The Continental R is the most beautiful Bentley

I my opinion the old continental is a gentlemens car and the GT a car for soccer stars 😊

I think older Bentleys and rolls were made to be more special because they weren't intended to sell in big number so they took more time on it. On top of that the owners were posh so had higher expectations

Interesting review - I am very lucky to own a late Continental R so I speak from real world experience. Frankly, anything with four headlights is bound to get my attention but it was more than just that which drew me to this car. It's got an elegance not many modern cars can match, it's powerful enough but at over 2.5tons it won't win races against the more modern stuff, that said, it pull like a train with real linear progression and in a way that's immensely pleasurable. We took our Conti on a 2,500k mile road trip in June 23 around Portugal & Spain where it performed flawlessly. As you can imagine, it drew many a glancing view but with age it's lost that flash element and is enjoyed for what it is - a fine old car. At around 70mph the rev clock is nudging 1500 rpm and returning 21mpg, which isn't bad for 6.75 litres V8. I just love it, there's real craftsmanship on show and although my wife is no car buff, she openly admits it's the most comfortable car she's ever been in and on that trip we just consumed the miles with serenity. Is it perfect, well no but that doesn't take anything away from it quality. We use ours like an everyday car which is surprising to many, it's off down the pub or doing the weekly shop at Lidle, it doesn't matter because people leave the car alone and I hope get pleasure from seeing one of these rare masterpieces.

Loved the side by side shot. The older continental made the GT look small!!!

The older car was hand built, albeit on a production line. You have proper chrome , proper wood and beautiful detailing. The newer car has plastic chrome and veneers , in other words it’s a production line car , albeit a posh one , or a posh Audi/ VW. The older car gets my vote .

Bentley's in the independent days were a sporting car....while the Rolls Bentleys are very nice cruisers i think the more sporty character suits Bentleys original back ground.

An interesting comparison that really highlights the difference between the two models. The older Bentley is most definitely the Pukka Bentley when it's put alongside the VW Bentley. It just oozes class and elegance, whereas the VW Bentley - whilst still being a good car - has that Cheshire, football player feel about it. The price difference is quite telling which reflects the fact that one is very much a hand-built car whilst the other is more of a mass-produced car.

We called those early Bentley’s a “boat” because they would just float down the road and you dare not drive them too aggressively. They were an elegant car.

A 2 door saloon vs a 2 door coupe.

I associate the old conti with old money and the newer GT with bling flashing premier league football players.

The Conti R/T is a real stunner, a gentlemans club inside, and a proper adult 4 seater. So very imposing, definitely in my dream garage

Man, the old Conti is sooooooo quiet. Can't believe it's so old and still quieter than 95% of the cars made today -- including those comedians in Audi, BMW, Merc and Jaguar.

Excellent idea to compare the two. Thank you. To me, the question of quality is not so much whether something is "bespoke" in order to show off, but depends on the amount of time somebody was ready to invest in something. And the British car manufacturers (probably still do) invest a lot of time. I appreciate that silent joy, and that is also what I would be ready to pay for extra. And in comparison, it is probably relatively cheap :)

Great video. I bet W O. would probably approve of the more sporty GT, rather than the older softer car. Both cars are superb.

The biggest difference is prestige : old Continental still has exclusive image when new ,, Bentley'' can be bought cheap and is plenty on the market.

LJK Setright wrote at length about the handles, door and boot opening weights and balances, all the buttons and push pulls, and how you had to be able to operate them easily with gloves regardless of strength, on an RR or Bentley after RR bought the company. These are lessons that have been lost. We have a newish 7 Series in the family and its often parked on a five degree slope and my mother can't push the heavy passenger door open. Someone has to come round and open it. On the flat she can but it's still heavy. The boot doesn't have the motor option and I have to put quite a bit of effort into pulling it down and I'm quite strong. She can't close it without a lot of effort. She could open or close the bonnet on a Silver Shadow with her little finger however.

The sweet spot between both cars, particularly in the looks department has got to be the Brooklands Coupe. All the presence of the Continental with the timeless style of a pillar less coupe. Jaw dropping!

£187000 in 1990 is about £544,000 in today's money

6:14...That Continental looks huge compared to the GT.😲The passenger space and the boot are so big it looks strange only having two doors...Excellent video.

I think you nailed it when you said "Is the modern Bentley more of a throwback to the 1930s Bentley idea". I don't believe Bentley is really competing with Rolls-Royce as like a slightly different brand during the '60s to 90s. They have diverged in terms of demographic.

