http://caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=29&article_id=9055&page_number=1 ...interesting, they defeated the whole concept of the continental...
They put a MB grille on it to "fool" people. But still yes some of the roofline and such reminds of a MB.
It looks like an S-Class MB with different lights. To me, most sedans (and many "sports" cars) of the past 10-15 years have really all blended into each other. All designed in a wind tunnel. There is little real styling these days, only a question of where to place cup holders and DVD players. Ferrari is one of the few companies left that still believes in styling. As a long time fan of Rolls-Royce and Bentley and an owner of several of them, I decalred the marque dead for me when the BMW and VW takeovers were whole. They fired all of the old world craftsmen and built new cars from scratch. Neither the Phantom or the Continental share any lineage, pedigree, design, or anything else with the old model lines. The Phantom is a BMW, the Continental is a VW. All they did was design brand new cars from scratch, powered by their respective drivetrains and stick the old names on them because they bought them. They may be nice, they may be luxurious, they may even perform well. But, they will never be a Rolls-Royce or Bentley, those marques are dead.
These spy pics are old news. They have already had plenty of pics of the actual car that will be produced. It doesn't look to bad. Basically a four door version of the continental. Will be a good alternative to an S600 for the money.
The back and the lines of the car just remind me of a Volvo. The front does look like it came from MB.
Has Bentley's brand fallen downwards? It seems they are reving up production numbers, trying to compete with with Benz's. Isn't Aston Martin doing the same? Ferrari and Lambo seem the only companies really trying to stay at the higher-end, lower production segment.
i thought with the introduction of the continental GT they were just trying to get into the market for people looking for a little excitement, while staying loyal to bentley... yet with this new car it seems exactly that- trying to boost sales. tisk tisk
one of my best friends owned the local rolls franchise in the 70-80s....he owned several of the cars himself at various times.... he said they were the most unreliable, mechanically poor cars he had ever seen...he discribed them as beautiful pieces of cxxp, terrible to drive and always in need of very expensive repair..he recently bought a new bently cont. gt and says it is aworld better than the old cars
Back to the car in the pic... I remember reading that they put the MB grill on to disguise it. Wouldn't you think when they did that they would sit back and think: "hummm, that looks like every recent S-class out there" and realize their styling needed to be a bit more distinctive? I would think the stylists would see it and look at each other and feel embarrassed that they made a near exact clone of a MB. Oddly, many car companies try to emulate more expensive cars with their lower priced iron, this may be the first copy of a (cost-wise) lesser car by a more expensive car... Odd..
66-76 were not good cars, the Shadows I's and Bentley T's had lots of problems. Since then, not a lot of problems. I used a '79 as a daily driver until 2001, I still have it and it still runs and drives very well. Now I drive an '88 Corniche everyday, no problems. All of the post war 6 cylinders are great. I don't know why your friend would call them terrible to drive. I'm saying the Continental GT is not a good car, just that it's not a Bentley, it's a VW. If Toyota bought the Ferrari name from Fiat, and made an entirely new car, with incredible performance and looks, from the ground up at a new facility, and stuck a Ferrari badge on it, would you still consider it a Ferrari?
