Bentley News

Imported cars are hardest hit by the new LCT threshold but some of our homegrown brands also suffer.

The British manufacturer has won a special Spirit of Greenpower award for its environmental performance in the recent Greenpower Corporate Challenge at Goodwood race circuit.A Bentley Motors' apprentice team designed, engineered and built the electric-powered car, which they entered in the Greenpower Challenge and F24+ racing season.The Bentley Greenpower car is the Continental DC (Direct Current) and runs off a 24-volt motor supplied by two 12-volt batteries.Designed for lightness and maximum power efficiency, the one-seater Continental DC has a carbon fibre chassis and low-resistance tyres.However, it wouldn't be a Bentley without a touch of luxury. Therefore, the interior is trimmed with alcantara and a touch-screen driver information panel is in development.Greenpower is a series of events that aim to promote greater interest in young people to follow careers in the fields of engineering and technology.The 2008 Greenpower corporate challenge was the first race of the season.Twenty-five teams entered, comprising 15 school entries and 10 company teams.The Bentley team achieved their goal of completing the four-hour race, despite some technical difficulties in the first section.The award was given in recognition of their excellent team spirit that they showed in overcoming these initial technical challenges.The F24+ season consists of eight 90-minute endurance race events that will culminate in a grand final at Goodwood in October.Race tracks on the F24+ schedule include Dunsfold, Rockingham, Croft and Aintree.The Bentley Motors team is composed of nine of the company's apprentices who are all following a three or four-year apprenticeship scheme at the factory in Crewe.Having taken the initiative themselves to compete in the Greenpower challenge the apprentices have devoted weekends and evenings for the past 10 months taking full responsibility for all aspects of the car's development.Three team members acted as drivers on race day, the rest of the team provided essential back-up support in the pits. Bentley Greenpower carMotor: 24v electric wheelchair motorPower: 240 wattTorque: 7NmTop speed: 64km/hCO2 emissions: 0g/kmSuspension: fixed carbonfibre wishbonesWheels: 1x16 carbonfibre with bespoke Michelin low-resistance tyresBatteries: 2 x 12v lead acidTransmission: continuous, one-wheel driveSteering: rack and pinionTurning: 19.2mBrakes: 160mm ventilated disc on rear wheel)Weight: 120kg 

A Bentley once owned by the late disgraced stockbroker Rene Rivkin — and now by a former Gold Coast vice king — could be sold for as little as 1c under a radical new auction system.The Azure convertible was part of Rivkin's luxury car collection auctioned off as part of a fire sale before his suicide in 2005.It was snapped up for $281,000 by former Fitzgerald Inquiry figure Ron “The Pom” Kingsnorth, who in the 1980s owned one of the Gold Coast's most notorious brothels, the Geisha Bathhouse.British-born Mr Kingsnorth, once an associate of infamous London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray, says he is “a bad boy who's gone straight” and is now out of the vice trade.Now in his 70s, he has married “a nice young Ukrainian wife,” Olga, and is involved in property development.He said he had decided to get into the “reverse auction” business as a sideline, and to raise money for charity.Unlike traditional auctions where the highest bid wins, goods sold at reverse auction are knocked down to the lowest unique bidder — the person with the lowest bid no one else has chosen.Last year, a $350,000 Broadbeach high-rise unit was sold at reverse auction for $62.92.Promoters make their money by charging a bid fee — in the case of the Bentley, $9 (or three bids for $20).The maroon convertible — which cost more than $700,000 when new and can go from 0-100km/h in six seconds — will be auctioned online for between 1 and $6000, to whoever makes the lowest unique bid.But if the auction is a success, Mr Kingsnorth stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars.Mr Kingsnorth said he was abused as a child in East London and was donating part of the auction proceeds to the Abused Child Trust.He said that if the auction works, he plans to sell luxury homes and boats using the same method. People can bid for the Bentley online. 

Bentley, long renowned for producing luxury cars with scant regard for fuel consumption or emissions, has unveiled a plan to have all Bentleys “green” by 2012.

Europeans tore themselves away from exotic supercars to catch a close-up glimpse of the Nano, a tiny, basic and extremely cheap runabout which promises to turn the motoring world on its head.

