What's all this about?

Bentley has announced a new Styling Specification, which is currently available for the Continental GT and its related GTC sibling, and the Bentayga SUV as well. It will soon be added to the majestic Flying Spur range, if you four-door fans are feeling left out.

Right, but what is Styling Specification?

It's a lot of hand-crafted, exquisitely finished carbon-fibre componentry for the bodywork. Included on all vehicles are carbon versions of the front splitter, the side skirts, the rear diffuser and the bootlid spoiler, while the Bentayga gains a bi-plane tailgate spoiler and rear windscreen side strakes as well. Further carbon options will be available on the front air blades, wing vents and door-mirror housings. This carbon is made from 2x2 twill woven in the same direction, with the weave mirror-matched across the centreline of each vehicle - in much the same way the marque bookmatches the wood veneers in its cabins, to maintain an aesthetically pleasing level of symmetry to the trim finishes.

Furthermore, the side skirts of the Styling Specification feature a three-dimensional, electroformed Bentley Badge, with a special profile specifically designed for this application. This shape minimises the risk of air bubbles forming in the badge's lacquer overcoat, while maintaining an 'eye-catching faceted appearance'. All of the parts in the Styling Specification were designed by the same engineering team which created the carbon parts for some of Bentley's most high-performance previous Continentals, both for road and competition - including the GT3-R, Supersports and Pikes Peak variants, plus the Ice Race model announced earlier this year. Bentley's Styling Specification is available to order through the marque's retail network, and can either be specified when a new car is ordered or retrofitted at a later date to enhance a customer's existing car.

Matt Robinson - 30 Apr 2020