Bentley’s Supersports nameplate will return next week for a limited-run Continental GT that will be stripped out, rear-wheel drive and powered by V8 with more than 640bhp.
The unveiling of the fourth Supersports model will take place in New York in the early hours of Friday morning, Bentley confirmed on Wednesday.
Speculation of such a model had been rife since spy photographers captured it testing, with the prototype’s large rear spoiler and bold quad exhausts hinting at its performance edge.
The test car otherwise sported standard bodywork, but Autocar sources have confirmed that the production version, set to be revealed late this year, will receive a far more dramatic makeover from the recently updated standard Continental GT.
The sporting remit of the new model is shown by the intention to revive the rarely used Supersports name, which last appeared in 2017 on a range-topping version of the previous-generation Continental and featured a 6.0-litre W12 engine tuned to 700bhp.
The new Continental Supersports is understood to be conceived to showcase how, uniquely among high-end car brands, Bentley has the heritage to offer both luxury – as demonstrated by the recent EXP 15 concept – and performance. Bentley boss Frank-Steffen Walliser has previously told Autocar of plans for “more extreme” models that would reinforce the brand’s sporting heritage and credentials. It is believed the new Supersports will be the first example of that, with other models tipped to follow.
The retirement of Bentley’s W12 engine in favour of a twin-turbo V8 means the new Supersports won’t have as much power as its predecessor. It will also be less potent than the top-spec Continental GT Speed, which produces 771bhp from a plug-in hybrid powertrain. However, it’s understood that extreme lightweighting measures mean the non-electrified Supersports will be able to serve as a “pure-performance” model.
The Supersports is set to retain the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 from the GT Speed, but our sources claim the unit has been reconfigured and output boosted from 592bhp to around 640bhp, while the 188bhp gearbox-mounted electric motor has been ditched. Whereas the GT Speed is all-wheel drive, the Supersports will be purely rear-driven.
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