Bentley Continental GT Speed get the Zagato treatment
Bentley Continental GT Speed Zagato style - the GTZ
Author: Chris Barker
Published: 03 March 2008
The Bentley Continental GT Speed Coupe has been the subject of a Milan-based Zagato style overhaul, due to debut at Geneva this month.
Traditionalist best turn away now, as the new GT Speed reveals that a long history of working with distinguished British marques like Aston Martin shouldn't necessarily cement a deal.
The Geneva Motor Show is where Zagato is unveiling its latest automotive sculpture based on this bastion of Englishness.
At first, fleeting glance a familiar large Bentley grille catches the attention - the head only dropping the moment your eyes do at Zagato's 'interpretation' of the Continental's bumper and stretched bonnet vents hinting at what lays in store.
A pair of front fog lamps that owe more to a Vauxhall Vectra do little to dispel mounting concern.
A Zagato signature stroke – the double-bubble roof – and an unflattering, bulbous derriere continue to effectively dismantle the quintessential Britishness of the Continental, with the understated sides and flanks being replaced too by a curvier, more voluptuous physical aspect.
Christened the Continental GTZ, the Zagato grafiti'd Bentley add a two-tone green paint job, complete with a silver roof. The heavily leather-filled interior bears the self same colour coding.
Power, mercifully, is untouched, with VW's omnipresent 600bhp W12 block stirring the gee-gees into a frenzy. 0 – 62mph witnessed in 4.3 seconds, top whack being a face-contorting 202mph.
In its defence, Zagato's successful collaborations with home-spun manufactures such as Ferrari and Alfa Romeo have been less challenging on the retina over the years. Like everything, purely a matter of individual taste.
Bentley will cut shifts at its Crewe plant as demand for models falls due to economic conditions.
This cross between a Hummer H2 and generic Bentley comes courtesy of a staggeringly rich chap from Dubai - that centre of understatement.
New Bentley Continental Flying Spur and Speed might be good for 200mph, but both know its place in the road space ahead, thanks to bespoke Adaptive Cruise Control.
Bentley has released new photos and details of the revised Continental Flying Spur four-door saloon alongside the revised Conti Speed.<
The arrival of the latest james Bond novel, Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, has created a spat between Bentley and Aston Martin about which marque is the true drive of choice for 007.
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the zagato tweek improves an already elegant automobile and the 2-tone spray is superb