I enjoyed that Jack.... As always buddy 👍

A good comparison between old and 'new' (VW) I think. For me the Continental R is certainly more refined and graceful alongside your Bentley GT and I would have to choose that. However I think you made a valid point when you said the GT had to look different enough from Rolls Royce to be separate (I may have slightly paraphrased there).Interesting video Jack thank you. 👍👍

Good video Jack. OK, Bentley is a bit of an enigma. In pre-war times it was synonymous with very high performance cars. It was extremely successful in racing too in particular at Le Mans. From then until the VW acquisition I would argue that it lost it's DNA completely and as you said was ostensibly a rebadged Rolls Royce. Now the owner of a Rolls Royce - or any car of that stature - is not meant to be sat behind the wheel. They're meant to chauffeured. The review of one of these cars needs to be done from the back seat... which is why something like the Continental R here is a complete oxymoron. A wafty limousine with only space of a driver ??!!?? VW recognised that immediately and decided to reset the Bentley brand all the way back to the spirit of the 1920s/1930s... expensive drivers cars with a racing pedigree. They went back to LMP racing at LeMans and continued until recently producing GT3 cars - with the help of M-Sport. I'm no fan of VW nor of Bentleys new or old,... but I have to give them credit for completely nailing it and the sales success is evidence of that too.

Nothing compares to the older designs. I love the Conti. I also love the old RR Silver Shadows.

I get Jag/Lexus vibes from the newer car, where the Continental is more unique (and 'stately' vs. 'beautiful', which I'd be OK with ;) )

Well, not that I could ever afford one, but if I could, I’d have the Continental R - looks to me like a tidied up and modernised Rolls Royce Camargue - a car that I like immensely (although it is a bit Marmite!) - I don’t know if that was intentional, but that’s what it conjures up!

Was a continental R in an underground carpark near where I worked for a while. The car is super long.

The Continental is in another league where the interior is concerned. Not as mad produced? Love the look of it too. It is what I expect a Bentley to look like considering we are from the same era Jack. Great work.

No.27: Unique and interesting channel. Thank you.👍

Thanks Jack, really shows the differences between the generations, & buyers. Continental wins for me as better quality inside with more dials/instruments! 🙏🙏

Jack! You’ve gotta find a Westfield SEight. Proper bonkers pommy motoring. Even more bonkers than then a TVR. I really enjoy the content you put out for us. Thank you.

Great item Jack 👍

Thank you for this video. Had no idea of how much of an absolute unit the original car was. Nice video. Keep up the good work.

It's easy to get into al sorts of arguments about what is a "real" Bentley? Is anything after Rolls-Royce took over really a Bentley? Is the Lagonda V12 the ultimate Bentley or the Aston Martin DB2, since W.O. Bentley designed the engines for both vehicles. That said, I've loved the Bentley Continental R ever since it was announced, the shape does have a hint of the best 1960s American two-door car bodies, but with a whole lot of British class. The interior is glorious. I'm not sure if the driving experience would be disappointing, but I loved the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, so I see no reason not to like the Continental R. The Continental GT is a victim of its own success. I can see where the shape harks back to the 1950s R-Type Continental, and it's pleasantly evocative without being retro. Unfortunately the car is too common, which makes it seem less special. It also suffers in my mind, because I don't like the Audi way of hanging the engine way out in front; even if the prospect of four-wheel drive is very appealing. I've always had misgivings about the W12 engine, since a V6 is only ever properly balanced when the angle between the cylinders is 180-degrees and I feared that two VR6s together would multiply, rather than cancel their respective vibrations. I remember driving a VW Phaeton (not the top, W12, model admittedly) and it wasn't a bad car but it was difficult to enjoy. There was something about the inconsistent way it would respond to control inputs, which made it feel as though it was never completely on your side. I'm sure the Continental GT is better in every measurable way than the Continental R, and yet I still want the older, objectively worse, one more.

Great comparison, Jack. Interesting to see how the old compares with the more recent.

That grille on the R... It just says "move over peasant" and I kinda love it for that. Even if I am a peasant.

