(Crewe, 9 July 2024) The new, fourth-generation Continental GT Speed will make its global public debut at this week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Fresh from claiming an unofficial ‘Underwater Speed Record’ – believed to be the fastest a car has ever travelled through a tunnel – the 208 mph / 335 km/h daily supercar will appear at the event in both coupe and convertible versions and run on the famous Goodwood Hill Climb twice a day from Thursday until Sunday.

Along with the two examples of the new Continental GT Speed that will appear on the Hill Climb at Goodwood, a third car will be on display at the Festival of Speed in a unique way to celebrate the underwater speed record. The ‘FOShtank’ is a bespoke version of the glass ‘Toy Box’ display units that Bentley utilises across it’s Dream Factory campus in Crewe, England, but modified to include a custom-built fish tank in a tongue-in-cheek take on the underwater theme.

The Tourmaline Green Continental GT Speed display car will appear behind a three-tonne fish tank containing 1,400 litres of water and 30 Shubunkins and other goldfish. Two separate tanks together weigh more than three tonnes when full, with the water held back by 80 mm thick acrylic sheets. Each tank is flow-rated and filtered to ensure the water is clean, and an on-site aquarium specialist will be looking after the welfare of the 30 occupants over the course of the Festival of Speed. The back wall of the display will house a large, outdoor LED screen that will play both the Underwater Speed Record launch film and a new behind-the-scenes look into how the record was achieved.

The Underwater Speed Record – Behind The Scenes
On 18 April, the new Continental GT Speed achieved its top speed through the 14.5 km Ryfylke tunnel in Norway – the longest road tunnel, and deepest sub-sea tunnel of any kind in the world, with its lowest point 292 metres below sea level. Powered by Bentley’s new Ultra Performance Hybrid electrocharged powertrain, the new Continental GT Speed was able to deploy all 782 PS and 1000 Nm with ease, running on Coryton’s SUSTAIN second-generation renewable biofuel and a hybrid battery charged with electricity from Bentley’s own solar panel array.

The new class-leading powertrain delivers extreme performance with more horsepower and more torque than the outgoing W12, together with a significant drop in CO2 to 29 g/km. In turn, this provides an extraordinary range of driving capability, from extreme performance to silent and effortless electric luxury.