Wolfgang Dürheimer provided scintillating insights into the future of the Bentley brand at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, much of which we highlighted in separate blog posts on the company’s planned SUV and sports car. But the chairman also touched on plans he has for Bentley’s core products, the Continental and Mulsanne.
Continental: As Prolific As the 911?
The first-generation Continental came in eight flavors—GT, GT Speed, Supersports, GTC, GTC Speed, GTC Supersports, Flying Spur, and Flying Spur Speed—all of which we expect to return by around mid-decade. But the former Porsche executive wants an even bigger Continental family. The Continental seems capable, he believes, of spawning derivatives in much the same way as the evergreen Porsche 911 does, citing the 911′s calculator-crushing number of variations.
So what other Contis might we see? A lightweight model adopting a strict weight-loss program like the Audi R8 GT is one option. Another concept Bentley has been openly considering is a shooting brake-style wagon.
The most potential for the Continental, however, seems to rest with the still-popular Flying Spur sedan, which is really “pulling” the Continental brand, Dürheimer said. “In China it is the product. It is also well received in the U.K., and in the States.” The second-generation Continental Flying Spur and its Flying Spur Speed sibling are yet to appear, but don’t be surprised to see a Flying Spur Supersports eventually appear to join the coupe and convertible.
We asked if he had thought about something along the lines of the growing number of “four-door coupes” on the market. “Not yet,” he replied as though he definitely has, “but it’s a good idea, thank you.” He went on to say there is potential, but suggested that the company has higher priorities such as the aforementioned SUV and sports car. Still, if they take up the idea, we hereby submit a tongue-in-cheek idea for the car’s name: the Continental Low-Flying Spur. Buh-dum-pum.
Don’t Expect Too Much, Too Soon
But Dürheimer stressed, “Keep in mind that Bentley is a fairly small company. We need to be quick and sharp. I’d rather take one step after the other rather than run and trip over our own legs.
“My mission is to make this business waterproof and bulletproof in the future, less dependent on economic cycles from the products and the market, and make profit in the future, and if we do… then we will have enough money to do crazy things in the future.” A Bentley SUV sounds plenty crazy to us, but we look forward to understanding Dürheimer’s definition of the word.
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