photo gallery, which highlights what a blue collar show this has turned out to be. There’s no real theme of haute coutoure motoring here. It’s mostly off the rack bread and butter models.

Thankfully, the Jaguar F-Type brings some style and class. Conversely, when you stop and think about it, someone must have actually signed off an be responsible for the Honda CR-V. They should be fired. It is just horrible.

After the break you’ll see manufacturers listed alphabetically from A–L. Stay tuned for part 2 from Paris soon.

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