Bentley Continental: 1984 to 1995

In 1984, the Bentley Corniche, which by then was produced only as a coupe, was renamed the Bentley Continental. At this time, the convertible version was reintroduced, and the coupe version dropped.

Rolls-Royce had used the name Continental before. Typically, as a sub model name, for example, the 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental. It was used to distinguish a lighter, more powerful variant of the standard model designed for long-distance driving across continental Europe.

The name was then assigned to Bentley’s from 1952 to 1965, which were two-door coupes and convertible versions of saloons, built for additional performance.

The name was dropped when the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow replaced the Silver Cloud, and the corresponding Bentley T replaced the Bentley S.

The Bentley Continental introduced in 1984 was essentially a Rolls-Royce Corniche with a different radiator shape and badging.

The Bentley Continental was produced in fewer numbers than the Rolls-Royce Corniche, with 456 produced. As a classic collector’s car, it is rarer.

From 1995, Bentley also used the name for a series of cars produced until 2003, beginning with the Continental R. These were the first Bentleys not to share a body with a Rolls-Royce.

The modern Bentley Continental GT, introduced in 2003, is different again and was the first new car produced by Bentley after the acquisition by the Volkswagen Group.

See also

1. 1985 Bentley Continental
2. 1993 Bentley Continental R
3. 2004 Bentley Continental GT 6.0 W12