The Grand Tour

Where Does Jeremy Clarkson’s Lifted Bentley Continental GT Rank In His Most Outrageous Grand Tour And Top Gear Cars?

The Grand Tour Madagascar is here, and to our amazement, a whole day early as Amazon attempts to repair fan relationships after such a late release. A Massive Hunt follows Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May as they fight their way across the awful roads of the East African island.

To do this, they modified three unsuspecting cars: a Bentley Continental GT, a Ford Focus RS, and a Caterham. The most impressive of the three was certainly the Bentley, which Clarkson was so pleased with, he actually took it home after the episode was filmed.

It’s been highly modified to cope with off-roading, including an entirely armoured underbody, lifted and extended suspension, wide arches with equally wide off-road wheels, and a snorkel allowing the car to wade through deep water. No doubt, this thing is a serious bit of kit, but how does it compare to the other ridiculous cars Jeremy has driven throughout his career?

So, what other cars match this level of madness? The Excellent is most definitely up there, as is John, which the trio constructed in Mongolia. From the Top Gear days, maybe Geoff and the Eagle i-Thrust should be at the top of the list?

Let’s break this down. In regards to how successful each of those cars were, the Conti comes out on top. For one, it actually made it through the perilous journey over Madagascan roads, and while John also managed to take the trio back to civilisation, the Conti did so with the greatest of ease and luxury. Okay, maybe it wasn’t so easy, but according to James May, Clarkson only complained of a sweaty back.

The Bentley also wins in the shock department. Yes, if you saw the Eagle i-thrust coming the other way you’d definitely need to look twice, but a Continental is the last car you’d think about modifying for an adventure like Madagascar. The surprise of seeing a luxury GT with off-road tyres, a wider body, and a snorkel, it would take my breath away, for sure.

Performance? Well, again the Bentley comes out on top with an AWD powertrain and a W12 underneath the bonnet producing around 567 horsepower.

So, what do you think? Let us know where you think it ranks in the comments below and we’ll publish your thoughts.

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