Go through a bunch of Bentley Continental GT reviews and you'll notice many of these compare the Crewe-born Grand Tourer to a tank. It's all natural, really, given the footprint of the continent blitzer, as well as its go-anywhere abilities coming from the all-paw and air suspension hardware. Well, it looks like a Russian aficionado crew decided to turn this folklore into cold, hard metal. And this is how the Bentley Utratank was born.
To put things simply, we're dealing with a first-generation Conti GT that has been gifted with tracks. The project comes from the gear heads over at AcademeG, which have previously given us metal monsters such as the 600 hp ZIL-130 truck (BMW X5 M engine swap).
However, these aren't the sort of plug-and-play tracks we've seen on various project cars or even in the renderings that send the purists on a rage crusade.
Instead, we're talking about a build that gets military-grade serious: a pair of full-length tracks were installed, so the vehicle now steers like an actual tank, with this obviously requiring a generous list of mods. For instance, the Continental GT now features live axle toys.
And since the British factory has gifted the machine with the monster that is the 6.0-liter W12 motor of the Conti GT, the motivation seems just right for such a project (see below for the new muscle details of the vehicle).
Work on the contraption seems to have kicked off late last year, as you'll be able to notice in the first piece of YouTube footage below.
A few body panels were lost in the process and I'm wondering how the fine leather that still adorns the interior will cope with the mud and sand assault that will obviously follow.
Speaking of which, until the builders return with some proper offroading action, you can enjoy a preview in the Instagram video below. Oh, and if you have a confy chair and some time to spare, you might want to dip into the rest of the YT clips (remember to enable the Youtube closed captions and go for the automatic translation to English).
P.S.: If the real-world build is too heavy for your budget, you might want to try the desk version, namely the R/C version in the final video below - you know a custom ride is popular when this gets a toy version (it looks like a fan project) before even making an "official" debut.
Update:We can now check out a complete driving video of the Bentley Ultratank, which awaits you below. However, there are still plenty of details to sort out with the contraption.
For instance, applying more than a little steering angle did cause the caterpillar tracks to fall off at a certain point, but it seems that the crew already addressed the matter.
Then there's the engine - it looks like the W12 powerplant has been taken out of the car (you can see this sitting outside the vehicle in the clip), while the machine now appears to be animated by an Audi V8. Oh well, al least motivation still runs in the family.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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