Luxury open-top 2+2 comes with 12-cylinder power to snare punters of the pricier Rolls-Royce Dawn.
Is it merely a Conti with its top blown away?
Just after the Continental GT was launched in its latest generation earlier this year with a coupe body, Bentley has followed up the game with the Convertible derivative.
And yes, the GTC is essentially a GT with a soft-top instead. The Z-folding mechanism in the GTC allows the roof to open in 19sec at speeds of up to 50kph.
Bentley additionally says the GTC’s roof has been engineered to make the cabin as quiet as in the previous-gen hard-top GT when driving roof-up.
But due to this particular top, the GTC weighs a portly 2,414kg despite a lighter and more rigid body than ever. That’s 170kg more than the GT.
So it’s slower then?
Yes it is, in the typical fashion that usually separates convertibles from their coupe siblings.
When powered with the same 635hp/900Nm 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12, the GTC is 0.1sec slower from 0-100kph, at 3.8sec. Both have the same 333kph top speed.
Like in the GT, the GTC has 48V roll control system to enhance ride comfort as much as possible to entice punters from the Rolls-Royce Wraith.
Mind, the GTC and Wraith aren’t exactly direct competitors in the game of luxury cars. While the RR is a 30 million baht-plus machine, the Bentley costs a third less.
Will there be V8 power?
History suggests that the Continental had V8 options (including the go-faster S models), so you can expect such a cylinder-count to not only broaden its dynamic appeal (less weight up front) but help lower the price points.
With an expected power range of 500-550hp derived from a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, the GTC can snare buyers of the Aston Martin DB11 Volante (the yet-to-be-born DBS Superleggera Volante would be priced in Wraith territory).
For those who don’t mind a lower badge in the 15 million baht price bracket, there’s the Mercedes-Benz S560 Cabriolet and BMW 8 Series Convertible, the latter joining the GTC in making their world premieres at the Los Angeles auto show this week.
