Bentley are expected to unveil a new sportscar concept at the Paris Motor Show next month. According to Car and Driver, Bentley insiders say the concept will be its most sports-focused project since 1999′s Lamborghini-based W16-powered Hunaudieres concept (seen in the images).
No details have been confirmed at this stage, but the concept is unrelated to any of Bentley’s existing models, meaning it could give us a preview of Bentley’s future design direction. With the current Continental GT looking just like the one it replaced, together with the EXP 9 F SUV concept that received mixed reviews, we’d say Bentley are in need of something special to get them ‘back on track’.
Bentley’s CEO, Wolfgang Duerheimer, has said that the company had considered a sports car concept before, but had decided to go in a different direction with the EXP 9 F SUV because it felt that such a model “would have had the Porsche 911 Turbo as opposition”. That could also mean that the VW Group, which owns both Porsche and Bentley, didn’t want the two brands in competition.
To add more uncertainty, the Bentley Continental GT range is yet to received the high-performance Supersports version. With the GT Speed having been announced as the fastest production Bentley a few short months ago, Paris could provide a platform to showcase the ultimate Continental GT.
We’ll have to wait for Paris to find out whether the parent company has reconsidered, if the new concept will be positioned differently to the 911, or if we’re talking about the Continental GT Supersports.
