A Rear-Wheel Drive Bentley Continental Supersports Is Coming

It’s not often that Bentley wheels out ‘Supersports’ for a car. In fact, it’s only happened three times so far, and the most recent came in 2017 with a 700bhp Continental GT.

Now, a fourth is on the horizon, and it sounds like it’s going to be worth paying attention to. For the first time ever, the Supersports will see the Continental GT go rear-wheel drive.

Although we’ll have to wait until its reveal on 14 November for the full lowdown, that alone is enough to get us excited. Industry talk suggests it’ll drop hybrid assistance as seen on the rest of the existing Continental range, favouring pure 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 power.

No word yet on what sort of performance figures we can expect from that lump, but don’t expect this to be the most powerful form of the Conti, instead falling shy on that front of the 771bhp offered by the Speed.

However, without the electric assistance and need for drivetrain gubbins at the front, it should also be a lot lighter in its pursuit to be ‘the lightest, most driver-focused’ form of the Continental yet. Somewhere around two tonnes seems a safe bet, which by any normal standards isn’t a featherweight, but would be pretty slim for a modern-day Bentley.

From the pair of teaser images of the car released so far, we can glean a few extra details. Carbon ceramic brakes are clearly visible, as are carbon fibre side skirts – suggesting further bodywork made from the material will feature too.

We know it’ll be built in limited numbers as well, though exactly how many is unconfirmed at this stage. Bentley states it will be ‘rare’, though, so a few hundred at most seems possible. Should be quite pricey, too, given the series-production Speed starts at around £240,000. Watch this space.