Himafagy

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 11 years since Evander Holyfield whooped Mike Tyson for his first of three heavyweight championships. Evander won the sweet-looking '97 Bentley Continental T shown above along with enough cash to fill the trunk of a Ford Five-Hundred from that fight.

This Bentley isn't just your run-of-the-mill super-luxury either. It's one of a select few coachbuilt Mulliner Park Ward editions. The listing says it's just one of two built (for the '97 model year, we presume). Jealous? No need to be. You can just fork over a cool $1 Million (or more) to make it your own. Now, while this is a nice car with a legit celebrity connection, that sounds like a ridiculous amount of money.

However, if you're still intrigued and you have the money to burn, there's more: Your million-dollar purchase also lets you travel to the Real Deal's 200 acre complex to meet the champ himself and take delivery from him personally. We're sure that if you're nice he'll even teach you some of his sweet dance moves. We'd recommend against a sparring session with him, though. That'd probably end badly for you.


Thanks to Mike G. for the tip.

[Source: eBay]

Bookmark this post:

UPDATE:
Due to a reporting error in the source material, we had the
wrong North America sales total for Bentley. The correct number now
appears below.


Coming off a record year in 2006, Bentley says that we shouldn't expect similar stellar figures in the near future. After building 10,087 units last year (more than any other ultra-luxury marque), Bentley acknowledged that it's at full production and will probably see a leveling off of sales in the next few years. CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen told reporters in Detroit that they are still investigating adding new models to the Bentley lineup, but that the decision process is incredibly difficult because the image of Bentley must remain intact. That means no SUVs or small sedans, most likely.


Other tidbits that came out of the meeting were that the North American market accounted for about 40% of Bentley sales last year (4,017 units sold), the wait list for a new Bentley is still about 18 months in most markets, and that the company will no longer use theVW Phaeton plant in Dresden that was temporarily used when they launched the Conti Flying Spur. On a partially related note, we hadanother brief spin in a GTC a couple of days ago and can attest to the fact that chopping the top off does nothing to the driving dynamics of this ultra luxury coupe. Hopefully we'll be able to provide more details soon.


[Source: Automotive news, sub req]

Bookmark this post:

In a field populated with such cars as the Porsche 911 Turbo, Maybach 57S and even the Bugatti Veyron, the Bentley Continental GTC handily walked away with the honor of being named the Robb Report 2007 Car of the Year. Apparently it wasn't even a contest, as nearly half of the luxury lifestyle magazine's editors and the 41-person panel of car experts tasked with judging the contest picked the GTC as their favorite. The spec sheet of Bentley's newest drop top shows that very few compromises are built into its $190,000 price tag: a twin-turbo 6.0-liter W12, 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, top speed just shy of 200 mph, four seats, and traditional open air-motoring.We're pretty confident the magazine made the right choice, at least for its fllthy rich readers.



[Source: The Mercury News]

Bookmark this post:

Bookmark this post:

Although we've talked about Bugatti's plans for a super sedan as a follow-up to the all-powerful Veyron, apparently there are some people out there who don't have the patience to wait for such a car to become reality. German tunerLEW Design can help you get at least part way there with its new LEW Big Bang.

LEW took the expeditious path and used a Bentley Continental GT as a starting point and slapped on some Bugatti styling cues. The Big Bang, unveiled at the Essen Motor Show, has the Bug look with its iconic Bugatti horseshoe grille and Audi Q7 headlights that mimic the Veyron look. Carbon fiber panels are used around the Conti to reduce weight a bit, as well as make some subtle styling changes.

More info and pics after the jump.



[Source: AutoBild]


The rear, in particular, looks pretty different, resembling Ferrari's 456 more than anything else. It also features a revised rear valance and undertray that should help high speed airflow management. Although the sight of the Bug mug is a little odd at first, the whole thing looks pretty good and it should actually handle a little better thanks to its lower weight.

Taking the already ridiculously powerful twin-turbo W-12 and cranking it up a notch, the LEW crew has managed to find an extra 100 hp bringing the total to 650 or so. LEW modifies the suspension with the help of Eibach and adds carbon-ceramic brakes to complete the package. Top speed should rise to 330 km/h (205 mph), and 0-60 should drop a few tenths. Prices should start at approximately 270,000 euro.

Bookmark this post: