The Porsche 918 Spyder might’ve been our pick of the Geneva Motor Show, but the consensus on which vehicle we’d drive home was unanimous: The Bentley Continental-based Flying Star.

As many of you have pointed out, we’ve got a undying love of all things shooting brake, so the Flying Star lit up all the right nerve endings. And apparently, we aren’t alone.

Car and Driver spoke with Stuart McCullough during the launch of the Mulsanne and when asked about the possibility of a Bentley-built hatch, the Volkswagen board member said, “We have an idea in the back of our minds that we may yet bring to market.”

That’s far from a confirmation and it’s doubtful that a Continental-derived shooting brake is coming, particularly when you consider that the GT is due for a refresh. However, something based on the Mulsanne’s underpinnings could replace the aging Continental, and Bentley is sure to be considering other body styles when that model arrives within the next few years

When do you know your super-premium cars are becoming perhaps too old or commonplace for their aristocratic target market? When you have to start doing special editions to keep them moving. In Los Angeles, Bentley Continentals seem as common as Chevy Cavaliers on Sunset Boulevard; exclusivity is hard to guarantee even at close to $200,000.

 One, Two, Three Tones a Bentley

Enter the Series 51 Bentley Continental range, named after the year Bentley’s first official styling department was established in Crewe by John Blatchley, who shaped the iconic 1950s Bentley Continentals.

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The 2009 International Geneva Motor Show in March will see the unveiling of a new supercar from Bentley. The British automaker did not release any details other than that the mystery vehicle will run on bio-fuel and that it will be “its fastest and most powerful production car ever.” For the record, the teaser press shot that accompanied the release seem to point towards a car based on the Continental family – either the coupe or the sedan. Stay tuned on our site as we’ll have more information on Bentley’s supercar as it comes in.

This is Bentley’s facelifted Continental GTC and the mid-life tweakery completes Crewe’s revisions to its Continental range. The changes also usher in the higher-power 600bhp Speed model, which Bentley predicts will account for two-thirds of GTC sales. It’s also the car Bentley denied they’d build when we scooped the GTC Speed last year!

The new Continental GTC range will be on display at next week’s Detroit 2009 motor show.
Is it a full-on facelift for the Bentley Continental GTC, or a mild botox injection?

The latter. Examine the new GTC Speed with a spirit level and you might just spot the more upright front grille with a prouder edge. Chrome bezels now surround the headlamps and there’s a bigger lower air intake to help feed the more powerful engine.
And the extra power that comes from these larger air intakes?

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With 738 lb-ft of torque, Bentley bestows an extra helping of excess upon its top-down testament to wretched excess.

Really? Of all the cars on the market today that need to muscle up, Bentley’s $342,000 land yacht, the palatial Azure convertible, definitely isn’t one of them. With some 450 horsepower and a prodigious 645 lb-ft of torque available from its twin-turbocharged 6.8-liter V-8, the base Azure can hit 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, a figure that is in no need of improvement, frankly. More to the point—who the hell wants to go hyperspeed in a 6000-pound ragtop, anyway?

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