As the old roadster comes to life on a narrow hillside road, the cacophony of the 12-cylinder engine only amplifies a visceral sense of exposure and vulnerability—and that is merely from the vantage point of the passenger seat. Riding shotgun in a 1925 Bentley Super Sports offers a stark reminder of the pioneering era of British motoring, representing the marque’s very first model to send the speedometer’s needle past the milestone 100 mph mark.
For the turn behind the wheel of its modern spiritual successor, a driver must don a helmet and make their way down the tarmac to another similarly monikered two-seater waiting patiently in the pit lane. Although the two vehicles are separated by a mere 50 yards across the paddock, there is well over a century of automotive evolution, engineering breakthroughs, and paradigm shifts between them.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, nestled in the rolling hills of Northern California, serves as the dramatic backdrop for the official introduction to the 2027 Bentley Supersports. Commencing with a starting price of $486,200 and strictly limited to a production run of just 500 examples globally, this ultra-exclusive machine represents only the fourth iteration of the illustrious Supersports nameplate in the company’s long history. Unlike its earliest, bare-bones predecessor from the vintage era, however, the latest Supersports arrives as both a dynamically souped-up and strategically pared-down version of Bentley’s most recent Continental GT.
In this exclusive guise, the newcomer holds the distinction of being the only street-legal Continental model to feature a purist rear-wheel-drive configuration. Beneath its sculpted bonnet lies a formidable 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine, mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that effortlessly channels power to the tarmac. The powerplant churns out an impressive 657 horsepower alongside 590 foot-pounds of torque.
While that raw output sits numerically lower than that of the current hybridized GT variants in Bentley’s broader stable, the Supersports sheds considerable mass, tipping the scales at a touch over 4,409 pounds. Remarkably, the only Bentley production car to dip below that figure in modern history dates back to 1940. However, that dramatically reduced heft only enhances the vehicle’s dynamic gravitas with respect to pure performance—a reality that becomes immediately apparent when approaching the legendary racetrack’s infamous Corkscrew.
Renowned throughout the motorsport world for its initial blind descent into seeming nothingness followed by a breathtaking 59-foot elevation drop, the Corkscrew demands precise, lightning-fast choreography from both car and driver. Naturally, there are other automotive dance partners on the global market that boast a far lither frame, but the Supersports proves itself to be the most balletic non-motorsport Bentley ever manufactured.
This newfound athleticism is owed primarily to a rigorous regimen of lightweighting measures. These include the implementation of a rigid carbon-fiber roof and the complete, unapologetic removal of the rear-passenger seating space in favor of a track-focused cabin environment.
In addition to the diet, comprehensive composite aerodynamic considerations at the front of the car—such as stacked dive planes, aggressive fender blades, and Bentley’s largest production-car front splitter to date—all work in concert with the back end’s newly designed diffuser and fixed rear spoiler. The resulting package generates a cumulative downforce widely touted by engineers as being more than 661 pounds greater than that produced by the standard GT Speed variant.
Equally responsible for this particular Bentley’s milestone handling capabilities are a suite of advanced electronic chassis systems. The Supersports utilizes an electronic limited-slip differential, precise rear-wheel steering, sophisticated suspension aided by a 48-volt active anti-roll bar system, and enormous carbon-silicon-carbide brakes. Those powerful stoppers bite down fiercely on massive 22-inch aluminum-alloy wheels dressed, at least in the test car’s configuration, in sticky Pirelli Trofeo RS rubber.
Such impressively engineered checks and balances are fully appreciated when the vehicle’s zero-to-62-mph sprint has been dispatched in a blistering 3.7 seconds, and the main straightaway’s terminus approaches at a velocity far exceeding the car’s already staggering 192 mph top speed.
Stepping out of the still-baronial cockpit—a space defined by the automaker’s signature three-dimensional surface texturing and peerless, world-class upholstery—an observer cannot help but be struck by the sheer scale of the 100-plus years of automotive advancement experienced between this modern British muscle car and its bygone-era namesake. Yet, from the golden age of the legendary Bentley Boys to the marque’s modern renaissance under contemporary luxury stewardship, the enduring constant of the Supersports nameplate remains its vital role as the Flying B’s ultimate internal-combustion benchmark.
