Bentley’s new, fourth-generation Continental GT Speed made its US debut at the prestigious The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering – part of Monterey Car Week. The launch  featured the first new Continental GT Speed to include bespoke content added by Mulliner, Bentley’s in-house personalization and coachbuilding division.

Responsible not only for bespoke work to mainstream Bentley models, now including the new Continental GT Speed, Mulliner also created the Blower and Speed Six Continuation Series and highly limited Bacalar, Batur and Batur Convertible coachbuilt Bentleys.

From launch, the new Continental GT Speed is available with personalized details through Mulliner’s Personal Commissioning Guide. This permits customers to explore their imagination away from the typical options list, which alone can create tens of billions of possible specification combinations.

For Monterey Car Week, an orange-themed GT Speed created through Mulliner led the fleet. The exterior paintwork is finished in Orange Flame Satin, one of 15 satin colors in Bentley’s paint range that each take up to 55 hours of craftsmanship to apply and finish to the perfect standard. In contrast to the orange bodywork, all exterior brightware is finished in gloss black, with matching black-painted 22” ten-spoke wheels with self-levelling badges. The visual impact of the specification is matched aurally, thanks to a sports exhaust and the Naim for Bentley audio system.

The interior is where the Personal Commissioning Guide elements come to the fore. Starting from a cabin crafted in Gravity Grey (a new shade for the new Continental GT Speed) and Brunel leathers, accents of contrast orange bring the cockpit to life. The Diamond Quilted areas to the seats, doors and rear quarter panels feature contrast-stitching in Gravity Grey. The same color is used with a Piano finish in conjunction with Piano Brunel for dual finish painted fascias, with the centre console matching in Piano Brunel – both colors exactly matched to their respective hides.

Accents in Mandarin – a bright orange – are then applied as a painted pinstripe to the fascias, door waistrails and the vanes of the upper ‘bullseye’ air vents. The split line through the two colors of the fascias carries a dark tint finish. The same Mandarin orange accent graces all four seats through contrast piping, carrying the orange theme from the exterior into the cabin.

The fourth generation Continental GT Speed follows in the 21-year tradition of the Continental GT family by redefining the ultimate blend of supercar performance, handcrafted luxury and everyday usability.

A comprehensive exterior and interior redesign with clean modern detailing follow the new design DNA established by the coachbuilt Bentley Bacalar and Batur. Outstanding performance is brought by the all-new Ultra Performance Hybrid powertrain with 782 PS and 1,000 Nm, from a 4.0-litre V8 working in tandem with a 190 PS electric motor.

The performance of the powertrain is matched by a new chassis system, with new two-chamber air springs paired with new dual-valve dampers, along with Bentley Dynamic Ride (48V active anti-roll control), eLSD and torque vectoring. Incredible body control and the best Continental GT ride comfort to date are the results, supported by a 49:51, rear-biased weight distribution for the first time in the car’s history.

Under the skin, a suite of innovative modern technology delivers class-leading capability so that every journey is a seamless experience in terms of driver assistance, infotainment systems and connected car services.

The new exterior continues the design revolution for Bentley’s future journey, with the biggest revision to the face of the Continental GT in two decades, and the first mainstream Bentley with single headlamps since the 1950s.

World-leading Bentley interior cabin design, materials, quality, and craftsmanship continue with the introduction of further wellness seat technology, new air ionisation, three-dimensional leather textures, new modern quilting, and technical finishes such as new dark chrome.

For the first time in the history of the Continental GT, the convertible Continental GTC is being launched concurrently with the coupe – providing ultimate flexibility for customers who appreciate both open topped and closed roof motoring.

Both coupe and convertible models will be crafted entirely by hand at Bentley’s Dream Factory in Crewe, England. Production is due to begin in late Q3 with deliveries starting in Q4.