Review: 2019 Bentley Continental GT Convertible

The Continental GT Convertible, the drop-top version of Bentley’s popular four-seat grand tourer, crowns the redesign of this model, which started with the launch of the coupe last year in Kitzbühel. The soft-top launch took place in naturally warmer climes - Andalusia. 

The most visible differences are at the rear, with narrow taillights strung at each corner of the bodywork, their elliptical silhouettes mirrored in the exhaust pipes below them.

Bentley is the absolute master of matching and contrasting colours in their trims and nowhere is their passion better exemplified than in the GTC. We drove a putty colour (Dove Grey) car with a maroon (cricket ball) interior. Others had navy paintwork with tweed roofs, deep orange with black roofs and grey leather, dark green with pale woodwork… the combinations are endless and all equally stylish.

Inside, nods to roof-down motoring include an “airscarf” – the vent between headrest and seat back that funnel warm air around you, as well as a heated leather armrest topping the centre console (heated seats and steering wheel are already there).

Bentley has never been at the forefront of interior technology but has a fabulous toy in the form of a revolving screen on the dash: press the button once to reveal a large digital screen showing up to three features at once (media, satnav and time, for example). Press the button again and it swaps the digital screen for three analogue dials, if you fancy a traditional view.

Other technologies include wireless charging for your phone in the centre console, USB charging points, a head-up display, Apple CarPlay, a top-view camera, massage function seats, night vision, adaptive cruise control, and a Bang and Olufsen stereo as standard, which is excellent, or you can update to a Naim system – the British company has been working with Bentley for a long time now to perfect the sound quality.

The dash itself comes covered in piano black, your selection of wood veneers or a split design to display two finishes, one above the other, which looks smart. The long fabric roof folds away in 19 seconds (the McLaren 720S Spider, in comparison, being a little glass thing, does it in 11 seconds), and can be operated at speeds up to 30mph.

With the roof down, the interior is blustery on the move at motorway speeds, but you can still hold a conversation or listen to that great sound system. It’s a shame Bentley can do no better than the same black plastic wind deflector that hooks behind the seats, which other mass manufacturers use; an aero device in the header rail to fend off the air for longer would be a better solution, we feel.

But the various heating elements keep you warm, and the seats are extremely comfy, as the Bentley whisks you imperceptibly to 62mph in 3.8 seconds. Under the bonnet is Bentley’s famous 6.0-litre W12 engine, with two turbos. All you really hear is the remote waffle of the exhausts, unless you pin it in Sport mode, in which case you also get the pop of some unspent fuel. 

There are 635 horses on tap, and an extraordinary 900Nm (666lb ft) of torque, which is what you really need to get shifting, because this car, with all that leather and wood, and four-wheel-drive, weighs in at about two and a half tonnes. Thank goodness, also, therefore, for the huge air suspension which saves this vessel from lunging into troughs in the tarmac, and the 48V electric system that counteracts the yaw through corners.

Still, this is a sublime, relaxed grand tourer in which to arrive refreshed, not a sprinting Porsche 911. And in that vein, we can’t think of a better way to spend, once options are included, the best part of £200,000.

The Continental GT Convertible, with its mind-boggling engineering and incredibly high quality materials, is a fitting car to help celebrate the extraordinary steps Bentley has gone to in its craftsmanship over the past 100 years: 2019 is the British company’s centenary, which it will be celebrating in admirable style at the Festival of Speed, presented by Mastercard, in July.

Stat attack

Price from: £179,890

Engine: 6.0-litre, twin-turbo W12

Transmission: 8-speed double-clutch, four-wheel-drive

Power/torque: 635PS (626bhp) @ 6,000rpm/900Nm (666lb ft) @ 1,350-4,500rpm

0-62mph: 3.7 seconds

Top speed: 207mph

Economy: 23mpg

Kerb weight: 2,414kg

Option we’d tick: Bentley Rotating Display, £4,700