Geneva 2010: Bentley Continental GTC SuperSports

The Continental SuperSports sits at the top of Bentley's range, as the halo performance variant of the Phaeton-based Continental range.  It's a bit out of place in my mind, to be honest:  carbon fibre this and that, parcel shelf instead of a back seat, E85 flex-fuel capability, a horse-ton of horsepower, Darth Vader-on-meth styling, and a top speed that clears 200mph by a comfortable margin are not things one associates with an "old money" traditional British luxury brand.  Still, it's awesome in an "I don't quite understand this" sort of way - there's no obvious reason for it's existence, but aren't you glad it exists in the first place?

Well if you're a fan of the Continental SuperSports, by the transitive property you should be even more of a fan of Bentley's newest derivative of the Continental: the GTC SuperSports.  It's exactly what you'd expect: the fire-breathing SuperSports hardware stuck into the suave drop-top GTC body.  Now, normally, I'd scoff at a convertible derivative of the highest-performance version of a sports car.  It's a pretty stupid concept.  Convertible mean more weight, less torsional rigidity, more slop, and that undefinable "poseur" aspect that comes with intentionally choosing the "look at me!" version of a car.  But with the GTC SuperSports, I think it actually makes a bit of sense.

First of all, the SuperSports doesn't make any sense in the first place.  So a flashier drop-top version of the same is more like glorious excess rather than a shallow marketing ploy (even if it is a shallow marketing ploy.)  And it's not like the SuperSports was a light vehicle to begin with - even with all the weight that Bentley hacked out of the Continental, the biofuel-munching SuperSports coupe still tips the scales at 4938 pounds, which isn't going to go around a corner very quickly no matter how you look at it.  And while that's better than the 5181lbs of a regular Continental GT, it's still about two and a half tons.

And frankly, this car wasn't meant to be a corner-carver.  What Bentley claims it is, however, is the fastest four-seat convertible in the world.  The top speed drops 2mph over the hardtop version, but that's still 202mph.  Obviously, it take a lot of grunt to move 2.5 tons of British beef up past the double century mark, and the GTC SuperSports doesn't lack in the that department.  It shares the same tweaked 6.0L twin-turbo W12 motor as the coupe, which makes 621bhp and 590lb-ft of torque, regardless of whether it's sucking down dead dinos or bioethanol.  The drop-top will rip to 60 in 3.9 seconds and 100 in 9.6, which should be fast enough to ruin your $300 haircut lickety-split.

Actually, make that your haircut and your three closest friends.  Unlike the SuperSports coupe, the GTC keeps its rear seats - why have pointless, glorious excess if you can only share it with one person?  And while the SuperSports is 198lbs lighter than the GTC Speed, it's still got all the trappings you'd expect in a Bentley - hand-turned aluminum trim with a smattering of Alcantara and soft-touch leather, which contrast with the carbon-fibre bucket seats.

Some say that conspicuous consumption is dead.  Bentley begs to differ.  And considering the SuperSports coupe won't net you much change from $300,000, the drop-top will likely be an "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" sort of proposition.  Which may not make sense for everyone, but it certainly makes sense for Bentley.