Huh? This Bentley Continental GT celebrates Audi’s victory at Le Mans

(Photo: Bentley)

Okay, that headline really hurt. Bentley celebrates its victory at Le Mans in 2003 with the Continental GT.

To say that Audi was dominant at Le Mans is an understatement. This brand won the 24-hour race no less than thirteen times between 2000 and 2014. Fourteen times if we count Bentley’s victory in 2003, when Audi did not compete with a works team.

Bentley won Le Mans a total of six times

Has no one been able to break Audi’s hegemony? Indeed, because in 2009 Peugeot succeeded immediately, with the 908 HDi FAP, which just beat the Audi R15 TDI.

However, back to Bentley, which has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans a total of six times, including five times in the 1920s and 1930s, including 2003.

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Bentley Continental GT Le Mans Collection

To celebrate that final podium, the brand is introducing a limited edition Continental GT and Continental GTC, the Le Mans Collection. It can be identified by the starting number 7 on the grille.

Hey, Bentley is finally doing away with the W12 drink!

Cylinder valve from Speed 8 on the dashboard

Both have Bentley’s rotating dashboard element. It has three sides: one with the infotainment screen in it, one with the three analog clocks on it and one without ‘anything’, so that the decorative strip on the dashboard continues without interruption.

In the Le Mans Collection models, the central watch on the second side has been replaced by a smaller display case. It has a cylinder valve from the 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 of the Le Mans winner. Bentley 8 Speed.

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At least, there is not a whole valve in it, but one half. Because Bentley has removed 24 of the 32 valves from the eight-cylinder to fill 48 show cases. That’s how the Continental GTs from the Le Mans Collection are built.

A missed opportunity is a special edition color. Mulliner, Bentley’s customization arm, has not tried to copy the green color of the Speed 8, but has simply taken an existing color that bears a slight resemblance to it: Verdant Green.

Available only with the 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12

The Le Mans Collection Continental GT is only available with a 6.0 liter twin-turbo W12 producing 659 hp and 900 Nm. That’s surprising, because a V8 would have been better suited. After all, the Speed 8 – broadly speaking the Audi R8C – was powered by an eight-cylinder Audi.

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