Hi Jack, As a follower of your channel, I like your title of this video. As a 50 something year old guy originally from the UK I can remember when car companies were prestigious and the thought of ten blokes hand building a car with national pride actually appeals to me, unfortunately corporations got in the way of all that and as a result cars from around the early 2000's onward have all become clones of each other, lift the bonnet of any car and all you see is a plastic cover, yes I'm stuck in the past but cars just seemed to be more fun, we didn't need to go 300mph the feel the cars gave you through the seat of your pants and a driving experience of you and the car being one was it for me. As technology advances in cars some thing get better but I think we've lost a part of the sense and feel of driving . Just my 2 pence worth. love the channel Grazie Mille.

The 1990s Continenal is THE car to me. It just has it all.

I’ve worked on two Continental GT’s, a nightmare to work on, horrendously expensive parts even the one that have VW/AUDI/SEAT/SKODA labels all over them. Has the usual VW electrical issues and check engine light. On the plus, it’s really fast, one final thing, don’t let the batteries go down, nightmare to reset the car.

Great comparison test. The ex-Sound Engineer in me couldn’t help but notice the early reflections in the newer car. I would choose the older car to record vocals in!

The Conti R sits too low in its front springs (common problem on all late SZ models!), but when put right, it changes its presence once more completely! I’ve done it on mine and it just looks “right” and stately again!

My GOSH! The Continental is HUGE!!! The interior also looks much more "hand-made" while the GT definitely has signs of 21st century manufacturing engineering.

Another great video. Interesting that in the "stiffer" GT your seat back is flexing so much 14:40 onwards ?

The 6 3/4L Rolls lump that migrated into the Bentley cars was just one of those great low stressed engines that in every way was "adequate" and when the Turbo was added became a legend in the up market car world. The W12 was the first Bentley I drove in a Continental GT which I thought then, as now that it was a slightly sedated monster of an engine just waiting for an excuse to eat petrol and hurtle the car down any road at high speed in optimum comfort. By comparison I didn't drive but was a passenger in a Bentley Turbo R and at speed on the highway it was as if you were gliding over ice with perfectly sharpened skates. It had more torque than was ever needed to pass other motorists and never made you feel like it lacked in any way. With the exception of the First Jaguar XKR with the 4.2L Supercharged engine, you always felt as though you had more power and obviously more elegance and luxury than anything else on the road. It was like comparing Apples to Caviar, Coca-Cola to Bollinger RD Champagne. I'm sure as an owner and someone who has driven multiple Bentley's you see my point. Now I'd love to see how the older and newer Bentley Brooklands would square up with each other!? Once again though Jack, a thoroughly enjoyable comparison and review!!

Nice video. Fortunate enough to have both in the family. Was planning on doing a similar video myself. Great stuff

I know it's easy to think the year 2000 was only two years ago, but the L series lasted from 1959 to 2020, so 61 years not 41 ;) I've not driven either of the Continentals but my Turbo R has the same engine and it really is incredibly smooth. That Continental seems to be from 1993, so it should have the 4 speed torque converter. There's just something magical about those big old Bentleys, I'm glad you're enjoying your GT but I'm going to stick with my Turbo R.

I feel like your channel has taken a turn, content wise. And i like it these reviews and motoring your’re doing. Please keep it up. 🤘

Bull's-eye vents 5:00 😜 Great videos Jack.

The L series engine in the continental was tested by sitting on a test bed at full throttle for 500 hours, No american engine got past 100 hours

Jack. Another brilliant video produced and edited so well. Great choice of cars and I would love the GT if it didn't drink so much.

The continental is the one I would want to sit in the back of and eat my caviar and crackers without spilling my champagne.The vw is the one I would want to drive.

Great video thanks 😊

Both are good, but my favorite Bentley is the Arnage because it was the first i drive.

Old vs new? The decline is every where! Old fashion is pretty soon a memory? Nice video!

To be fair, Jack, if it was a choice between surviving by using parts from the VW parts bin it’s probably an acceptable compromise. Probably only the very expensive one off customer cars have the level of craftsmanship from the past.

pinkze he say " wow I love your enthusiasm and will be watching a lot more, love your excitement of the Detomaso Pantera 🎉😂❤"

The Continental R was my dream car, recent examples are fetching from £50,000 upwards in today’s market.

When did you film this? I would love if you had a different backdrop than the building site fence, nothing against building site fences but I get distracted by it. Absolutely love your videos.

Top mounted camera looks nice!

Another gem of a video. JayEm. Take notes.

I think GT has changed in meaning over time. The Continental GT was a luxurious means of travelling across Europe with pace and comfort, but now GT seems to be more of a performance term, both nice cars, but if I was travelling from the soggy UK to my summer villa in Portofino, the old V8 would be my choice to waft me along in grace pace and style, btw how is the lotus then????? been a while

I was struck by the similarity of the door slam note. They sounded identical to this very experienced musician.

