With a piece of Speed 8
Bentley commemorates the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the twentieth anniversary of his own most recent victory.
With ‘just’ a Bentley Continental GT’ you hardly participate nowadays, because the special editions are almost flying around you. The latest limited creation is a bit more than a Continental GT or GTC with some unique colors. After all, it is a tribute to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Bentley’s own success in it.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first 24 Hours of Le Mans and, moreover, it is 20 years since Bentley took its sixth and, for now, last victory in the famous endurance-race. It did so with the Speed 8, a further development of the already successful Audi R8 (not to be confused with the street R8). The dark green Speed 8 with number 7 completed 377 laps in 2003 with drivers Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello and Guy Smith. The sister car, featuring Johnny Herbert, David Brabham and Mark Blundell, was second with 375 laps completed.
In the middle part of one of the 32 valves from the Speed 8 with starting number 7.
Enough history, how does Bentley think about it? Well, among other things by painting the Continental GT and Continental GTC ‘Verdant Green’ and providing it with white racing stripes and a ‘7’ in the grille. There are also 24h logos in various places in and around the car. You will find the most special detail in the dashboard. There the central clock makes way for a kind of mini display case, behind which a part of a valve from the V8 of the Speed 8 can be seen. This way you always have a real piece of history in front of you while driving. Now the question remains how many of the Le Mans Collection-Continentals, which are limited to 48 pieces, will actually hit the road and will not end up somewhere as an investment object next to other limited Bentleys.
.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl