The Bentley Continental GT is an awesome car. I remembered taking the original 6.0-litre W12 version home years ago after a photoshoot and it was raining cats and dogs. But with four-wheel drive, putting 552bhp to the ground wasn't a problem and it was still incredibly quick.

This time round, thankfully, the weather was nice and sunny, allowing us to pilot the topless version of the Continental GT that sports a new 'entry-level' engine.

Exterior

The Bentley Continental GTC V8 received the same makeover as the Coupe version last year. On first glance, not much appears to have changed but nearly all the panels are new. This shows how well the original design was penned.

There are, however, a few cues for train spotters to differentiate the V8 from its W12 sibling. The enamel Bentley badge is in red (versus black for W12), the front grille is painted in a high gloss black and the air intakes on the lower part of the front bumper are shaped differently. The two at the sides flanking the centre are larger than those on the W12, too.

From the rear, the 'figure eight' exhaust tips provide the sole visual clue. Our test car was also shod with enormous 21-inch wheels and sticky 275/35R21 Pirelli P-zero rubber. Like the rest of the badging on the car, the 'B' logo centre caps are also in red. At a cursory glance, the GTC V8 looks like it's the bigger engined brethren. We reckon some may even prefer the sportier looks of the black out grille and intakes.















Additionally, a black roof was fitted on our car, but being a
Bentley, nearly every hue is available. Like most convertibles, the car looks much better topless, especially since the flowing C-pillar of the coupe isn't replicated by the fabric roof - all the more better to spend 25 seconds to go al-fresco each time…