Designers Give Bentley Continental GT V8 S Black Accents and Colorful Body Kit
There was a time when Bentley only made the Continental GT with 12 cylinders. Now it makes four varieties of its four-seater (excluding the limited-run GT3-R). The Continental GT V8 S Black Edition will be the fifth.
There’s the regular Continental GT with its 12 cylinders arranged in the shape of a W. Then you have the Continental GT V8 with its, you guessed it, V8. The Continental GT V8 S ups the output of those eight cylinders to 520 horsepower. The Continental GT Speed is the most powerful of all, generating 633 horsepower and 620 lb-ft from its twin-turbo W12.
The new Continental GT V8 S Black Edition comes with the same amount of power as the regular V8 S, but several cosmetic touches as well. A variety of exterior elements, including the side window surrounds, lower body accents, door handles, grille surround and 21-inch wheels get a high-gloss black coating. The tinted front and rear lights also get a dose of darkness.
The Black Edition isn’t all about neutrals, though. It’s trimmed with a front splitter, side skirts, and a rear diffuser in one of four colors: Beluga, St James’ Red, Hallmark, or Cyber Yellow. The brake calipers are available in either black or, for another splash of color, red.
Inside, the Black Edition has GT Design Seats by Mulliner and a “headliner bow featuring elements that match the accent colour selected for the exterior contrast body kit.”
Like its Continental GT cousins, the Black Edition will be available as a coupe or a convertible. In the meantime, we’ll be looking for it on the Bentley website’s configurator and wondering how the body kit in Cyber Yellow will look against a “Pure Power” body…
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
