Home / Social media / News / For Bentley's 70th birthday the company made itself a 1 of 1 1953 Grand Tourer-inspired Continental GT Azure

FOR BENTLEY'S 70TH BIRTHDAY THE COMPANY MADE ITSELF A 1 OF 1 1953 GRAND TOURER-INSPIRED CONTINENTAL GT AZURE

Published: 2023-01-26 12:57:02 Last Updated: 2023-01-26 14:00:47

It’s the 70th birthday of the iconic 1953 Bentley R-Type Continental Grand Tourer, and so Bentley has done what all the other top-tier automakers do when it comes time to celebrate a proper classic - it created a bespoke and ultra-luxurious one-of-one car as the ultimate homage. In 1953 the R-Type was the fastest four-seat luxury saloon thanks to a monster 4.6-litre, in-line 6-cylinder in-line engine with 140 hp on tap that could get the 2-ton luxobarge up to 185 km/h. As you’d expect from a luxury coachbuilder, the interior featured the best leather and wood grain trim available at the time. The same quality has been applied to the new Azure, only the best has been used for this homage car destined to be part of Bentley’s 43-car Heritage Collection. It’s a good thing we think. Rather have the creation stay at the Bentley Heritage Garage in Crewe, UK. That way anyone can view it, unlike a private collection that’s usually hidden from the public and the tax man.

The modern Bentley Continental GT was given a host of appointments to make it a modern interpretation of the old-school R-Type. The Azure (that’s the name given) was hand-painted in Old English White, has 22-inch hand-finished wheels, Cricket Ball leather throughout with hand-applied piping in Beluga leather, open-pore Burr Walnut veneer, the cross banding uses Australian straight grain veneer with a boxwood inlay with a Bentley Mulliner overlay in rich gold. It has the Front Seat Comfort Specification as standard, the Touring Specification and a host of driver-assist features. Bentley has always spanned the extremes of performance and refinement, founder W.O. Bentley was obsessive in his pursuit of smoothness and refinement. “I have put up with a lot of noise in my time, but I don’t like it,” he wrote in his autobiography, adding, “I hate noise for the sake of noise. To me 70 mph in silence is far more creditable than a noisy 80 mph.” The modern Bentley Azure is quieter at 250 km/h than anything W.O. Bentley would have experienced at 110 km/h.

Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off a bunch of things related to the Bentley Continental Azure range, but not the new one of one car because there's only one and no one's had a chance to create a dedicated video yet so just imagine one in the 1953-inspired spec: 2023 Bentley Azure Range Presentation | DPCcars

Be sure to check out our YouTube channel here for more exciting and exclusive SXdrv content! And don't forget to smash that subscribe button!

Article Tags: Bentley Azure Continental GT Azure SXdrv Bespoke One of One Homage Anniversary 1953 Grand Tourer Mulliner Luxury News