If you thought the Arnage T was a hot number on Bentley Night at the Grand Hyatt hotel this month, look out for the marque's new GT Coupe which should arrive in Hong Kong by 'late 2003', says David Davies, the Singapore-based managing director of Rolls-Royce and Bentley Cars. 'To put the new car into perspective, it will be a four-seat grand touring coupe with class-leading luxury accommodation for occupants and luggage,' he says. 'At the same time it will have better acceleration than the Ferrari 456 GT, higher V-max [maximum velocity] than a Porsche 911 Turbo, more power than a Ferrari 550 Maranello and more torque than an Aston Martin Vanquish.' All car dealers like to talk-up a latest model to whet the punters' appetite, but with Davies these are no idle boasts. 'The driving philosophy behind the coupe has been to produce a car with true supercar performance in a package so effective that owners who used it every day would find a car with a complete range of answers to the questions posed by daily life on the road,' he says. According to the spec sheet, the GT Coupe has a six-litre, twin-turbo-charged W12-formation Bentley engine with a power output in excess of 500bhp. While the manufacturer is reluctant to give away the exact torque, it says that it will be 'more than adequate for the job'. The engine is derived from the similarly configured powerplant used elsewhere in the Volkswagen group, it was designed and developed by Bentley, and, like the rest of the car, will be built at Crewe, in north-west England. The GT Coupe also takes the Bentley marque into a new era of performance. From standing it will reach 60mph (96km/h) in less than five seconds and reach a maximum speed in excess of 180mph (288km/h). Davies says it's too early to confirm the GT Coupe's pricing in Hong Kong but when it goes on sale in Britain it will cost about #125,000 (HK$1.53 million), inclusive of British tax. He also says this month's Bentley Night 'appears to have gone well' and Hong Kong socialites' and tycoons' reaction to the Arnage T was 'very positive'. What do you think of the new GT Coupe? Fax your comments to 2562 2485 or e-mail william.wadsworth@scmp.com