I did some research on the engine of Conti R and found its engine has a different structure called OHV. With this structure the car would be quite torquey and outputs in lower revs and on driver side it renders a nonchalant but powerful feeling. Its power potential is infinitely huge and its size is compact. By contrast, the modern one feels like a German car with British brand with the using of new OHC engine. The old one preserve the trait of a British gentleman luxury.

I prefer the shape of the ‘original’ (for want of a better term…Tyler Hoovie pit me off them with the appalling maintenance costs…(which may be less of an issue in the Old Dart with the provenance of British engineering)…In Aus=nightmare…Excellent review.

2 majestic cars.

I had one of the later (1998) cars with the 420 hp engine. I think it’s one of the best looking 90s cars and I loved the luxury of the interior. Other cars are faster and handle better but there is a real presence on the road and sense of restrained power. Had to have my garage extended to accommodate her! Cost an arm and a leg to keep on the road though and I was plagued by warning lights that kept coming on. Wouldn’t rule out getting another though.

the older benty is for me the dream "modern" car...

When all the controversy of Rolls Royce and Bentley happened when the German’s became their owners. I always saw it as them still being a British Mark, but which were now financed by the German’s. Something that was needed for them to retain their position’s in the world of motoring .

Thanks Jack .Really good comparison. Having driven Turbo RLs for 15 years I prefer the sedans drive to the Continental R but the Conty R is definitely prettier. Sorry but VW Bentley GT is a faster but definitely 60000 pound cheaper car. Maintenance on the older cars is expensive but if your VW Bentley has issues its wallet destroying !

I remember when the Continental R came out and, being about 10 years old, I thought it was the most magnificent thing. I've thought about blowing all my money and buying one but sadly I doubt I could afford to run it to the shops and that's before the repairs start mounting up..! But what a wonderful thing it is..

Would be interesting to see how the last variant of the Mulsanne stacks up as a proper Bentley in comparison, if you can get your hands one. Enjoy your reviews as always.

Yet another great review, the Conti is a fabulous looking car from virtually all angles and is a real smooth ride with as always a great driving position. The W12 is a totally different beast with the power and speed of a fast tourer and not bad looking. Thanks or these as always, great cars in any case.

Another interesting video. RR and Bentley were indeed the same cars from the Silver Cloud 1, Bentley S1, up through the Shadows and T's until the introduction of the Silver Spirit in 1980 and its Bentley equivalents. This is when RR decided to create a special niche for Bentley by making them more sporting with turbo charging becoming a major part of the equation. The Spirit was targeted at the American market, hence its shape, something of a departure from the traditional flowing lines. This is reflected in the Continental R which is built on the same floor plan and reflects your comments. Graham Hulls designed later Silver Seraph and Arnage returned to more traditional lines. It may be a bit harsh of me to say so, but to a degree I see a trend of quality going down while price goes upward, with craftsmanship being superceeded by technology.

One test that trumps them all , having been around many different Bentleys , is slightly different to the opening and closing the door test , its the percieved assault on the senses , at the moment , a friend of mine in the motor trade has a 1936 Hooper Bentley , a 1967 Bentley T1 and a 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur , I am going to put more strength to my arguement and state that the Bentley Turbo R , the Arnage and Azure all have one quality the Conti Spur does not have , they all smell like a Bentley !

My Brother-in-law worked at Bentley in Crewe for 2 years. He said the reason he left the company was that he was an engineer by trade, but they weren't interested in that and had him sand down wood facias!

Worth noting, the dash shape in the GT was taken from the Bentley Java concept car. The GT is, for me, the realisation of the Java concept - a cheaper car built it greater numbers, but still exclusive.

The lower price may well indicate that inferior material were used and corners were cut in later years!

That's kinda the conclusion I had reached without driving either of the cars. LOL. 😂 Since you left it up in the air, I'd choose the "real" quality over the newcomer. You're getting much more hard work and effort per £. Much more time from specialist artisans whose knowledge will not return. And, in that decision, I'm not taking into account that I have never liked the look of the Continental GT, which somehow needs some more bulk to take it properly into the realm of the luxurious.

Interesting comparison.

I’d say it was more the footballers and bling merchants that sullied the Bentley brand, rather than Volkswagen per se.

