Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,
Last week we saw Audi being beaten at Le Mans for the first time since 2003. That year the victory was for the Bentley Speed 8. With Joest running the car, two Audi drivers behind the wheel and an Audi derived engine, the German manufacturer does deserve some credit for that win as well. The car itself was however developed completely independent from Audi and was the culmination of a three year program that already resulted in two class wins in 2001 and 2002 for the experimental EXP Speed 8. The Speed 8 continued where the Speed 6 had left seven decades earlier when it claimed Bentley's fourth and fifth Le Mans win in the classic era. Penned by Peter Elleray, the Speed 8 had highly advanced aerodynamics that influenced many of the prototype racers that have been built since. Unfortunately the striking Bentley did not get the opportunity to face any of them as the company withdrew from racing immediately after achieving their objective. All this and much more can be read in our Speed 8 article, which is illustrated by a 12-shot gallery, depicting the winning car at last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Our article on the upcoming 'Grand Bentley' is not nearly as detailed. That is the result of Bentley only releasing one teaser picture and a very short description of what will become the Arnage replacement.
Enjoy the links:
2009 Bentley Grand - Images, Specifications and Information
2003 Bentley Speed 8 - Images, Specifications and Information
Regards,
Wouter Melissen