The Bentley Continental GT Is Now A Luxury Grand Tour Bargain

We here at GTN love depreciation. It allows us who aren’t on big money to be able to afford our dream cars, as long as we don’t mind them being a bit older and having a few miles on them. Of course, not all cars depreciate, but you can be damn sure it’s a likely occurrence for the majority of wheels on the road.

We’ve been talking about the Bentley Continental GT a lot recently, and as a result, we’ve started looking at the older generations of the car. It turns out, they’re a depreciation bargain. This may be a nightmare for those who bought them new at around $150,000, but for us, who have recently fallen in love with them, this is the best news we’ve had all week.

How Did The Bentley Continental GT Begin Its Life?

In the early ’50s, Bentley wanted to create a car that was not only luxurious and comfortable, but also fast. They build the R-Type Continental, and it did exactly what Bentley wanted it to. But to properly use its high speed, the owner would have to take it to Europe where the roads were straight and long. This is where it got its name, the Continental.

This Conti however, had input from Volkswagen, and used the most powerful engine the company had ever built at the time. It of course followed the same ideas of plenty of power, but ultimate levels of luxury.

Since then, The Grand Tour presenter Jeremy Clarkson has stated how much he loves it, even owning one for a good amount of time last year before it had to be taken back to Bentley.

Watch Our Recent Review Of The Continental GT V8

How Much Does It Cost Now?

Thanks to high purchase costs and the high cost of ownership, these things depreciate very quickly. But even the initial generations had extremely high levels of performance. Thanks to VW’s 6.0-litre W12, it produced 552 horsepower and 497 lb-ft of torque. This meant it could reach almost 200mph and 60mph would come and go in just 4.7 seconds. Since then, they’ve gained AWD so the performance is now even more impressive, but you can’t beat the simple bang for buck the second-hand market gives you.

Examples now can be found for as little as $23,000, and while this would wield a high mileage and more than likely high ownership costs, you can find lower mileage examples for around $40,000. If you fancy even more power, to the tune of 621 horsepower, the Supersports variant can be found for around $55,000. That is one hell of a small price tag for such a capable motor.