Dwelling on RR or Bentley and its "Ride" I am reminded of the American car journalist PJ O'Rourke, who said: It's like my mothers Buick

I love them both! That's my jam! debating whether the new awesome car can still be called by the same name as the last awesome car... Its just a love fest.

The styling on the newer one just looks goofy. More of a slap in the face to the original than a compliment imo. But we are in the dark ages of industrial design, so here we are.

Another great and fair video, you really should apply to go on Top Gear as a presenter so more folk can see you Jack! As a Ford man I don't like the VW platform sharing game , and having watched videos of Lambo Urus' with a plethora of parts badged Audi , and one of the US KZfaqrs who had the saloon version of the GT getting Audi parts cheaper to fit, not to mention our very own Mat and his Lambo ashtray savings I would feel a little cheated. Obviously the older car will have parts , trim ,lights or switch gear from something or other I'm sure, look at the tvrs you've been highlighting recently, with fiesta lights etc. I think these manufacturers ought to at least put the brand badge a part is for , originally in them, as all these videos have shown though for money reasons they don't! Before someone says something I am aware the focus spawned the mazda 3 and the Volvo S40 et al, it's just not until now , that we've really noticed. Theres also the Ford tie up with VW which is sad for me, as each new car comes out they are less and less individual, for example, I'd like to see Ford Transits made in Southampton again for the British market , not Turkey because of cheap labour, etc etc. Anyway an interesting scenario, wouldn't it be great if your coupe was fitted with the 6.75 litre with just RWD I wonder if people have tried that? Also a couple of testing suggestions from me, try and find a lancia thema 2.0 turbo car to test as a follow up to the magnificent 8.32. And perhaps a PM limo special, Jag XJ12,Vs XJ40,Vs the last XJ, and maybe throw in a Rover P5b coupe and maybe even a nice but very underated 827sli or similar from the late 80s which were ministerial cars? Just some ideas, love the videos , still wanting to see Roco the dog again, which leads me on to Nobles at his house wasn't it? Best wishes, sorry for the length, Ben ,🇬🇧🇺🇦🚐🚌

The VW car seems to me to hark back more to what Bentley was before RR took them over.

In the old Conti, one tends to "waft" along. I like "wafting."

I love the old model.❤

The older Bentleys are the World's Fastest Trucks. New Bentleys are VWs with bodykits

The difference is mainly "old money vs new money". The cars show that in the most peculiar way.

I do like comparison videos with two different cars and you have done many of them lets look at these Bentleys the older Continental R and the newer GT both very nice cars the Continental R looks less fussy in the interior very nice and the GT much more fussy as most modern cars are and the Contentile R wasn't built to a price as the GT was and thanks for pointing out the design details of the GT were tge design is based on Bentleys of the 1950s l nevrr realised untill you pointed it out thats good but another thing you use the same roads for all your reviews which is a level playing field when it comes to reviewing cars

The new Bentleys have the proper understated look, they look like a regular car till you do a double take.

A nice video. Another comparison that would have been quite interesting in this context is the Bentley Continental R vs a late and thus roughly contemporaneous Mercedes-Benz W126 560SEC. I think this is more about two different philosophies in the same spirit, but that they both really excel in their own way. The W126 560SEC is usually nowadays compared to the Porsche 928 GTS, but this is completely wrong in my opinion. Yes, they're both German and they're both at home on the Autobahn, but the W126 560SEC actually looks more like a German attempt to match the Continental R before VAG bought Bentley and developed the GT.

W12 YUM... what a fitting licence plate

If I could afford it I would get the W12 GT it’s the last of the dinosaurs & looks great inside & out & what an engine 😎

One is classy, one is naff. Guess which is which? All IMHO of course!

If all things are equal with maintenance and repairs, I'd be in the Continental R all day, every day. It exudes class and dignity. It's a handsome car. The GT just seems "standard". Meaning, in my eyes, there's nothing about it that says BOSS. It just seems built to a price point (as mentioned) and that's it. The current GT may be much better than either of these 2 cars, but, it looks like a Mustang...speaking of looking "standard".

Perhaps you could try/borrow a Wraith which might be a Continental equivalent. Incidentally organs have stops, not switches! Love your videos though.

Also in my modest opinion, the R or T of the 90s is a truly Bentley in construction philosophy etc etc, for the soccer stars is the same...

I alway like watching your car. If it wasn’t so expensive to run and service it would be a car I’d like to own as it looks stunning. But in current and near future times there’s simply no justification for gas guzzlers anymore I believe.