Several automakers have long histories of producing special edition “art cars” of some of their most famous models. BMW, for example, started with a 3.0 CSL that was raced in the 1975 Le Mans endurance race and then there’s the more recently crafted M3 GT2 art car raced by Jeff Koons in 2010.
Bentley, on the other hand, doesn’t have a distinguished art car history, but that hasn’t stopped it from producing an art car iteration of the Continental GT V8 S Convertible in collaboration with Sir Peter Blake. For those unfamiliar with this distinguished gentleman, you may be acquainted with his more famous work: the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
Bentley employed Blake, who has been praised as the godfather of British pop art, to work on its Convertible grand tourer. The resulting design is a British Racing Green lower body paired with a St. Luke’s Blue upper body. A fuchsia pink radiator shell, black accents, and a St. James Red heart motif, which was was hand painted on the Continental Yellow hood, complete the external image.
It may look like an odd mashup, but it’s undoubtedly got that British pop flair. Inside, each seat is treated to its own color: Cumbrian Green, Imperial Blue, Newmarket Tan, and Hotspur (aren’t these color names fun?). The steering wheel also got the multicolor treatment, with four different shades, while the shifter is pink. The remaining trim is black.
The final touches include unique sill plates and Sir Peter’s signature on all four seat headrests. Under that love-done hood is the same bi-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine from the standard GT V8 S, making 520 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. Mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and permanent all-wheel drive system, the vehicle gets to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and tops out at 181 mph.
Bentley plans to auction the car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June, with funds going to the Care2Save Charitable Trust, an organization providing palliative and hospice care around the world.