You can have them all for a fraction of the price.P1 is a multi-million dollar version of a car-rental company but you need to be quick if you want to be a part of the action.Less than a year after launching its Melbourne office, memberships in the exclusive and expensive rental company are running out.More than 135 Australians have signed up and the company will limit its membership to 200 to make sure there are enough cars to go around.“We'll never go above 200 members,” says James Ward, general manager of P1 in Victoria, “basically to maintain a ratio of five new members for each new car.”Though only 29 vehicles are spread across the company's three Australian locations — in Richmond, Sydney and the Gold Coast — the quality of the cars and motorbikes has seen the company lay out $29 million on equipment.Set up by former Formula One world champion Damon Hill in 2000 in Britain, the club came to Australia in December 2006. The Richmond branch opened last March.Members can join for $4550 and pay annual charges ranging from $27,000 to $36,500 to have access to a dream garage.P1's roster includes three examples of the Lamborghini Gallardo, a Lamborghini Murcielago, Ferrari 430, Ferrari 575M, Aston Martin DB9, Bentley GT Continental, Porsche 997 GT3, Porsche Cayman S, Audi RS4 Avant, Lotus Exige, Hummer H2, and a Ducati 1098 and BMW K1200 for bikers.Packages give customers a bank of points to use through the year.As is befitting the cost, the company offers a range of services. They drop off the cars anywhere they are required and can store and wash the customer's personal car.“It's as much about the car as it is about the service,” Ward says . “It's whatever suits our customers.” 

Only 550 of the Brooklands model Bentleys are available worldwide."They are tailor-made to the exact specifications of each customer,” said Sue Young, the spokeswoman for Queensland Bentley.Ms Young said the Brisbane buyer wanted to remain anonymous, as did two other Queenslanders who have expressed an interest in getting one of the luxury coupes.She said all three currently own a Bentley Arnage T, worth about $545,000.Maserati's latest GranTurismo will be seen in Australia for the first time at the show, which opens at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre at noon on 1, February 2008.The sports car's appeal seems to have outweighed its $293,000 price tag, because 150 Australian orders have already been taken for the new model, including 20 from Queensland, according the company's Australian general manager, Edward Butler.No other Maserati has sold as quickly and the waiting list for the 2008 GranTurismo is greater than the firm's Australian and New Zealand sales last year, Mr Butler said.Luxury-car sellers say their models have become increasingly popular with younger professionals."The 20 to 35-year age group is taking a much bigger slice of the market share,” said Audi Centre Brisbane dealer principal Greg Willims. “There is no doubt the prosperity in Queensland is growing.”Adam O'Brien, of Brisbane Prestige Cars in Fortitude Valley, said manufacturers were working harder to attract young customers in a bid to keep them for life.Danny Singh, 31, of Brendale in Brisbane's northwest, recently bought a luxury H3 Hummer from Brisbane Prestige Cars for $70,000 then spent a further $15,000 on modifications.Also making their Australian debuts at the show will be new-look versions of cult street machines the Subaru WRX STi, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution — known as the Evo X to fans because it is the 10th in the series.Both are expected to be in the $60,000 bracket.Australia will be represented in the go-fast stakes by a Ford Performance Vehicles version of the Territory SUV, the yet-to-be-released F6 X all-wheel-drive wagon.Brisbane International Motor Show, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Bank, runs from Friday to February 10; Monday to Saturday, 10am-10pm; Sunday, 10am-6pm. Adults $17.50, children $10.

About 20 car enthusiasts have already done just that.

Speed is good for Bentley. It was very good in the 1920s, when a Speed badge signalled everything special about the British brand's sportiest models.

In terms of exclusivity Bentley is a master.Bentley Brooklands coupe has already filled its first-year quota after being shown at the Geneva show in March.Named after the famous Brooklands banked oval at Weybridge in Surrey, England, which has just celebrated its centenary, the Bentley will be restricted to a lifetime build of 550.It runs a twin-turbocharged 6.75litre V8, the most powerful to come from the hallowed halls of the Crewe factory.Translated to numbers the Brooklands motor develops 395kW, about 80kW less than a V8 Supercar, and creates 1050Nm of torque which is claimed to be the highest from any bent eight in the world.The interior is covered exclusively in cow hide as standard, it can sprint from 0-100km in 5.3secs and has a top speed of 296km/h which is a purely academic number of course when you are talking about Australia.The engine features a free-flowing air induction system and sports exhaust with a recalibrated valve timing and engine management system. It develops full power from 4000rpm and maximum torque at 3250rpm.The two-door is shod with 20-inch wheels with 255/40 ZR20 Pirelli P Zero rubber as standard.It runs spring rates lower than the Arnage T, giving it similar ride quality to the Arnage R.New carbon/silicon carbide, cross drilled brakes can be added as an option.