To capture the dynamic performance of the 2022 Continental GT Speed, Bentley Motors converted an abandoned NATO airbase in Sicily into a gymkhana-style track to shoot its short film Continental Drift.
Captured by award-winning automotive filmmaker David Hale and videographer Mark Fagelson, a metallic yellow Bentley Continental GT Speed, one of the fastest Gran Tourers in the world, zips around the base showing off the power of its 650-horsepower W12 engine.
The chosen location, the Comiso Air Station, was built in 1936 and was home to 112 Ground Launched Cruise Missiles and was once the largest NATO airbase in southern Europe.
“Abandoned almost 30 years go and having been slowly reclaimed by nature since, Comiso provided to be the ideal place to create a safe yet challenging environment to demonstrate the performance credentials of the GT Speed,” Bentley shares in its news release announcing the video.
Introducing and signing off the video is a 1952 R-Type Continental from Bentley’s Heritage Collection being driven into the base. In its prime, this Continental was the fastest four-seat car in the world.
“The elegant yet powerful design of the R-Type Continental was also the inspiration for the design of the Continental GT, with the same DNA describing the power line from the front wheel, the haunch over the rear wheels and the sloping rood line,” the automaker adds.
The GT Speed coupe in the video is equipped with an electronic limited slip differential, a new feature in a Bentley vehicle, and “provides increased lateral capacity, improved longitudinal stability, enhanced on-throttle adjustability and delivers better traction in adverse road conditions,” Bentley notes.
“With the powertrain delivering 900 Nm of torque, the GT Speed is a Bentley that can be driven on the limit with incredible ease and confidence.
To learn more about Bentley’s Continental GT Speed, visit the automaker’s website.
