What's the news?
Bentley, the grand old sports-GT company of Great Britain, is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2019 and is planning a year of celebrations to make this centenary. And what better way to do that than with a special, limited edition of its smashing new Continental GT?
Called the GT Number 9 Edition by Mulliner and unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show (where else?), this newcomer harks back to one of the most famous competition names associated with the Winged B. His name was Sir Henry Ralph Stanley 'Tim' Birkin and, a Bentley customer, he was one of the fabled 'Bentley Boys' of the 1920s and '30s who would go on to be pivotal in the creation of the mighty 4½-litre 'Blower'.
Birkin raced at the 1930 edition of Le Mans, following his commissioning of production of a series of 4½-litre Bentleys fitted with an Amherst Villiers supercharger. These 'Blowers' developed around 175hp, some way ahead of the 110hp of the regular model, and of course Sir Tim's car at the 1930 Le Mans was... a dark green Blower wearing No.9. Interesting side note: in Ian Fleming's books, James Bond originally drove a 1931 4½-litre Bentley Blower, rather than any Aston Martin.
Anyway, we digress. The Continental GT Number 9 Edition by Mulliner is easily spotted via its No.9 badgework and decals, specifically that logo in the front grille. Two paint choices are on offer, Beluga Black or - rather more sensibly, given the old Birkin Blower's racing colour - Viridian Green. In the arches reside 21-inch, 10-spoke alloys (which are available in the same two shades), while the car benefits from Black Line Specification and a carbon-fibre body kit.
Inside, it's a selection between Cumbrian Green or Beluga heritage hides, with a glossier finish to the seats, door cards and other areas the finest leather is on show. Debossed 'B' logos can be found on the head restraints of the seats and the door panels, the latter a nod to the same feature on the 1930 vehicle. The main trim is 'Engine Spin', or Turned Aluminium, a popular racing car and aviation finish in the '20s and '30s as it limits light reflection, while the centre console is adorned with a British Jaeger clock styled on the original No.9 Blower's dials.
Perhaps the best bit is the fact that every Conti Number 9 Edition by Mulliner features a wood insert in its magnificent rotating dashboard; this wood was removed, during a sympathetic renovation, from the very seat used in Birkin's 1930 Le Mans racer, meaning there's a genuine piece of Bentley history in each of the new cars. Finally, 18-carat gold-plated organ stops can be spied on the dash and there are '1 of 100' treadplates in the door sills, to mark out the special Conti.
Anything else?
Bentley has already announced that all of the vehicles it sells during 2019 will be in Centenary Specification, so with the Number 9 Edition now confirmed, it'll be interesting to see what the company does for its next party piece.