A convertible grand tourer built to cross a continent at speed with the roof down.
The Bentley Continental GTC is Bentley's four-seat convertible grand tourer, built so that wind buffeting with the roof down stays minimal even near highway speed. Couples and small groups book it for anniversaries and coastal touring rather than the Flying Spur, since the roof down shot with four people in it matters as much as the drive.
The V8 burble climbs into a real roar at high revs while the steering stays light for the car's size, and with the roof down near highway speed the cabin stays sheltered enough that conversation carries. That makes it a free day on a coastline car rather than an airport run.
The Bentley Continental GTC is booked for anniversaries, birthdays, coastal touring, wedding photography, and any occasion where the roof down, four occupant shot matters just as much as the drive itself. It is not a bridal car, since the two doors and the long door span make a gown genuinely difficult to manage, and it is not an airport car either, since the boot is small and luggage has nowhere real to go. It is the car for a couple or a small group with a free day to spend and a coastline worth spending it on, weather permitting and roof down the whole time.
Bentley sells the Continental GTC as the convertible half of the Continental range, in a ladder that runs from the standard car through the Azure, the S, the Speed and the Mulliner. Our fleet runs the standard GTC.
The standard Continental GTC is the version we run, a four seat convertible with a fabric roof that folds in 19 seconds at up to 30 mph. Ours are fitted with either the 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 or the 6.0 liter twin-turbo W12, both through an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive. The V8 barks, the W12 pushes harder with less noise.
The Continental GTC Azure is the comfort specification of the convertible. Bentley fits front seat comfort specification with ventilation and massage, a neck warmer tuned for roof down driving, and specific badging and wheels. The powertrain is unchanged from the standard GTC. It is aimed at the owner who drives with the roof down for hours rather than minutes. We do not run it.
The Continental GTC S takes the standard car in the other direction. It gains a sport tuned damper and anti-roll setup, a darkened exterior trim package, S badging and a more vocal exhaust, without a change in engine output. It is the handling specification rather than the power specification, and it is the sharpest steering GTC below the Speed. We do not run it.
The Continental GTC Speed is the performance flagship of the convertible range. In its current form Bentley pairs a twin-turbo V8 with an electric motor for 771 hp and 738 lb-ft, adds rear-wheel steering, an electronic limited-slip differential and 48 volt active anti-roll bars, and reaches 60 mph in about 3.1 seconds. It is the fastest Continental GTC built. We do not run it.
The Continental GTC Mulliner is the coachbuilt top of the range, built around trim and craft rather than pace. It adds a specific wheel design, a diamond quilted cabin with a large number of hide and thread combinations, Mulliner badging and a Rotating Display on the dash that turns from screen to analog dials to plain veneer. We do not run it.