2012 Bentley Continental GTC Photos, engines & full specs

Bentley has been making open-top grand tourers for almost a century when it unveiled the 2013 Continental GTC at the 2012 North American International Auto Show.

The British automaker introduced the second generation of the Continental in 2011 in coupe shape and waited for another year before revealing the open-top version of it, namely the GTC. It was created to provide comfortable rides on long distances, with the top up or down, depending on occupants' moods and weather. Even though it didn't have any problem providing a retractable hard-top solution, the automaker considered that a triple-layer canvas top was much more appropriate to the customers of the luxurious convertibles segment.

While at first sight, it didn't look like a new vehicle, there were significant changes to the car. No panel was similar to the ones installed on the previous generation of the GTC. At the front, it also featured four headlights but with a sleeker design and integrated LEDs for the daytime running lights that looked like luminescent pearls. The mesh grille on the upper grille was complemented by a set of three lower air intakes that increased the cooling area. From its profile, the car shared several parts with its coupe sibling, such as the front fenders and door panels. Still, the A-pillars that supported the windshield were thicker and served as roll-over protection. At the back, the GTC sported a flat deck, and underneath the bumper, the automaker placed two thin elliptical chromed exhausts.

The cabin boasted a high level of luxury, featuring leather-wrapped seats. At the front, there was a set of bolstered bucket seats, while in the back, the GTC was fitted with a bench seat profiled for two. Due to the compartment for the retractable roof, legroom was smaller than in the GT Coupe but was still enough for adults, mostly on short jaunts. The driver fronted a dashboard adorned with metallic trims and a binocular-style instrument cluster where the tachometer and the speedometer flanked a TFT display and two additional gauges for fuel level and water temperature. On the center stack, the automaker installed a touchscreen for the infotainment system.

Under the hood, the automaker installed a choice of four engines ranging from 507 PS (500 hp) to 635 PS (626 hp) V8 or W16, respectively. Interestingly, the V8 twin-turbocharged powerplant featured an active cylinder deactivation system that allows the car to run on a V4 scheme. Power for all versions went into all four corners via an eight-speed automatic transmission. Bentley knew that some of its customers would just want to cruise slowly on highways or in cities while others would want to check the vehicle's top speed, so it offered its customers every new piece of technology that it had in its sleeves.