The Bentley Continental manufacture by Bentley automobile company. Read more to view more detail and video reviews. Please feel free to comments and give rating to help others
Bentley has used the Continental name on a number of automobiles since 1952.
There are seemingly two rather different types of Bentley Azure buyer. The first is the more traditional country club set, probably wearing tweed, possibly English and without question worth somewhere between 4 million and 1 gajillion dollars. The second is more of the young-blood, showbiz-money set, probably in search of 22-inch wheels, in the mold of Ja Rule and without question worth somewhere between 4 million and 1 gajillion dollars. At least they have something in common. Well, that and their mutual admiration for 6,000-pound, 18-foot-long ultra-luxury British convertibles.
There have been two generations of Bentley Azure, neither of which has represented anything close to cutting-edge automotive design. Yet, for the rare few who take an Azure home to their presumably multicar garage, this lack of engineering innovation will be an acceptable trade-off for owning something so unabashedly large, quintessentially British and bejeweled.
Current Bentley Azure
The Bentley Azure was all-new for 2007, although that's a relative term considering its architecture dates back to 1998 and its engine to the 1950s. The Azure is a four-seat, soft-top convertible available in only one trim and with one engine: Bentley's venerable 6.75-liter V8, twin-turbocharged to make 450 horsepower and 685 pound-feet of torque. Bentley says the Azure can go from zero to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds and hit a top speed of 171 mph.
At more than $330,000, the Azure packs standard features aplenty with 19-inch wheels, xenon headlights, power-adjustable front seats, tri-zone climate control, DVD navigation and parking sensors. In true Bentley fashion, there are numerous customization choices for this handbuilt convertible, including 39 color choices. As nice as all its stately leather and veneer wood trim is, we can't help but feel the interior is a little disjointed. After all, this car wasn't designed with modern-day electronics in mind.
While there's no denying the Bentley Azure is a beautiful automobile, there's also no escaping the fact that it's mostly an obscenely expensive fashion accessory. Bentley's own Continental GTC is more powerful, more refined and less ridiculously expensive, although it lacks that "je ne sais quoi" that makes the Azure such a favorite among the old- and new-money elite.
Past Bentley Azure models
The previous-generation Bentley Azure was built from 1995-2003. Although looking very similar to the current car, it was, in fact, based on the old Continental coupe. It did, however, also feature Bentley's 6.75-liter turbocharged V8 -- albeit before Volkswagen spent $165 million to modernize it. This Azure was offered in two versions: regular Azure and the Azure Mulliner introduced for 1999. These two cars both made 400 hp and differed only in visual details and some equipment. During its nine-year run, fewer than 1,500 Azures were sold, so finding a used one may require searching through more than one issue of the duPont Registry.
Source:edmunds.com
The Bentley Azure manufacture by Bentley automobile company. Read more to view more detail and video reviews. Please feel free to comments and give rating to help others
The Bentley Azure is a large, four seater convertible built by Bentley Motors Limited at their factory in Crewe, England. The model debuted in 1995 on the Continental platform and lasted in its original guise through 2003; a new version sporting a significantly revised and upgraded engine and riding on the newer Arnage platform debuted in 2006.
The Azure debuted for 1995 on the platform of the Continental R model, which had been launched in 1981. At 210 inches (5,334 mm) in length and 5,750 pounds (2,610 kg) in weight, the Azure often surprised onlookers with its size and bulk, intended to both convey a sense of “presence” and allow for comfortable seating of four adult passengers.
Power came from the company’s stalwart 6.75 Liter V8, featuring a single, intercooled Garrett turbocharger and producing 400 horsepower (298 kW) and 645 ft·lbf (875 N·m) of torque; power was routed to the rear wheels via a modified, General Motors sourced 4-speed automatic transmission. With a 0 to 60 miles per hour time of 6.1 seconds, the Azure was very fast for a car of its size, weight and poor aerodynamic profile.
Owing to the limited space and workforce at Bentley’s Crewe factory, the Azure’s thick, powered convertible top was designed and manufactured by Pininfarina, which significantly added to the vehicle’s cost. New in 1995, the Azure was priced at $347,645; $36,355 more than the Continental R on which it was based.
From 1999 through the end of production, the Azure was also available in “Mulliner” trim, which added special bespoke trim and additional equipment and allowed the buyer the option for further customization during the build-process; pricing varied by car, as equipment could be significantly different from one to the next depending on customer requests.
The Bentley Arnage manufacture by Bentley automobile company. Read more to view more detail and video reviews. Please feel free to comments and give rating to help others
The Bentley Arnage is a luxury car produced by Bentley Motors in Crewe, England. The Arnage and its Rolls-Royce-branded sibling, the Silver Seraph, were introduced in the Spring of 1998 and were the first entirely new designs for the two marques since 1980.
Another break from the past was to be found under the bonnet, for decades home to the same 6.75 L V8, a powerplant which could trace its roots back to the 1950s. The new Arnage was to be powered by a BMW V8, with Cosworth-engineered twin turbo installation, and the Seraph was to employ a BMW V12.
The Arnage is over 5 m (200 in) long, 1.9 m (75 in) wide, and has a curb weight of more than 2.5 metric tonnes. For a brief period it was the most powerful and fastest four-door saloon on the market.
In September 2008, Bentley announced that production of the model will cease during 2009.[1]
Following the uplift in sales for all of Rolls-Royce and resurgence of the Bentley marque, then-owner, Vickers, set about preparing a new model to replace the derivatives of the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit/Bentley Mulsanne which it had been selling since 1980. In a complete switch from tradition, these new cars would have bodies built at the Crewe factory with engines built elsewhere.
A number of potential engines were examined, including the GM Premium V engine and a Mercedes-Benz V8, before Vickers selected a pair of BMW powerplants. It was decided that the Rolls-Royce model, to be called the Silver Seraph, would use BMW’s naturally-aspirated V12 while the more-sporting Bentley model would use a special twin-turbo version of the 4.4 L BMW V8, which was developed by Vickers subsidiary, Cosworth Engineering.
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