MONTEREY, Calif.—Last week, we brought news of the Bentley Torcal, a new electric vehicle that the luxury automaker has been cooking up at its HQ in Crewe, England. The company wants to attract new customers with its first battery EV, part of a plan to make sustainability as much a part of the brand’s character as its high-end fit and finish. W12 engines have given way to V8 plug-in hybrid power, and the new Continental GT is all the better for it.
But around the same time as Ars got its first experience of that new PHEV two-door on a rather wet Spanish racetrack, some of Bentley’s boffins were wondering what might happen if you also built one without the hybrid stuff. Or all-wheel drive—something that has been a characteristic of every new road-going Bentley since the turn of the century. That would certainly cut the curb weight.
So, too, would leaving out the rear seats. That sort of idea leads down a well-trodden path for some OEMs, and Porsche in particular is famous for making stripped-out road cars inspired by its race cars and making money from them, too. Then again, Bentley still knows a thing or two about racing, most recently conquering the challenging and prestigious Bathurst 12 Hours race in 2020 with a GT3 version of the Continental GT3.
And like that race car, its new Supersports settles for the relative simplicity of a 4.0 L twin-turbo V8 under the hood, powering just the rear wheels. There’s even more extreme aero than you expect to see on a road-legal car with a flying B badge, too.
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